Adaptation of International Indicators of Land Degradation Neutrality for the Assessment of Forest Ecosystems in Arid Conditions in Russia
2020
Ptichnikov, A. V. | Martynyuk, A. A.
This paper addresses a large-scale problem: the degradation of protective forest plantings on arid lands in southern Russia. The degradation is primarily caused by a drastic reduction in the scope of forest-maintenance works carried out by forestry authorities due to cutbacks in funding and changes in ownership rights to lands with field-sheltering forest belts. The deterioration of forest plantings includes their pollution by domestic and industrial waste; damage caused by fire, illegal felling, diseases, and pests; the development of sod-formation processes in soils; and the thinning and decay of the forest cover. Currently, the sanitary condition of more than half of such plantings is unsatisfactory; they have reached their maximum age and have begun to decay. Due to the scale of the problem, it is suggested that the tools of the concept of land degradation neutrality (LDN) be used to monitor ongoing changes in such forest plantings and the use of accumulated practical experience to supplement the set of global LDN indicators with a number of national parameters, including the following forest taxation (valuation) characteristics: timber deposit, forest-cover percentage, and gross growth (taking into account the mortality). An additional indicator is also suggested: the biological diversity level (i.e., species diversity of the tree and shrubbery vegetation in protective forest plantings). LDN assessment should take into consideration the location of forest plantings on state-owned and private lands with various management goals.
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