The State of the Ash-Leaved Maple (Acer negundo L.) in the Barnaul Ribbon Pine Forest

Abstract

Ash-leaved maple is one of the most aggressive alien species in most Russian regions. It was first brought to the Altai Krai in 1933. For a long time, maple had been used in the urban and village greenery planting and tree belt areas. Nowadays, it is actively settling along riverbanks, roadsides, abandoned lands, etc. Ash-leaved maple is a danger as a transformer species, preventing the pine’s reproduction in the unique natural communities – ribbon pine forests. We studied the state of the Acer negundo L. populations as a transformer species in the Barnaul ribbon pine forest. The maple population status was assessed by the transect method at the selected registration sites. The age of plants was determined by the method of T. A. Rabotnov. The first ordered branches were used for a more detailed characterization of the maple populations. The introduction of maples into the Pinus sylvestris L. communities is associated with a significant anthropogenic impact on the natural communities of the ribbon pine forest. There are pure maple communities formed in some places in the northern part of the ribbon pine forest. Throughout the Barnaul ribbon pine forest, the maple populations are normal and invasive only in the south part. The first-ordered maple branches in the southern part of the ribbon pine forest have signs of apex change associated with adverse ecological factors. The development indicators of maple trees along the entire ribbon pine forest were evaluated for the first time. The results indicate the high adaptability of maple to various ecological factors.