The Influence of Relief on the Density of Light-Forest Trees within the Small-Dry-Valley Network of Uplands in the Forest-Steppe Zone of Eastern Europe

Abstract

An active process of the invasion of woody vegetation, resulting in the formation of light forests, has been observed in predominantly herbaceous small dry valleys of the forest-steppe uplands of the East European Plain over the past two decades. This paper investigates the spatial features of the density of trees in such light forests and its relationship with relief parameters. The Belgorod Region, one of the administrative regions of European Russia, was chosen as a reference for the forest-steppe zone of the plain. The correlation between some relief characteristics (the height, slope, slope exposure cosine, topographic position index, morphometric protection index, terrain ruggedness index, and width and depth of small dry valleys) and the density of light-forest trees was estimated. The assessment was carried out at the local, subregional and regional levels of generalization. The relief influence on the density of trees in the small dry valley network is manifested both through the differentiation of moisture within the territory under study and the formation of various conditions for fixing tree seedlings in the soil. This influence on subregional and regional trends in the density is greater than on local trends. The results obtained are important for the management of herbaceous small-dry-valley ecosystems within the forest-steppe uplands in Eastern Europe.

Long-term Changes in the Stability of Agricultural Landscapes in the Areas of Irrigated Agriculture of the Ukraine Steppe Zone

“…In particular, the low culture of agriculture leads to a violation of technology and timing of tillage, protection of plants from weeds, pests and diseases, which negatively affects the reproduction of soil fertility (Dudiak et al 2020. This exacerbates the problems of humus, agrophysical and reclamation conditions and leads to a decrease in soil fertility as well as environmental safety of land use Considering the current state of irrigated agriculture in the Steppe zone of Ukraine, the unsatisfactory technical level of a significant part of irrigation systems, as well as the level of resource and technological support for both irrigation and growing crops on irrigated lands, it can be argued that there is a high potential danger of developing negative processes and phenomena (Pichura et al 2015, Ukrainskiy et al 2020. Therefore, the works related to the study of the irrigated lands state are of particular importance both in terms of the timely determination of negative processes and phenomena, and in order to determine the actual ecological and agro-ameliorative state and sustainability of agricultural landscapes.…”

Changes in Climate and Bioclimatic Potential in the Steppe Zone of Ukraine

“…Particularly negative manifestations of anthropogenic and climatic changes are concentrated in the Steppe zone (Lisetskii et al 2016). The level of water resources supply and their quality has decreased significantly (Pichura et al 2018), the natural water network of small and mediumsized rivers has been destroyed by 60% (Oti et al 2020, Lisetskii 2021), the frequency of droughts has increased (Assan et al 2020, Ukrainskiy et al 2020) and manifestations of erosion processes (Dudiak et al , 2020, the state of land resources deteriorated (Breus et al 2019, which led to a decrease in the yield of agricultural crops (Domaratskiy et al 2020, Vdovenko et al 2022. In order to increase the level of management efficiency in the agrarian sector of the economy (Vdovenko et al 2015, Mayovets et al 2021, it is necessary to substantiate environmental protection measures for the restoration and rational use of natural resources, to ensure the implementation of the principles of sustainable nature management, taking into account the spatio-temporal patterns of changes in climate and the bioclimatic potential of the territory.…”