Influence of protective forest belts on snow accumulation in agricultural landscapes

Abstract

In semi-arid climate conditions, where farming is complicated by a lack of atmospheric moisture, the preservation of snow in an agroforest landscape serves as an additional source of moisture for the growth and development of tree and shrub vegetation. The paper investigates the role of forest belts of a combined structure on the characteristics of snow deposition depending on different patterns of shrub placement (along the top edge, along the lower edge, on both sides). The results of the conducted snow surveys show that experimental sites with shrubs along the top edge are characterized by the highest level of snow accumulation both in the forest belt and in the adjacent field. The snow-retaining function in the forest belt zone is weaker in the presence of shrubs on both sides. It has been established that the values of snow density increase with approaching the forest stand. The highest values were recorded in the forest belt with shrubs along the top edge (up to 0.5 g cm-3). The accumulation of snow and its density eventually affected the amount of snow reserves. The highest values of snow reserves were observed in the forest belt with shrubs along the top edge with a row width of up to 1 m. This contributed to the accumulation of 82-203 mm of snow in the forest belt area (at 43 mm of snowfall). Shrub placement along the lower edge provoked a loss of moisture in the forest belt itself, which made this pattern ineffective. The results obtained can be applied in the design of protective forest belts in the areas with insufficient moisture.