ЗАПАСИ ОРГАНІЧНОГО ВУГЛЕЦЮ В МОРТМАСІ ЛІСОВИХ ЕКОСИСТЕМ РЕГІОНАЛЬНОГО ЛАНДШАФТНОГО ПАРКУ «НАДСЯНСЬКИЙ» (УКРАЇНСЬКІ КАРПАТИ)

Abstract

Deadwood has recently become a widely discussed issue in forestry studies. The importance of its occurrence in forest stands has been emphasized in conjunction with the functioning and productivity of forest ecosystems. Both forest litter and coarse wood debris arepoorly known in Ukraine, despite the fact that it could be a large and long-term resource or stock of sequestrated carbon. This research has been conducted at the Natsyansky Regional Landscape Park. The study locality was represented coniferous forest dominated by Piceca bies (L.) Karst and Abisalba Mill and deciduous species Fagys sylvatica L. The aim of the study was to evaluate the content of reserves and the spatial distribution of organic carbon in forest litter and coarse wood debris. I total 63 samples of forest litter and coarse woody debris were estimated on 21 study areas. The stock of deadwood was calculated on the area of 9 square metres, for each research plot. The organic matter content was measured by the method of dry combustion. Corrective factors were used to determine the organic carbon content: 0.52 for forest litter and 0.5 for coarse wood debris. To determine the stock of coarse wood debris, average density of deadwood of the fir was selected. Our study demonstrated that the reserve of forest litter and organic carbon varies from 4.42 t ha -1 to 26.35 t ha -1 , and 2.05-11.04 t ha -1 , respectively. The stocks of organic carbon of forest litter ranges for different age groups as 2.23-10.13 t ha -1 (for young stands), 2.05-8.18 t ha -1 (for middle age stands), 2.67-10.53 t ha -1 (for immature stands) and 6.35-11.04 t ha -1 (for mature stands). Our results showed a significant variability among data for organic carbon in coarse wood debris - from 1.41t ha -1 ) to 17.25 t ha -1 and from 0.71 to 8.63 t ha -1 respectively. The stocks of organic in coarse wood debris were significantly different for all age groups resulting in 0.71-5.18 t ha -1 (for young stands), 0.86-8.,63 t ha -1 (for middle age stands), 1.04-1.79 t ha -1 (for inmaturestands) and 3.38-3.47 t ha -1 (for mature stands). To sum up, the resource of organic carbon in the forest litter is higher by 1.14-11.56 times than in coarse wood debris except for two study areas where this parameter is less. The obtained data may be used to fill the gap in database for the spatial distribution of organic carbon within Striysko-Syanskaya Verkhovyna of the Ukrainian Carpathians. Key words: organic carbon, forest ecosystems, coarse wood debris, forest litter, the Ukrainian Carpathians.