Formation of phytocenoses on lands disturbed by oil extraction in the Udmurt Republic

Abstract

The Udmurt Republic is a region in which the oil extraction industry occupies a leading place in the economy along with metallurgy and mechanical engineering. Oil exploration work has been carried out here since the 40s of the XX century. Today, there are over 120 oil fields in the territory of Udmurtia. Every year, geological exploration of the subsoil contributes to the identification of new territories in which work on hydrocarbon raw materials’ extraction is planned in the future. A significant part of these territories is located on the lands of the forest fund. To characterize the dynamics of environmental conditions and predict measures for the rational formation of post-technogenic territories, it is important to study the overgrowing processes of disturbed lands. The study of technogenic landscapes makes it possible to assess the disturbance degree of the vegetation, living ground cover. The article shows the features of phytocenoses formation, their species diversity in the conditions of oil production on the territory of the Udmurt Republic. The growth and development of living ground cover, natural regeneration of tree species depending on the age and degree of pollution have been investigated. It was found that with an increase in the technogenesis age, an increase in the proportion of forest species in phytocenoses takes place. Therefore, when forecasting for a longer period, one can expect the formation of plant communities mainly from forest tree and shrub species.