Abstract
Northern taiga and mountain birch forests were investigated on the slopes of Monche tundra and Khibiny Mountains (Murmansk Region, Russia) oriented towards Lake Imandra under long-term air-borne pollution from the metal processing industry. The subject of the study was the species composition and typological diversity of vegetation along the pollution gradient at different altitudes above sea level. Three zones were distinguished – impact zone, buffer zone, and unpolluted zone as the control, 166 releves were included in the classification that resulted in 15 groups of associations. The groups of associations were characterized; the area occupied and the proportion in the plant cover were given based on remote sensing data. Changes in plant diversity along the pollution gradient were assessed using the average number of species per 400 m2, Sorensen index, Whittaker index, as well as Shannon index. The activity of species (sensu Malyshev) was determined in groups of associations, and cluster analysis (with Euclidean distance) was undertaken to assess the similarity between the groups of associations. In the tree layer, conifers were replaced with small-leaved species, and the structure of mountain taiga on the lower and middle parts of the slopes was significantly transformed compared to mountain birch forest. On the other hand, the composition of the field layer changed towards the pollution source in the mountain birch forest more essentially than in mountain taiga. The most essential were changes of the diversity and abundance of mosses and lichens in the ground layer. The species diversity (mainly of vascular plants) increased in the buffer zone of mountain taiga due to the advance of adventitious species atypical of the zonal communities. This increase apparently represents an adaptive response of the damaged ecosystems. Green mosses were substituted by liverworts and Pohlia mosses towards the pollution source, fruticose lichens – by crustose lichen, which is considered as an adaptation to contamination at the level of phytocoenoses. The typological diversity slightly increased towards the pollution source in the mountain taiga zone, and peaked in the buffer zone. The boundary between mountain taiga and mountain birch forest has shifted to a lower altitude, towards the pollution source, as illustrated by fragments of the vegetation map. This is considered to be an adaptation to the environmental damage at the level of complexes of phytocoenoses.
Highlights
Исследованы северотаежные леса и березовые криволесья на макросклонах гор Мончетундра и Хибины к озеру Имандра, на градиенте аэротехногенного загрязнения в результате выбросов металлургического предприятия, в трех зонах – импактной, буферной и фоновой
Northern taiga and mountain birch forests were investigated on the slopes of Monche tundra and Khibiny Mountains (Murmansk Region, Russia) oriented towards Lake Imandra under long-term air-borne pollution from the metal processing industry
Conifers were replaced with small-leaved species, and the structure of mountain taiga on the lower and middle parts of the slopes was significantly transformed compared to mountain birch forest
Summary
Изучаемая территория находится в центральной части Мурманской области в пределах 68°23ʹ–67°39ʹ с. ш. и 31°00ʹ–33°68ʹ в. д. Отнесение сообщества к определенной формации осуществлялось по показателю сомкнутости крон разных видов деревьев, с использованием данных дистанционного зондирования при дешифрировании состава сообществ. Для количественной оценки изменения разнообразия использовались следующие показатели: видовая насыщенность (a), как среднее число видов на единицу площади (400 м2); индекс Съеренсена, как мера среднего сходства сообществ в пределах зон нарушенности; индекс Уиттекера, как мера флористической неоднородности сообществ, а также индекс Шеннона (H). Для корректировки разделения выборки описаний выполнялась их кластеризация на группы по показателю активности видов (А) [Малышев, 1973]2 в пределах выделенных синтаксономических единиц с использованием критерия Евклидова расстояния [Джонгман и др., 1999]. Оценка характера и площади распространения разных типов сообществ сделана по результатам картографического моделирования растительного покрова центральной части Мурманской области на площади 8400 км с использованием пошагового дискриминантного анализа [Черненькова и др., 2015]. Игнатову и др. [2004], печеночников – в соответствии с последним списком печеночников России [Konstantinova et al, 2009], лишайников – по [Santesson et al, 2004]
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