Ecological and typological features of forest vegetation of the emerald network object “Tsirkunivskyi forest” in the North-Eastern Forest Steppe of Ukraine

Abstract

Forest typological and ecological properties of natural complexes of the Emerald Network object of Ukraine “Tsyrkunivskyi forest” (UA0000290 Tsyrkunivskyi forest) in the Kharkiv region, with a total area of 9948.6 hectares are presented. This object is located in Lipetsk and Southern forest division of the State Forest Enterprise “Kharkiv Forest Research Station” in the north-western part of the Kharkiv region. The territory of the studied object is an undulating plain with a wellrepresented valley-beam relief and a fairly branched ravine-beam network. Forest areas are represented by stands of 35 tree species. The main forest-forming tree species is Quercus robur (8830.3 ha, 88.75 %), a much smaller area is Pinus sylvestris (392.1 ha, 3.94 %). Other tree species occupy small areas: Betula pendula (119.9 ha, 1.21 %), Robinia pseudoacacia (88.5 ha, 0.89 %), Acer platanoides (80.7 ha, 0.81 %), Acer campestre (80.3 ha, 0.81 %), Tilia cordata (75.4 ha, 0.76 %), Populus tremula (66.4 ha, 0.67 %), Fraxinus excelsior (52.4 ha, 0, 53 %) and others. The studied forest areas are represented by 13 edatopes, covering all trophic groups and moisture levels. The most common types of forest vegetation conditions are fresh (7040.2 ha; 70.77 %) and dry (2242.3 ha, 22.54 %) oak dibrova. 19 types of forests were identified in the study area, the most common of which are fresh maple-linden dibrova (7040.2 ha, 70.78 %), a slightly smaller area is dry maple-linden dibrova (2242.3 ha, 22.54 %); much smaller is fresh oak-pine subir (354.1 ha, 3.56 %). Quercus robur grows in 5 forest types, the most common of which are fresh (6552.8 ha, 74.21 %) and dry (2102.0 ha, 23.80 %) maple-linden dibrova.