CONSEQUENCES OF SELECTIVE FELLING IN THE BELT PINE FORESTS

Based on the analysis of long-term forest planning materials of the belt pine forests and a reconstructive survey of the state of pine forests of the Aleus forest massif, which underwent selective cutting, it was established that over 80 years of their use, due to a decrease in the density of tree stands, a significant disorder of the forest cover occurred, and the productivity of pine stands significantly decreased. At the same time, mature and overmature uneven-aged pine stands of medium and low productivity began to significantly dominate in pine forests, which reduced the resistance of the forest cover to the impact of exogenous natural and anthropogenic factors, in particular fires. It is predicted that as a result of such a rate of transformation of the age structure of the pine forest, autonomously existing young stands, middle-aged, maturing pine stands will disappear in the next 80 years. Following this, due to the accumulated forest litter and developed grass and shrub cover, forest fires will increasingly occur, which will activate the forest formation process, worked out by nature over millions of years of the existence of the light coniferous species - pine. To eliminate these undesirable consequences, it is recommended to replace selective cutting with classic narrow-clear-cutting.