Growth drivers of monumental wild service tree (Sorbus torminalis) out of its natural range in Kyiv, Ukraine

Abstract

Wild service tree (Sorbus torminalis) is a rare, endangered, relict species, that is protected by law in many European countries. Outside the species distribution range, the trees are usually planted in botan­ical gardens, parks, arboretums, and at the roadside. Such old introduced trees are an important source of knowledge about species’ acclimation process and current growth-limiting factors in the new environment. In Kyiv, the oldest live S. torminalis trees have been planted in botanical gardens and arboretums after the 1950s. In addition, some trees of this species are preserved in front of the historical building Liberman’s mansion, but the year of their planting remains unknown. Regarding dendroclimatological investigations of this species are scarce and have been provided only in Central European forests, a detailed analysis of the species growth-to-climate relationships should be performed not only the species’ natural range but also in its secondary ranges. In this article, we studied three S. torminalis trees in a historical place in Kyiv to determine their age and evaluate environmental conditions driving the growth of this rare species out of its natural range in Kyiv. To reach our goal we used the dendrochronological approaches, i.e. tree-ring dating, partial correlation analysis using stationary and moving time windows. Our results showed that S. torminalis trees were planted after the last building owner S. Liberman’s death (1917). The studied trees are the oldest of known alive S. torminalis trees in Kyiv. Dendroclimatological re­sults revealed S. torminalis is sensitive to higher air temperature and moisture excess in the period of wood formation in Kyiv. S. torminalis trees at 2 Bankova Street are the oldest species examples in Kyiv and have important historical, cultural, and scientific values. S. torminalis species could be widely used in urban forestry, particularly in regions with projected soil moisture shortening.

Ecological and biological features of the selected forms of checker tree for successful targeted introduction and reintroduction into the ecological network of Ukraine

“…As noted by Y. Prokopuk et al (2022), checker tree is one of the most valuable hardwoods in Europe, in particular Torminalis glaberrima, which has prospects in green landscape construction, including urban forestry, especially in regions with predicted edaphotope moisture deficiency. According to V. Sarv et al (2020), checker tree fruits have a therapeutic effect, as they show high antioxidant activity due to the high content of phenolic and flavonoid compounds, tannins.…”

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“…Sennikov& Kurtto) is a forest, medicinal, fruit plant that belongs to a monotypic genus Torminalis Medik., family Rosaceae, and until recently its official name was Sorbus torminalis (L.) Crantz, first published in 1763 by the German botanist Heinrich Johann Nepomuk von Crantz, and until 2017 belonged to the genus Sorbus, As noted by Y. Prokopuk et al (2022), checker tree is one of the most valuable hardwoods in Europe, in particular Torminalis glaberrima, which has prospects in green landscape construction, including urban forestry, especially in regions with predicted edaphotope moisture deficiency. According to V. Sarv et al (2020), checker tree fruits have a therapeutic effect, as they show high antioxidant activity due to the high content of phenolic and flavonoid compounds, tannins.…”

The Effects of Forest Accessibility on the Quantitative and Qualitative Characteristics of Deadwood: A Comparison between Recreational and Natural Forests

“…The composition and structure of forests evolve over many years, and with the increase in the complexity of the structure, the diversity and richness of species increase in the forest [1,2]. Accordingly, conservation of forests and existing diversity is one of the long-term goals of forest management [3][4][5].…”

“…It was hypothesized that accessibility of the forest, measured as slope and distance from the viability network, has a significant influence on the presence of deadwood. Therefore, the purpose of this study is (1) to investigate the quantitative characteristics (abundance and volume per hectare) of different groups of deadwood in relation to accessibility in recreational and natural forests, and (2) to determine the different stages of deadwood decay and their distribution in diameter classes in relation to forest accessibility.…”