The aim is to analyze the resistance of tree and shrub vegetation used to create protective forest belts to air pollution on the basis of experimental studies conducted by other scientists. The research was carried out on the basis of the development of experimental materials on the resistance of tree and shrub vegetation to atmospheric pollution by dust and gases, presented in the works of famous scientists. The obtained results were generalized, the probability of growing gas- and dust-resistant trees in the conditions of climate change in relation to their drought resistance was estimated and the most resistant species of trees and shrubs were recommended. Also identified species of plants that can act as bioindicators of air pollution. Studied by Prysedsky Yu.G. (2014) plant species in terms of resistance to atmospheric pollutants with sulfur, nitrogen and fluorine compounds were divided into four groups: tolerant (resistant), moderately damaged, unstable and with variable resistance. The group of resistant species includes prickly pear, common oak, Tatar honeysuckle and caragana arborescens. These species can be used to create protective forest belts. At the same time, reliable plant indicators of sulfur, nitrogen and fluoride oxides in the air will be unstable plant species — mountain ash and poplar Bolle. Classification of trees and shrubs in terms of their resistance to atmospheric smoke divides plants into three groups: stable, relatively stable, unstable, with the allocation of primary and secondary wood species for forest belts, as well as shrubs. The most resistant to atmospheric smoke are white acacia, elm, white willow, forest pear, poplar, hazel, juniper, forest apple. They can be the main components of protective forest belts in the area of atmospheric smoke. Unstable species — red oak, Scots pine, horse chestnut, viburnum — are bioindicators of atmospheric smoke. There is also a classification of tree species by dust retention M.I. Kalinin (1991). Behind it the most dust of 1 m2 of leaves is retained by white mulberry — 8.1 g, weeping willow — 8.1 g, three-pricked gladiolus — 5.1 g, elm — 4.1 g and field maple — 3.6 g. One tree absorbs the most dust during the growing season in weeping willow — 37.9 kg, Canadian poplar — 34.1 kg, white mulberry — 31.3 kg, ash — 27.1–29.6 kg, maple — 29,2 kg and high island — 24.2 kg. According to Vergeles (2000), poplars have the highest average relative dust resistance — 180 points, common ash — 170, bitter horse chestnut and linden leaf heart — 100 points each.
The positive agroecological impact of field-protective forest plantations on the state of agricultural land is noted, which is manifested in the cessation of the development of water and wind erosion, the accumulation of moisture in the soil, the creation of a favorable microclimate in crops, an increase in the general biodiversity, which leads to an increase in the yield of field cult by 20%, the productivity of pastures - up to 25%, dairy production - up to 12%. However, in recent years, the functional properties of field-protective afforestation have sharply decreased due to an unbalanced ratio of arable land, natural hayfields and pastures, forests with a significant predominance of arable land; strengthening of the negative impact on agricultural landscapes and their biological component, in particular climate change in the direction of aridity, aridization, technogenic load, and the like; deterioration of the silvicultural state of field-protective forest plantations of a linear type, a decrease in their areas, a decrease in protective and reclamation functions, a violation of their optimal age and species structure; the inconsistency of the structures of field-protective forest plantations with certain types of agricultural landscapes, reduces their ameliorative impact on agricultural land; the absence of completed systems of protective forest plantations of the linear type; application of simplified technologies in agriculture, weakening the ameliorative influence of protective forest plantations of a linear type on agricultural land; decrease in the volume of creation of agroforestry plantations over the past decades; lack of targeted systemic government measures for protective forest plantations of the linear type; insufficient total area of various categories of protective forest plantations of the linear type; reduction of the area of protective forest plantations of the linear type due to illegal economic activities; liquidation of agroforestry services; a significant decrease in the amount of funding for scientific research on agroforestry; lack of legal norms that provide for liability for inefficient land use. Analysis of the current degree of completeness and completeness of systems of field-protective forest plantations and the need for their optimization showed that field-protective forest cover in Ukraine is only 1.5% of the total land use area, in particular, in the Steppe zone - 2.2%, in the Forest-steppe - 1.0 and in Polesie - 0.4%. The area of forest shelter belts for various purposes, as well as forests, which, in turn, perform protective