Transactions of the Karelian Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Apr 2019)
INVESTIGATION OF THE DYNAMICS OF FORESTS IN THE KARELIAN PART OF THE GREEN BELT OF FENNOSCANDIA BY REMOTE SENSING
Abstract
The structure and dynamics of forest lands in the Green Belt of Fennoscandia, in the central part of the West-Karelian upland were investigated using remote sensing data from Landsat-8. Supervised image classification was performed, with the forest survey database as the source of reference areas. This approach has enabled the identification and localization of non-forested land which appeared between 2000 and 2015 at 84 % accuracy. It was found that old-growth coniferous stands older than 140 years were the main objects for commercial cuttings within the area investigated. During the last 15 years, logging activities were concentrated around the last surviving old-growth forest tracts and in close vicinity to the boundaries of strict nature reserve Kostomukshsky and nature park Kalevalsky. This kind of human activity creates a real threat for them, which can be prevented by setting up regional-level protected areas in those parts of the old-growth forest tracts that are not protected under a special conservation status.
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