Home – Home – Jornals – Contemporary Problems of Ecology 2020 number 6

Vaccinium vitis-idaeа L. is a widespread and dominant species of the boreal forests. It has an important ecological role as food source for human, many animal and birds species. The aim of this study was to determine ecological features, ontogenetic structure of V. vitis-idaea populations in forest ecosystems of the southern taiga (Kirov region, Russia). V. vitis-idaea is a gemyeurybiotic species which ecological space amplitude in Kirov Region does not exceed the limits of Tsyganov’s scales ecological range [1983]. Discomfort index calculated with phytoindication data allowed determining the level of favour. We have determined that conditions of swampy pine forest (CP 2, 5) with optimum ecological parameters for the species growth. The least favourable conditions for V. vitis-idaea development are formed in the herbaceous birch forests and green moss spruce forest (CP 4, 10) where maximum discomfort indices are marked: 1.08. All studied populations are normal and incomplete. Pre-generative individuals are stable and often dominate. Less constant are generative plants which are absent in some populations (CP 10). Dominating spectre type of the populations is bimodal. Index of substitution states that prospective populations prevail in the study, excluding population 3 which was unstable and ineffective in self-renewal. Delta-omega classification shows that young populations prevail in the study. The ecological conditions of the studied phytocoenoses affect the ontogenetic parameters of V. vitis-idaea plants. The quantity of the young generative age group depends on the soil moisture ( r = 0.76) and the soil moisture variability ( r = -0.68); pregenerative age groups depend on illumination ( r = 0.74). The significant effect on the age index replacement index, coefficient of vegetative self-support have such parameters as illumination.