Mechanical stability of Virginian juniper trees in steppe zone of the eastern-european plain

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Abstract

The paper establishes a relationship between the temperature factor, a physico-mechanical parameter — the modulus of elasticity of the Virginian juniper (Juniperus virginiana L.) wood tissues and its crown architectonics. Thus, with high positive temperatures in summer, a decrease in the elastic modulus leads to slow bending of the skeletal branches, which, in turn, affects the crown projection area, as well as its light permeability and, as a result, the temperature and humidity under the canopy. First of all, the temperature will affect the mechanical stability of trees, which is characterised by a critical ratio of the trunk diameter to its length (coefficient d/l ≤ 0.009) and the lowest range of the trunk’s resilience. The article developed a scheme for the mechanical stability of the Virginian juniper — due to the appearance of gaps and, in general, changes in the architectonics of the crown, uneven heating of the trunk occurs, which leads to a disruption of its uniformity in terms of the physico-mechanical properties of tissues. Irreversible deformations and numerous trunk breakages were revealed at an average height of 1.5 ± 0.5 m and in the root collar zone. As a result, the light regime of the forest stand is disturbed, which affects the phytoclimatic and bioecological features of the forest steppe plantations. A change in the phytoclimate under the canopy towards increased illumination due to a change in architectonics leads to a decrease in stability and, as a result, the inability of woody plants to resist the pressure of aggressive herbaceous and tree-shrub vegetation.

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About the authors

V. O. Kornienko

Donetsk State University

Author for correspondence.
Email: kornienkovo@mail.ru
Russian Federation, Universitetskaya st., 24, Donetsk, 83001

V. N. Kalaev

Voronezh State University

Email: kornienkovo@mail.ru
Russian Federation, Universitetskaya sq. 1, Voronezh, 394018

References

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Supplementary files

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2. Fig. 1. Control (1) and experimental (2) stands of Virgin juniper on the territory of the arboretum of the Donetsk Botanical Garden.

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3. Fig. 2. Bending of the cylinder (branch section) under the action of a force applied to its end F = mg, where l is the length of the cylinder; x is the displacement of the free end of the cylinder (Netsvetov, Suslova, 2009).

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4. Fig. 3. Temperature dependence of the modulus of elasticity for all studied samples of Virginian juniper. Note. Each value of MY(T) is normalized to MY+15.

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5. Fig. 4. The dependence of the relative bending resistance on the diameter of the trunk (a) and the morphometric marker of stability (b) under the influence of an environmental factor (ambient temperature). Note. The simulation was performed in the winter season at a temperature of –18C (1), with accelerated thawing T = +12C (3) and in the summer season at T = +15C (2).

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6. Fig. 5. The dependence of bending stiffness on the diameter of the barrel under the influence of an environmental factor (ambient temperature). Note. The simulation was performed in the winter season at a temperature of –18C (1), with accelerated thawing T = +12C (3) and in the summer season at T = +15C (2).

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7. Fig. 6. The dependence of the critical mass (mcr) on the ratio of the diameter of the trunk (d) to its length (l) under the action of an environmental factor (ambient temperature). Note. The simulation was performed in the winter season at a temperature of –18C (1), with accelerated thawing T = +12C (3) and in the summer season at T = +15C (2).

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8. Fig. 7. A theoretical scheme reflecting the effect of local heating of the trunk on the mechanical stability of the plant as a whole. Note. 1 — the middle part of the trunk is warming up; 2 — warming up in the area of the root neck; A — inside the stand; B — open space.

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9. Fig. 8. Loss of mechanical stability of the trunks of the Virginian juniper (photo in the arboretum of the DBS, Kornienko V.O., 2019).

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