Features of the Ground Cover and Forest Litter of Artificial Lime Plantations Depending on the Nature of Care

The peculiarities of the litter in three parkland lime plantations of Moscow oblast with different periods of mowing of the grass cover are studied. The forest litter is characterized as destructive low-power with a comparatively low margin. The most significant indicators of forest conditions are total litter stocks, the proportion of detritus, and the ratio of stocks of grass in the litter and biomass stocks of the grass layer, which indirectly indicates the intensity of the biological cycle. The maximum rate of the biological cycle is revealed for periodically extruded lime plantations.     

Litters of Urban Stands as an Indicator of the Intensity of Biological Cycling in a Megapolis (by the Example of Bitsevsky Park,Moscow)

Eurasian Soil Science - The intensity of biological cycling in urban park stands is assessed based on the following characteristics of the structure and functioning of forest litters: total litter...     

Methodical aspects of investigation of dynamic of litter fall input under conditions of stationary soil lysimeters

Time regularities of litter fall input are revealed in the investigation of phytocenoses under conditions of stationary soil lysimeters. These regularities correlate well with the dynamics typical of phytocenoses of the Botanical Garden of Moscow State University. The data on litter fall input obtained by sampling with the use of stationary litter fall traps and by the approach of collection of the total year litter fall are highly comparable. The total amount of organic substance and ash elements received with litter fall corresponds to the data given for natural ecosystems. It may be concluded that the functioning of modern phytocenoses under conditions of very restricted volume and area of soil lysimeters is normal.     

Improved Method for n-Alkanes and n-Methyl-Ketones Determination in Litters and Soils

Eurasian Soil Science - A new technique to extract lipid biomarkers (n-alkanes and n-methyl-ketones) from forest litters and soils using the accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) method was...     

Characterization of detritus profiles in some ecosystems of southern Sakhalin

The typology of the detritus profiles for the main forest types in the southern part of Sakhalin is developed for the first time. It is shown that their mean thickness varies from 4 to 8 cm and regularly decreases with increasing proportion of deciduous plants in the ground cover. It is found that this parameter agrees closely with the habitat conditions and the highest diversity of detritus profiles is observed under semihydromorphic conditions typical of alder stands. For the first time, it is proposed to assess the environmental favorability for humus formation using the Shannon index, the coefficient that relates the diversity level of the detritus profiles to the thickness of the humus horizon and enables the composition of ecological series. It is shown that the most favorable conditions for humus accumulation are created in the series birch forest–mixed coniferous forest–mixed deciduous forest. The applicability of the classification developed on the basis of studies in the forests of Primorye and Southern Yakutia to the forest ecosystems of Southern Sakhalin is confirmed.     

Natural waters in the system of related landscapes

A comparative analysis of natural waters in the system of southern taiga landscapes showed that the difference in their composition was due not only to their belonging to a certain type of a water entity but also to the nature of water-enclosing rocks. The specificity of the composition is particularly evident in the case of high carbonate concentration tending to the near-terrace area of the Klyazma River. It was found that snow waters of Moscow region landscapes were less polluted than urban waters. A comparison of lysimetric and natural waters suggests that two conventional groups are observed in nature: the former is formed by watercourses of floodplain landscapes with an increased carbonate content, and the latter is made up by natural waters that belong to landscapes outside the impact of carbonates. Lysimetric soils of unpolluted areas obviously tend to natural landscapes, whereas waters in the zone of impact of deicing agents form an independent group.