functions, is insufficient to stabilize the environment and create conditions for normal management. The total and field-protective forest cover of agricultural land in Ukraine is significantly lower than the established standards, which are about 3%. At this time, the situation with field-protective plantations is as follows: lands under field-protective forest belts no longer belong to the lands of the forest fund, but have become agricultural lands with the status of non-agricultural lands; lands under forest shelter belts are in communal ownership; lands for forest shelterbelts are transferred for permanent use and lease; permanent use of land for field protection plantations is transferred exclusively to specialized enterprises of communal and state forms of ownership; any natural or legal person can get a lease of field-protective forest belts, provided that the lease agreement includes the obligation to maintain and preserve such belts and ensure that they perform the functions of agroforestry reclamation; the rules for the maintenance of shelterbelts must be approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
It was established that the territory of the farm belongs to the following forest categories: forests of nature protection, scientific, historical and cultural purposes – 1322.4 ha; recreational and health forests – 718 ha; protective forests – 3837.9 ha; exploitation forests – 17,407.7 ha. As a result of conducted field research within the forest fund of the enterprise, it was established that plantations over 100 years old are characterized by the predominance of common oak with the participation of common ash in the composition. It has been established that within the boundaries of the forest and hunting economy, among the areas where it is planned to carry out felling for the main use, plantations that are classified as exploitation forests predominate. The total area of such plantations is 152.3 hectares, and the number of plots is 47. It was determined that the number of areas of oak forests over 100 years old that will be felled in the next audit period during felling of the main use in protective and recreational forests is 6 and 5, respectively. According to the above results, out of the total number of main-use felling plots – 58 forest stands of fresh hornbeam forest – 55. Only 3 plots are located in wet hornbeam forest. Accordingly, the largest areas of main felling areas – 179.9 hectares – are concentrated in fresh hornbeam forest. It was investigated that the territory of the farm belongs to high credit standings (credit rating 1-1a-2). The largest number and area of plots is characterized by the 1st rating (42 plots with an area of 114.0 ha). There are almost 2-3 times less plots of 2 rating (15 plots, with an area of 68.3 hectares). In the process of conducting research, we discovered a significant number of stands with possible natural regeneration. The total share of such stands in relation to the total number is 3.75 %, and from the total area – 4.88 %. Accordingly, the maximum area of a separate plot is 10.5 hectares, and the minimum is 2.5 hectares. According to the conducted research, out of 80 plots, 37 lack any natural regeneration in sufficient quantity.It was determined that the average age of natural renewal is 11 years. The height is 3.6 m, the density of natural regeneration is 7.7 thousand pieces/ha, the average age is 23.6 years.
The vast majority of field protective forest plantations in Ukraine were created in the 1950s and 1970s. Today, most of them are reaching a critical age and need reconstruction. However, the first stage should be an assessment of their current ecological state, on the basis of which the following measures for their reconstruction can be developed. Field observations were conducted during 2021-2022 in the right-bank forest-steppe natural zone in the central part of Ukraine, Vinnytsia region, Vinnytsia district. The total survey area was 400 km2. In total, 70 main field protective forest belts and 40 auxiliary field protective forest belts in the zone of intensive agricultural production were surveyed.The main field protective forest belts perform much more environmental protection functions than the auxiliary forest belts, in particular, they slow down the wind speed, optimize the microclimate of the surface layer of the atmosphere, stop the development of soil erosion processes, and others. Their more intensive performance of defensive functions causes them to be more suppressed, compared to the auxiliary ones. In particular, in the main field protective forest belts, the share of felled trees was 6.6% higher than in the auxiliary ones, the share of dry trees was 1.2% higher, drying trees were 0.9% higher, the share of trampled vegetation was 2.3% higher, which in aggregate increased the fire danger in the main field protective forest belts by 4.1% compared to the auxiliary ones. Also, all the main field protective forest belts were littered with solid household waste. That's why, the main field protective forest belts need priority protection measures.
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