Abstract
Research of the forest ecosystems dynamics of northwestern Russia on the Kola Peninsula (the Imandra Lake watershed) under the influence of strong anthropogenic impacts caused by the industrial complex “Severonikel” over the last 70 years was carried out. Statistical analysis was used for comparison and interpolation of field data, multispectral remote sensing data (MRSD), and digital elevation model (DEM). From this analysis, the classification of natural and anthropogenic classes of the vegetation and land cover was developed; the model highlighted the key driving forces behind the spatial differentiation of vegetation (altitudinal climate gradients, anthropogenic disturbance, water supply, and development of the natural vegetation communities). In addition, the map of the current vegetation conditions at a scale of 1:100 000 was created. This map characterizes the large part of the Lapland Nature Reserve, the territory of the Khibiny mountains, as well as the polluted area near the metallurgical plant.
Highlights
The causes of the vegetation cover spatial differentiation are a subject of discussions because of existing uncertainty of the factors defining its variety
The characteristics of vegetation measured in field were compared with multispectral remote sensing data (MRSD) that reflect the character of the transformation of solar energy by landscape, and with digital elevation model (DEM) and its derivates, that are considered a defining factor in the redistribution of moisture, matter, and solar energy and cover all the area under investigation [Puzachenko, 1997; Turcotte, 1997]
This paper demonstrates the use of this approach for the assessment of aggregated characteristics of the vegetation cover that are expressed through the types of vegetation communities
Summary
The causes of the vegetation cover spatial differentiation are a subject of discussions because of existing uncertainty of the factors (driving forces) defining its variety. The assessment of vegetation cover conditions at different levels of its organization, including assessment of the local and regional features of anthropogenic modifications of natural vegetative communities, is an important and urgent problem. The accumulated information in this field makes it possible to use it in a wider array of applications for assessment of the current state of the vegetation cover and identification of existing spatial-temporal organization laws under anthropogenic influence.
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