Forest vegetation of the national park “Koigorodsky” (Komi republic)

¹ Institute of Biology of the Komi Scientific Center of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Syktyvkar, Komi Republic, Russia
² St. Petersburg State Forest Technical University named after S.M. Kirov, St. Petersburg, Russia

^* Corresponding author: kanev@ib.komisc.ru

Abstract

The Koygorodsky National Park was organized by the Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 07.12.2019. The area is 56.7 thousand hectares. Organizers of the Koygorodsky National Park hypostasized that in the Southern part of Komi Republic where the Park was located spruce and fir forests with nemoral occurred. They also hypostasized also that the forests of Koygorodsky National Park existed for a long period in the conditions of natural dynamics. The purpose of the article is to test these hypotheses. The National Park is located in the eastern part of the East European Plain near the border between meddle and southern subzones of taiga zone. The relief on the most part of the reserve is formed by the edges of the Northern Uvals The first data on the forest vegetation and flora of vascular plants of the Koigorodsky National Park, which has not been studied botanically before, have been obtained. 12 plant associations from five formations of dark coniferous (spruce, fir), light coniferous (pine) and small-leaved (aspen, birch) forests were identified in the classification of forest vegetation of the Koygorodsky National Park. Spruce forests occupy a fairly wide range of sites, were represented by three groups of associations: green-moss, herb-rich and bog moss, and occurred mainly to river valleys and wetlands of the watershed. Aspen forests were represented by green-moss and herbaceous communities and occupied most of the territory of the National Park. Birch, pine and fir forests occupied small areas. The predominance of secondary small-leaved aspen and birch forests in the territory of the National Park refutes the hypothesis that its forests existed for a long time without human influence. At the same time, the hypothesis about the presence of communities with a high proportion of nemoral species in the Koygorodsky National Park was confirmed.