Vegetation and fire history of the East-European forest-steppe over the last 14,800 years: A case study from Zamostye, Kursk region, Russia

Lukanina, Ekaterina; Shumilovskikh, Lyudmila; Novenko, Elena Y

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2022.111218

Cited by 9 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 79 publications

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“…The observed increase in forested areas is likely a universal trend during the current Holocene climate period. This has been discussed in numerous publications focusing on paleogeographical reconstructions of natural environments in the forest-steppe zone, both in Russia [41][42][43] and in other countries [44][45][46]. Some studies provide evidence for a drier climate during the Bronze Age, when grasslands expanded further north and forests were limited to river valleys and ravine bottoms [47][48][49].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Forest Vegetation and Their Impacts on Soil Properties in the Forest-Steppe Zone of Central Russian Upland: A Remote Sensing, GIS Analysis, and Field Studies Approach

Chendev,

Lupo,

Terekhin

et al. 2023

Forests

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This article showcases the outcomes of a comprehensive spatiotemporal dynamic analysis conducted in forest vegetation areas within the forest-steppe zone of the Central Russian Upland (eastern Europe), spanning the period from 1970 to 2020. This study utilized high-resolution data from the Corona satellite system from the year 1970 as well as satellite imagery from the ArcGIS World Imagery database. Soil properties and their changes were assessed based on the analysis of soil bulk density (930 samples), soil organic carbon features, pH, available phosphorus, and the composition of salt extracts (1362 samples). We collected and analyzed 3920 soil samples in the field to study the impact of shelterbelts on soil moisture over a period of two years. For six selected key sites with a total area of 1722 km2, it was found that over a 50-year period, the area covered by forest vegetation increased from 14% to 24%. This expansion was primarily due to the planting and growth of young shelterbelts in the 1970s–1980s as well as widening anti-erosion shelterbelts on slopes and gullies. The average linear growth rate of forest vegetation boundaries was found to be 23.5 m (4.7 m per decade) for the entire study area. The expansion was highest on west-facing slopes, which was attributed to the higher moisture content from windward atmospheric precipitation events. However, alongside the increase in forest cover, degradation was also observed, particularly in old-age shelterbelts, which was attributed to increased fragmentation and mortality. A gradual increase in the extent of shelterbelt degradation was observed from the northwest to the southeast within the forest-steppe region, corresponding to areas with a drier climate. Additionally, the impact of shelterbelts on soil properties and soil cover was analyzed using four key sites and using fields and laboratory research methods. We detected a lateral uptake of substances from plowed soils into the soils of shelterbelts and vertical uptake from deep layers. The two-year observations (2020 and 2021) of soil moisture during the growing season (May–September) in two climatically contrasting forest-steppe areas revealed a more intensive accumulation of soil moisture in fields west of shelterbelts compared to those to the east of them, particularly within the 10 m zone near the shelterbelts. This can be attributed to arable fields on the windward side receiving more moisture compared to the leeward side. The formation of striped microstructures in the soil cover that occurred under the shelterbelts and on adjacent arable lands was influenced by various factors such as microclimatic conditions, vegetation types, ecological conditions for soil fauna, and human-induced soil processing and transformation along the shelterbelt boundaries. Shelterbelts and their adjacent areas in agro-landscapes are considered to be self-developing natural–anthropogenic geosystems with their own organizational structure. Therefore, their study is recommended as an integral part of modern geographical zoning.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Forest Vegetation and Their Impacts on Soil Properties in the Forest-Steppe Zone of Central Russian Upland: A Remote Sensing, GIS Analysis, and Field Studies Approach

Chendev,

Lupo,

Terekhin

et al. 2023

Forests

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“…There is clear evidence for such over-exploitation from a range of territories. Pollen data in the forest-steppe zone in the Eastern European Plain (Novenko et al, 2015(Novenko et al, , 2016Shumilovskikh et al, 2018Shumilovskikh et al, , 2019Lukanina et al, 2022) demonstrate that the first destructions of the forests occurred in the Iron Age, leading to total deforestation for agriculture in many areas within the last 300-500 years. Eastern Mediterranean records from Turkey point to similar developments (van Zeist and Bottema, 1991;Shumilovskikh et al, 2016b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Woodland use in treeless landscapes? A compilation of botanical data from NE Iran during the Sasanian Empire

Shumilovskikh

Djamali

Beaulieu

et al. 2023

Quaternary International

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1100-years history of transformation of the East European forest-steppe into arable land: Case study from Kursk region (Russia)

Kasianova,

Schmidt,

Radyush

et al. 2023

Anthropocene

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Vegetation and fire history of the East-European forest-steppe over the last 14,800 years: A case study from Zamostye, Kursk region, Russia

Cited by 9 publications

References 79 publications

Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Forest Vegetation and Their Impacts on Soil Properties in the Forest-Steppe Zone of Central Russian Upland: A Remote Sensing, GIS Analysis, and Field Studies Approach

Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Forest Vegetation and Their Impacts on Soil Properties in the Forest-Steppe Zone of Central Russian Upland: A Remote Sensing, GIS Analysis, and Field Studies Approach

Woodland use in treeless landscapes? A compilation of botanical data from NE Iran during the Sasanian Empire

1100-years history of transformation of the East European forest-steppe into arable land: Case study from Kursk region (Russia)

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