Radial growth of artificial forest stands under the aerotechnogenic impact of the Orenburg gas chemical complex

Abstract

With extremely low forest cover in the Orenburg region (4.6 %), where the environmental stress factor is particularly acute, forests have exceptional climate control, soil protection, and sanitary and hygiene. The priority area of practice and science is the preservation and growth of the forests of the region, which serves as a kind of framework in stabilizing the environmental situation in the region. The presented work shows the state of forest stands under conditions of anthropogenic impact. The culmination of the current radial growth has been established and the so-called “surge” of the current growth of tree stands has been detected with the accumulation of threshold levels of toxicants in a polluted environment, which subsequently leads to loss of stability and destruction of plantations.

On the state of the pedunculate oak plants (Quercus robur L.) of the orenburg climatype

“…The difficult climatic conditions of recent years, the lowering of the groundwater level as a result of human activities, as well as the development of mineral deposits can lead to the complete degradation of oak forests in this region. Our data are consistent with the data of researchers who studied the degradation of forest ecosystems in the Orenburg region [15][16][17][18][19][20][21].…”

“…The Orenburg climatype of pedunculate oak is distinguished by high frost resistance, resistance to crown damage, relatively low damage by powdery mildew and other diseases, and, as a consequence, high preservation of young plants and good taxation indicators [6][7][8]. However, the problem of drying out of oak forests on the territory of the Orenburg region is manifested no less acutely than in other regions, which indicates that the main reason for the degradation of these communities is anthropogenic impact [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21].…”

Radial growth of Pinus sylvestris L. under industrial pollution on the Kola Peninsula

“…В фоновых условиях во второй период наблюдений произошло достоверное уменьшение радиального прироста в 1.7-2.1 раза по отношению к первому периоду. Снижение данного параметра не связано с уменьшением интенсивности аэротехногенного загрязнения, а обусловлено увеличением возраста дерева вследствие возрастания диаметра ствола, что неоднократно отмечали и другие исследователи [22,31,44].…”