Productivity and life length of oak (Quercus robur L.) artificial crop in the Northern Ergeny, Kalmykia

Abstract

The paper deals with the current state, productivity and durability of oak tree (Quercusrobur L.) stand in the Northern Ergeny (Kalmykia, Russia). The best forest-growing conditions are formed on light alluvial-deluvial soils of river terraces during the first years of plant life as well as in large depressions of placers with dark-colored soils and the horizon below onemeter. Large deep gulches of Ergeny partially overgrown with natural tree and shrub vegetation play the most important role for massive (continuous) afforestation in the territory of Kalmykia. When cultivating forest stands under these conditions, the most productive and durable breed is the pedunculate oak. Seed generation of oak can develop according to I-III class of forest appraisal index (the forest density stored up to this age is 160-190 m3 ha-1) and survive to 80-100 years and in the case of timely cutting – to form a stable coppice stand. Effective methods of cultivation of viable plantings on placers are: formation of a long-term reserve of soil moisture, creation of pure plantations of medium density from relatively shade-tolerant tree species and large shrubs frequent removal of dead wood and unpromising trees, formation of a shadowy underbrush or undergrowth in rapidly dilapidated stands.