Air temperature changes due to altitude above sea level in the Northern Ural Mountains

Abstract

The research is devoted to an urgent modern problem: the identification of temperature factors that limit the distribution and survival of plants in the mountainous conditions of the Northern Urals. The article’s aim is to determine the air temperature in four altitudinal zones of the southern part of the Northern Urals (Sverdlovsk region 59º30´N, 59º15´E) and to identify regression relationships of the obtained temperature data with control temperature data from the nearest meteorological station. Registration of air temperatures was carried out from May to September 2019 around the clock, every two hours in the mountain forest zone (at an altitude of 460 and 640 m above sea level) under the canopy of Siberian stone pine forests, in the zone of subalpine woodlands with elements of mountain forest tundra (820 m above sea level) and on a plateau in the mountain tundra zone (1030 m above sea level). It has been established that the change in air temperature at different altitude levels and at the nearest meteorological station (far from 60 km, at an altitude of 202 m above sea level) occurs relatively synchronously. Difference between average daily temperatures at altitudes of 460, 640, 820 and 1030 m above sea level and the control data of the meteorological station is 2.2, 3.0, 4.7 and 5.1ºC respectively. For all altitude levels, a reliable close straight-line relationship between average daily air temperatures and meteorological station data has been established. The altitudes of 460, 640, 820 and 1030 m above sea level correspond to the coefficients of determination ( R 2) equal to 0.96, 0.95, 0.92 and 0.88. The relationship of the minimum temperatures of the corresponding altitude levels with the control data is also quite high ( R 2 is not lower than 0.7). With the help of the identified relationships and the obtained regression equations, it is possible to retrospectively restore the dynamics of the thermal regime according to the meteorological station data for mountain habitats of different altitudes in the southern part of the Northern Urals over a long period. Including extreme critical temperatures, which act as factors limiting the resettlement and survival of plants and determine the ecosystem biodiversity.