Home – Home – Jornals – Siberian Journal of Forest Science 2023 number 3

The paper considers the urgency of the problem of flammability of sites for the location of oil and gas industry facilities and the need for pyrological expertise. For the first time in the Russian Federation, it is proposed to supplement the assessment of the impact on the environment of oil and gas complexes with the technology of pyrological expertise, developed at V. N. Sukachev Institute of Forest, Russian Academy of Sciences, Siberian Branch, and included in the Top-1000 list of the forum “Strong ideas for the new time-2022”. A proposal was made to supplement Clause 7.13.1.19 of the Order of the Ministry of Natural Resources dated December 1, 2020 № 999 “On approval of requirements for environmental impact assessment materials” with a fire-fighting arrangement of the territory, in accordance with the recommendations of the pyrological expertise. The concept of the pyrological expertise is given. The state of the issue on the assessment of natural fire danger in Russia and on the environmental policy of oil and gas companies is considered. To reduce the flammability of oil and gas fields, improve the fire safety of oil and gas facilities, better integrate Russian oil and gas companies into the energy transition process outlined by the Paris Agreement in 2015, and meet the requirements for industry decarbonization and ESG development, a complete review of corporate governance principles and available technologies is required, as well as shifting in mindset. The need to include vegetation fires, the number of which increases with the development of deposits, in the list of sources of greenhouse gases is noted. A review of materials and methods that can be used in the pyrological expertise is given. Guidelines have been developed for conducting the pyrological expertise based on a modern method for assessing fire hazard: making vegetation fuel maps and assessing the fire hazard of oil and gas facilities using the results of the Yurubcheno-Tokhomskoe field study as an example. The methodological recommendations presented in this article are based on many years of fundamental pyrological studies and the use of contemporary data for remote sensing of the Еarth and geoinformation technologies. Carrying out a pyrological expertise by oil and gas companies will help reduce vegetation fires, and hence reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase the investment attractiveness of companies and the ESG-rating.

Significant areas of land has been withdrawn from the forest fund for the extraction of precious metals in the Urals. After the completion of the development of alluvial deposits, these lands require reclamation work. Low content in soils formed during the extraction of precious metals (gold, platinum, silver) of mineral nutrition elements and nitrogen excluder the agricultural direction of reclamation without the introduction of significant dozes of organic and mineral fertilizers. At the same time, the forestry direction of reclamation is effective by creating Scots pine ( Pinus sylvestris L.) forest crops. It has been established that the creation of forest crops by sowing causes their transfer to lands covered with forest vegetation’s with a density of 3.9 to 6.4 thousand pieces per ha of pine undergrowth. The proportion of decommissioned dead forest crops is 10.9 % of those created by this method. When creating forest crops by mechanized planting of 2-3 year old seedlings of Scots pine, the share of decommissioned forest crops is 4.3 % and in manually planting of the same age seedlings decommission of forest crops was not recorded. Due to the mosaic nature of soils, the transfer of established forest crops covered with forest vegetation of the ground varies from 4 to 11 years. An increase in the preservation of forest crops can ensured by the use first class quality seeds of local origin, since the dead forest crops were created mainly by seeds of the second quality class.

The problem of changing tree species in protective afforestation remains poorly covered. The dynamics of species’ change in poplar ( Populus L.) protective forest belt growing next to the forest crops of the Scotch pine ( Рinus sylvestris L.) is discussed in the article. A forest belt 450 m long and 10 m wide grows in the steppe zone near the village of Shigaikulbash, Buzdyaksky District of the Republic of Bashkortostan. Accounting plots are laid every 50 m. Reliable pine undergrowth in the forest belt, poplar undergrowth was not found on any of the accounting plots. Comparative characteristics of pine undergrowth (density, average age, stem height, and diameter) and the condition of poplar trees were compared for 2008 and 2020. It was revealed that there was a change in the design of the forest belt from openwork to dense, there is a partial shrinkage of poplar, in some areas there is an exit of pine undergrowth to the first tier. For both periods, the highest density of pine (over 1.5 thousand trees/ha) was detected at a distance of up to 200 meters from pine forest crops, the lowest density (no more than 0.4 thousand trees/ha) - in the center of the forest belt. In 2020, the category of small undergrowth was not found, most of it is large undergrowth, some of which have entered the reproductive phase. The drying of poplar trees is observed. This was facilitated by a complex of reasons: the complete absence of agrotechnical care in the forest belts, a drought that has been recurring for several years and the maximum age of trees in the conditions of the steppe. There is no poplar undergrowth along the entire length of the forest strip. A similar pattern is observed in neighboring forest belts, which allows to make a conclusions about the actual change of balsam poplar ( Populus balsamifera L.) to Scotch pine in protective forest belts, which should be accompanied by logging and agrotechnical tillage on the edges of forest belts, followed by the formation of a young pine tree stand of openwork design.

