Forest Stands Formation on Exhausted Peat Bogs in the North-East of the European Part of Russia

Abstract

It has been established that the directed construction of forest-meadow-bog agricultural landscapes in the place of territories that have been abandoned from industrial peat extraction is the most promising and environmentally friendly way to restore the biospheric functions of disturbed bog ecosystems. A special role in the ecological framework of the emerging agricultural landscape belongs to forest cultures. Long-term studies show that Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and silver birch (Betula pendula) form the basis of future cultivated forest stands. With artificial reforestation, the best result was obtained on residual gley-degraded peat soils, where the peat layer does not exceed 20–30 cm, and the drainage rate is 80–100 cm. The most optimal conditions for the development of all the tree and shrub species were found to be near open reclamation canals. In this case, forest plantations are arranged in the form of shelterbelts 10–15 m wide. Natural reforestation as an alternative is possible, but it is characterized by slower dynamics and only a slight increase in commercial timber stocks. The process of self-recovery also largely depends on the degree of depletion of the residual deposit and the degree of its water content. In the structure of the post-bog forest-meadow landscape, the share of forest should be at least 20–30%.