Phyto-indicative appraisal of the environmental health of protected forest park «Pine Grove»

Abstract

In the manuscript we described the results of the primary study of the state of environmental health in the protected forest park “Pine Grove” (Yoshkar-Ola, Russia). We found out the vital status 233 organisms of 10 important tree species for coniferous-deciduous forest. Severe damage was recorded in the plantings of Picea X fennica, Larix sibirica. We found drying of branches mainly in coniferous trees due to stagnation of flood water as a result of poorly carried out drainage works. FA index of the leaf plate of Betula pendula trees from the forest reached a value of 0.39. With IFA scale, the vitality of B. pendula is assessed as optimal, which indicates optimal environmental conditions in the territory of «Pine Grove».

Use of morphometric and phenological indicators of Betula pendula Roth for environmental health assessment

“…In urban conditions in individuals of different ages B. pendula shows an ambiguous reaction to a complex of urban factors, which leads to the activation of growth processes. This phenomenon can be explained both by elevated temperatures and increased carbon dioxide content in the air, and by the use of pollutants by trees as additional elements of mineral nutrition [10,22,23].…”

“…The IFA of birch leaves ranged from 0.036 to 0.039 on the territory of ecotope No. 1 in 2020-2022 years [23]. During this period the state of model trees is assessed on the ontogeny stability scale [20] as optimal.…”