Snow Cover and Permafrost Soil Temperature Influence on the Radial Growth of Trees in Central Yakutia

Abstract

Analysis of snow cover and permafrost soil temperature regime and their influence on the radial growth of trees in Central Yakutia were carried out. Snow depth and the period of its establishment in the previous year determines the intensity and rate of soil freezing and , as a result, the temperature regime of soil. It was founded that shallow snow depth leads to strong freezing of soils during winter, which affects the radial increment of trees in the subsequent year. Except of pre-winter snow cover characteristics, the maximum height and time of snow cover melting strongly affect the forest vegetation development of the study area. This study revealed differences in snow cover influence on the tree growth among different soils and landscape-geographical conditions.

Keywords

• snow mantle
• tree-ring chronology
• permafrost
• radial growth
• temperature regime of soils
• Larch Cajanderi
• Scotch pine
• Central Yakutia