Vegetation dynamics and environmental variation in Kamchatka

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

We established several permanent plots of 1 ha for studying forest dynamics in Kamchatka. We carried out measurements of tree sizes (stem diameter, tree height), positions in the plots and physical environments such as light intensity and temperature. Picea seedlings established under the tree crown but not in gaps. Therefore, gap regeneration dynamics, which is a well known phenomenon in temperate and tropical forests, does not work in the forests of Kamchatka. This is a new phenomenon we found in Kamchatka. We hypothesize that this is because of severe environments such as high light stress, low temperature, low precipitation, in Kamchatka. We also carried out investigations in the Koryto glacier for reconstructing past climate change (temperature, precipitation) in Kamchatka for comparison with forest dynamics. We found that forest fire occurs more frequently in years with lower precipitation. Effects of forest fires on forest dynamics and climate change have also bee investigated by using simulation models.