The results of the studies of the features of adaptation of triploid aspen regenerants obtained in vitro using a hydroponic system are discussed in the article. Triploid clones of aspen ( Populus tremula L.) are characterized by rapid growth, high wood quality and increased resistance to diseases and pests compared to diploid clones and can be used to create forest plantations. Use of clonal micropropagation is advisable to preserve the valuable gene pool of triploid forms of aspen, while the adaptation of plants to ex vitro conditions is the most difficult process. Growing plants using the hydroponic method has several advantages. Triploid aspen regenerants, in which the length of the green mass prevails over the root mass, have a normal development without signs of infection and a good turgor of the green mass when they are removed from the test tube during the adaptation. Triploid aspen regenerants with decapitation of the apical shoot have the ratio of the lengths of the green mass to the root mass is close to 1:1, while the predominance of roots with values above the average is observed. Aspen plants with a predominance of root mass over green are formed from regenerants with leaving of 2 internodes and have an average of 2 roots of the first order. Triploid aspen plants-regenerants with biometric parameters of roots 5-7 cm and green mass up to 5 cm had the highest survival rates (94.7-100 %). A gradual decrease in the leaf surface area contributes to a better survival of regenerants, while it is necessary to reduce the humidity level from 100 % at the initial stage of adaptation to 60 % within 5 days, then - on 20 % with an interval of 3 days. The period of adaptation of triploid aspen plants in a hydroponic system is 16 days.

The study of the small mammal communities state in the city’s forest parks and park and in the forest, depending on changes in phytocenoses under the influence of recreation, was carried out. These studies have shown that the lower layers of phytocenoses of the forest communities belonging to pine stand characteristic of the South taiga district of the Trans-Urals foothill forest province (Kolesnikov et al., 1973) have been noticeably changed of the urban area. First of all, we observed a low renewable capacity of the main forest-forming species of the sites and the appearance of new species in the undergrowth, which are not important for forest-forming processes, but are signs of transformation of the lower layers of phytocenosis. The degree of regression digression in all urban sites was medium or weak. In the control it was very weak or absent. In forest parks and park both the extension of the shrub species composition due to synanthropic species and the increase in their number are of greater importance. The undergrowth in them is represented by raspberries ( Rubus idaeus L.), tatarian honeysuckle ( Lonicera tatarica L.), three-lobed viburnum ( Viburnum opulus L.), mountain ash ( Sorbus aucuparia L.), bird cherry ( Prunus padus L.), goat willow ( Salix caprea L.), elderberry ( Sambucus racemosa L.), round-leaved irga ( Amelanchier ovalis Medik.), dogwood ( Cotoneaster Medik.), rosehip ( Rosa acicularis Lindl.), hawthorn ( Crataegus oxyacantha L.). The undergrowth species composition of the control is much poorer than in urban localities: it contains: bird cherry, goat willow, dog rose, green broom ( Chamaecytisus ruthenicus (Fisch. ex Wol.) Klask.), mountain ash. The development of undergrowth is an influence on the growing conditions of grass-shrub species and the development of moss cover with the creation of a regime of favorability for some vegetation groups and suppression of others. Although there is a high similarity in the floral composition of the lower tiers between the forest parks, they differ in the composition of the dominant species. Changes in the lower levels of phytocenoses naturally had an impact on other components of the ecosystem, in particular, on communities of small mammals. In the urban sites appreciable share in the communities is made up of species absent from the forest: Ural field mouse ( Apodemus uralensis Pallas, 1811) and striped field mouse ( A. agrarius Pallas, 1771), which (during the years of depression in the surrounding forests) make up 60 % to 98 % of the community in the forest parks and parks. Comparison of the degree of similarity of the characteristics of the lower layers of phytocenoses and the characteristics of micromammal communities showed their high correspondence.

