FORESTS ON THE NORTHERN SHORE OF LAKE LADOGA: LANDSCAPE CHARACTERISTICS AND CHANGES CAUSED BY HUMAN IMPACT
Materials on the natural features and present-day status of forests on the northern shore of Lake Ladoga are presented. The study area covers some 700 km along the shore – from the Svir River mouth to the R. Kokkolanjoki – L. Veyalanjarvi – R. Asilanjoki system (the Asilanjoki empties into Lake Lado...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Karelian Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences
2020-05-01
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| Series: | Transactions of the Karelian Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journals.krc.karelia.ru/index.php/ecology/article/view/1158 |
| Summary: | Materials on the natural features and present-day status of forests on the northern shore of Lake Ladoga are presented. The study area covers some 700 km along the shore – from the Svir River mouth to the R. Kokkolanjoki – L. Veyalanjarvi – R. Asilanjoki system (the Asilanjoki empties into Lake Ladoga at the border between Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Region). The material was gathered through analysis of archival data,<br />satellite and aerial images, surveys of the shore along pre-defined routes, and descriptions of the forest cover along landscape profiles. Within a coastal strip of up to 10 km<br />wide, 9 profiles (41 km long in total) have been established at different times in the past, 6 of them (28 km) starting from the shoreline. This part of the shore is occupied almost<br />entirely by the following geographical landscape types: a) lacustrine and glaciolacustrine heavily paludified flatland with pine habitats prevailing; b) lacustrine and glaciolacustrine<br />moderately paludified flatland with pine habitats prevailing; c) rocky, slightly paludified landscape with pine habitats prevailing. In the middle taiga subzone of Karelia, these types<br />occupy 8, 4.5 and 1 % of its area, respectively. General characteristics of the landscapes (geological-geomorphological, degree of paludification, soil cover) are briefly described.<br />The range, ratio and spatial arrangement of forest types were identified (with examples of the most characteristic fragments of landscape profiles). The distinctive features of forest<br />in some locations on the shore are reported. The transformations of the forest cover as a result of human activities are evaluated (through comparison with archival, nearly 150‑year-old, forest inventory data). The present-day situation is described in terms of designation of protected areas of various categories and protective forests. |
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| ISSN: | 1997-3217 2312-4504 |