ИЗМЕНЕНИЕ ТЕМПЕРАТУРЫ И ВЛАЖНОСТИ В ЛЕСНЫХ СООБЩЕСТВАХ ВДОЛЬ ГРАДИЕНТА ВЫСОТЫ НА ГОРЕ БОЛЬШОЙ ШАТАК

Abstract

Due to climate change, there is an increase in mean annual temperatures, which affects the altitudinal distribution of vegetation in the mountains. The purpose of this study was to investigate temperature and humidity changes along the altitudinal gradient on the Bolshoi Shatak mountain range from the foot of the mountain to the upper limit of forest distribution. Temperature and relative humidity data were collected using DS1923-F5 loggers in pine-broadleaf, birch-pine and larch forest located at altitudes of 631, 831 and 966,46 m msl, respectively. No abnormal winter temperatures were observed during the study period. The duration of the frost-free period was 157 days in the pine-broadleaf forest, 151 days in the birch-pine forest and 143 days in the larch forest. In the summer period of 2021 there was a summer drought, which was manifested to an equal extent in the sample plots in pine-birch and larch forest and to a lesser extent in pine-broadleaved forest. In the rainfall-normal year 2022, humidity content was significantly higher in pine-birch forest than in larch forest. Thus, the factors influencing the distribution of broad-leaved species at present may be the humidity regime and shorter frost-free period above the boundary of their current distribution. Further monitoring using loggers is needed to make a final conclusion on the contribution of individual factors to the current distribution of broad-leaved species.