Species of the genus Cypress trees ( Chamaecyparis Spach), family Cupressaceae - monoecious evergreen trees with a cone-shaped dense crown and aromatic resinous needles. In nature, they grow in East Asia (China, Japan, Taiwan) and North America; ornamental plants suitable for urban gardening and modern urban floristry. These plants look good in single, group and avenue plantings, especially in places with a suitable climate. They give valuable light, fine-grained, fragrant, hard and durable wood. The varietal wealth is so great - only 4 species have produced over 1500 modern cultivars. In culture, many varieties of Japanese selection are known, which have already proven themselves well in other countries. In most cases, cypress trees are suitable in areas with a maritime climate, mild winters and high humidity. Comparison with literature and archival data shows that in recent years and decades, against the background of climate warming, there has been a significant increase in the size of plants. Blunt cypress ( Chamaecyparis obtusa (Siebold et Zucc.) Endl.), in the Peter the Great Botanical Garden of V. L. Komarov Botanical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences has been known since 1870, it grown in the collection in different periods -the first mention from 1870 to 1898, then in the period from 1949 to 1977. It has been included in the modern collection of the arboretum since 2009. At the age of 14, it is a double-trunked tree 1.94 m high, with a trunk of 0.20 m. In 2018, seed production was observed for the first time. In 2021, seed offspring were obtained. Given the ongoing warming of the climate in St. Petersburg and increasingly favorable wintering conditions, blunt cypress has prospects for wider cultivation in the North-West of Russia and introduction into the modern range of gardens and parks in St. Petersburg as a new ornamental plant. For planting blunt cypress, one should choose a place protected from cold winds, without stagnant moisture, near groundwater, but a slightly shaded place is possible. In the summer, plants should be watered, this is especially important for young plants, preventing their earthen coma from drying out. In winter, during heavy snowfalls, it is useful to shake off the plants to avoid snow breakage.

Article analyzes scientific achievements and heritage of Elena Grigor’evna Minina - famous Russian scientist, biologist, plant physiologist (24.04.1903 - 01.04.1989). Being an outstanding researcher in many fields of reproductive biology and plant physiology, E. G. Minina created the doctrine of sex determination and sexual reproduction in plants and the influence of phytohormones on the processes of sexualization. She considered the course of the processes of sexualization as a complex chain of chemical transformations, primarily the redox system and hormonal regulation. Elena Grigor’evna determined the directions of the studies under environmental stress, laid the foundations for studying the patterns of morphogenesis, sexual transformations in woody plants. She was the first to describe sexual transformations in the Siberian stone pine ( Pinus sibirica Du Tour) trees with acceleration of the reproductive cycle. These forms show signs of apomixis, characteristic of thriving angiosperms. Much attention in Elena Grigor’evna’s research was paid to elucidating the role of gravity in the processes of growth, formation and seed-bearing in coniferous plants. The criterion of the initial stage of atmospheric pollution, in her opinion, may be the direction of growth of lateral shoots. She is particularly interested in the problems of evolutionary physiology and reproductive biology of plants, provides schemes of phylogenetic relationships in the evolutionary development of angiosperms and gymnosperms. The level of evolutionary advancement of taxa and individuals within the species, in her opinion, is manifested in the intensity of photosynthesis, carbohydrate-nitrogen metabolism, biosynthesis of gibberellins and growth processes. According to Elena Grigor’evna’s teaching, a biotechnology of somatic embryogenesis of coniferous species is being developed, in which somatic cells in in vitro culture switch to the path of embryonic development, forming numerous embryos and plants with selectively significant traits. The list of the main scientific publications and the list of dissertations defended under his supervision is given.