MAPPING OF THE SOUTHERN TAIGA-FORESTS IN MID-SIBERI, INCLUDING REGIONAL OIL BED (KOVICTA)

5th International Scientific Conference - SGEM2005, www.sgem.org, SGEM2005 Conference Proceedings/ ISBN: 954-918181-2, June 13-17, 2005, 623- 630pp

ABSTRACT

The forest ecological systems in middle Siberia play an important role in
supporting the structural carbon balance and the balance of mineral materials. These
ecological systems are able to significantly self-regulate and establish a balance of
substance circulation in the environment. This is particularly important in conditions of
serious anthropogenic forest disturbances in the south of mid-Siberia. In a number of
areas of the Angara-Yenisei region, including pine forests in regional oil bad in Covicta,
intensive damage to the forests on vast territories has resulted in the formation of less
productive stably-derived dark-coniferous small-leaved and light-coniferous smallleaved
forests in place of the indigenous fir-pine forests. This triggered noncharacteristic
cycles of carbon and other mineral materials circulation. The process is
connected with a disastrous change of the ecological-geographical factors and, first of
all, with an increase of the continental features of climate at the background of its
change on a global scale.
The majority of forests in the south of mid-Siberia are forming ecological unevenage
systems. Uneven-age forests involve different types of carbon and mineral
accumulation and biological carbon circulation. In studying these forests, it is
especially appropriate to do comprehensive ecological – geographical research in order
to assess the long-term changes of the forests caused by their use. With this object in
view, it is necessary to investigate the spatial-temporal dynamics and, in particular, the
age-regeneration dynamics and succession dynamics of the forests, and to reflect them
in the mapping as well as when constructing multifunctional mathematical models of
carbon circulation.
We report the characteristic features of the present status and dynamics of forest
vegetation in the south-eastern part of the Angara-Yenisei region. As an illustration, a
computer-generated map is given. In the mapping we used the MAGIS system. The
satellite photographs (obtained with the MK-4 camera) were automatically processed.