Relationship between stand and regeneration of Picea obovata Ledeb. and Abies sibirica Ledeb. in the primary and secondary forests of the Southern Ural Mountains

Institute Botanic Garden of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 620144 Yekaterinburg, Russia

^* Corresponding author: i.n.s@bk.ru

Abstract

The aim of the research is to reveal the relationship between the age and composition of the forest stand and the regeneration of Picea obovata Ledeb. and Abies sibirica Ledeb. Null hypothesis: we can estimate young generations of P. obovata and A. sibirica under the forest canopy based on the composition and age of the forest stand. The studies conducted in the most widespread forest type of the South Ural Mountains confirmed our null hypothesis about the possibility of modelling the regeneration of P. obovata and A. sibirica by the structure of the stand. The number of young generations of P. obovata and A. sibirica showed high sensitivity to the age and composition of the stand. The graphical models developed by us can be used to combine with forest management data in order to obtain large-scale data on the regeneration of woody plants in the primary spruce small-grass-green mossy forests and secondary birch and aspen forests of the South Ural Mountains. In order to expand the scope of application of the developed models, it is planned to conduct additional studies for other forest types of the Urals.