NATURAL ZONALITY OF THE FOREST BELT OF NORTHERN EURASIA: MYTH OR REALITY? PART 2 (LITERATURE REVIEW)

Abstract

Solving the problems of sustainable existence of the biota in Northern Eurasia requires a detailed analysis of the interactions between human and nature at the initial stage of the development of this territory. Paleoreconstructions of the structural and functional organization of the biota in the analyzed territory at different stages of its development constitute the necessary basis for solving the problems of preserving and restoring natural laws, which are absolutely necessary for a deep understanding of natural mechanisms, as the main condition for the survival of mankind. The initial stage of interaction between human and nature called “appropriating economy” was marked by the destruction of complementary systems – the basis of the sustainable existence of nature as a whole. The main reason is the almost complete destruction of the giant phytophagous mammoth complex. The next period of interaction between human and nature is “the stage of the productive economy”, in which slash-and-burn agriculture became the main method of agricultural development of forest areas in Northern Eurasia. This type of Nature management caused a decrease in the productivity of forest ecosystems, associated with the loss of nutrients after the burning of the stand, with the loss of soil biota and a decrease in soil fertility. Thus, the pre-anthropogenic biota is replaced by modern fragments of anthropogenically transformed areas. Currently, when the still preserved species and their groups cannot be maintained by nature itself, we need to develop and implement large-scale measures to restore the biota and its climate-regulating functions as soon as possible.

Keywords

• slash and burn agriculture
• climate
• paleohistory
• complementarity
• forest
• ecosystem
• plowing
• soil