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Krasnoshchekov Yu. N. Transformation of Water-Controlling and Soil-Protective Functions of Mongolia’s Larch Forests under Influence of Anthropogenic Factors

Authors:
Keywords:
water-controlling and soil protection functions of mountain forests, water-physical soil properties, surface liquid and solid matter runoff
Pages:
42–57

Abstract

How to cite: Krasnoshchekov Yu. N. Transformation of water-controlling and soil-protective functions of Mongolia’s larch forests under influence of anthropogenic factors // Sibirskij Lesnoj Zurnal (Sib. J. For. Sci.). 2018. N. 3: 42–57 (in Russian with English abstract).

DOI: 10.15372/SJFS20180305

© Krasnoshchekov Yu. N., 2018

The data of experimental studies on the effect of final felling and forest fires on the changes in water regulation and soil protection functions of larch forests in Northern Mongolia are considered. The results of snow surveys on felling and burns in pseudo-taiga and subtaiga larch forests of Central Khangai and East Khentey are analyzed. It was revealed that in the conditions of winters with little snow, the forests are snow accumulators and can significantly affect the replenishment of spring moisture reserves and the moisture regime of soils. During the melting of snow, the runoff in the forest starts 2–4 days later than on logged and burned areas. It is established that, in contrast to the mountain forests of Siberia, the Urals and the Far East, the water-controlling role of forests in Mongolia is most clearly expressed in the warm season, when the main amount of precipitation falls and the maximum annual runoff of rivers is formed. At this time, the forest largely prevents the formation of surface runoff, contributes to a more uniform groundwater supply of rivers and is a powerful anti-erosion factor. In the forest, the surface run-off in summer usually does not exceed 0.6 % of the total precipitation. The negative effect of conditionally final and final felling and ground litter-humus fires on changes in stocks, the qualitative fractional composition of forest litter and their moisture capacity, and also the water-physical properties of soils is shown. On logged and burned areas soil density increases, total porosity decreases, the range of active moisture decreases and the water holding capacity of the upper soil horizons decreases. Quantitative indicators of summer liquid and solid matter surface runoff formed on logged and burned areas in larch forests of Central Khangai and East Khentey are given. Anthropogenic destruction of forest ecosystems inevitably leads to their degradation, the restoration of which takes many decades.


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