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Full text (English)
(4,750 KB)
Northern European Russia is not the endless sea of forest wilderness that many people imagine.
Full text (Russian)
(10,659 KB)
This first attempt at identifying boreal forest areas of minimal human disturbance (intact) using high-resolution satellite imagery reveals that only 14 percent or 32 million hectares of the boreal or northern forests of European Russia remain.
Summary (English)
(65 KB)
Many people think of the Russian taiga as an unlimited expanse of undisturbed nature. The main purpose of this study was to find out to which extent this notion is true.
Summary (Russian)
(68 KB)
Summary in Russian language
Main conclusions
(50 KB)
Outlines seven main conclusions of report.
Introduction
(84 KB)
The boreal region of European Russia used to be regarded as a virtually unlimited storehouse of forest riches. But a preliminary assessment shows that the remaining undeveloped parts of the taiga are small and diminishing.
General forest characteristics of the region
(190 KB)
Russia's taiga as a whole is a complex mosaic of different ecosystems. Many areas are primarily bogs, sparse forest, mountain tundra, and other non-forest ecosystems. The dominance of conifers in the older forests is absolute.
The natural dynamics of Taiga forests
(65 KB)
Russia's intact taiga has two main types of random disturbances dynamics which are particularly important: those associated with the development of a tree population without any catastrophic disturbances and those associated with the effect of fires.
Gap dynamics
(219 KB)
Gap dynamics is associated with the death of individual old trees or tree groups, causing openings (gaps) to appear in the canopy, letting in light and giving smaller trees the possibility to grow and assume a place in the stand.
Fire dynamics
(249 KB)
Fire or pyrogenic dynamics are associated with the periodic partial or total burning of a forest as a result either of natural causes or human activities and the establishment of a new tree generation on the cleared area.
Secondary forests
(433 KB)
The majority of taiga forests in European Russia have been severely altered in terms of structural and dynamic organization and are therefore classified as secondary forests. Yet determining the exact share of secondary forest is difficult.
Anthropogenic influences on forests
(77 KB)
Despite the influence of pre-industrial human activity on the structure and dynamics of the taiga landscape, it is, for the purposes of this work, treated as a historical factor in forming the taiga rather than as anthropogenic disturbance.
Anthropogenic influences on forests
(77 KB)
Despite the influence of pre-industrial human activity on the structure and dynamics of the taiga landscape, it is, for the purposes of this work, treated as a historical factor in forming the taiga rather than as anthropogenic disturbance.
The industrial development of the Taiga as a wood resource
(557 KB)
High grading in various forms has historically been the main form of logging in the taiga, with little or no consideration of long-term consequences.
The natural value of large boreal forest landscapes
(82 KB)
Protecting large intact boreal landscapes is significantly less expensive than protecting many small fragments within an otherwise heavily transformed landscape. At the same time the environmental benefit is greater.
Background human influence
(72 KB)
Each forest is affected by human activities.
Materials and sources of information
(58 KB)
The study used four major information sources: General topographic maps, thematic maps, Middle resolution satellite images, High resolution satellite images.
Satelliet images used
(269 KB)
Two main types of satellite imagery were used in this study: medium resolution images, taken by Russian satellite Resurs-0-3 and high resolution images, taken by the American satellite Landsat-7.
Field data collection in key areas
(126 KB)
A significant amount of field work was carried out in order to guide and verify the mapping.
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