The Climate-forming role of the production process of the forests of Ukraine

Abstract

Forest vegetation plays a significant climate-regulating, oxygen-producing and moisture-producing function, which has not yet been sufficiently studied. Therefore, the aim of our study was an original calculation of the total values of the oxygen-production process and evaporation by forest vegetation using the example of forest and forest-steppe zones of the Western region of Ukraine. Our generalizations are based on the results of calculating the impact of forest vegetation phytomass growth on the quantitative indicators of this production process: carbon sequestration, oxygen production, water vapor transpiration and the consumption of thermal energy for this, as well as the corresponding air cooling due to evaporation. The source materials were official data on the area of forests and their annual increment within the model regions and Ukraine as a whole, as well as for comparison – in Poland, Germany and within Central and Eastern Europe. The share of productivity of forests in Ukraine and their material-and-energy impact on the air basin of Central and Eastern Europe is approximately 4.3%, which is 4 times less than for the forests of Germany and 1.3 times less than for the forests of Poland. In total, the forests of Ukraine annually can deposit more than 22 million tons of carbon, produce more than 60 million tons of oxygen, transpire 36,272 million tons of water vapor, and consume 24 million GW*h of energy. Within the selected model regions of Ukraine, the productivity potential and indicators of the material-and-energy balance of the forests may be equal to or 2-3 times greater than those in the forests of Ukraine as a whole, as well as 2 to 6 times greater than in the forests of Central and Eastern Europe as a whole. The indicators of the material-and-energy balance that determine the general enrichment of the air with oxygen (atomic), which is a useful environment-forming sanitary and hygienic factor, grow in proportion to the productivity of the stands. In addition, large masses of water vapor moisten the air and significantly cool it. Within the forests of Central and Eastern Europe, air cooling can be 2.61 ºС, and within the entire territory of the region - 0.19 ºС. Accordingly, within Germany, these indicators will be 6.87 ºС / 2.09 ºС, in Poland - 3.63 ºС / 1.01 ºС, and within Ukraine - 2.48 ºС / 0.39 ºС. The above-mentioned cooling of the air by forest vegetation has an important climate-forming significance, since it leads to a general decrease in air temperature and an increase in its relative humidity. In order to improve the above-described material-and-energy indicators of the vital activity of forest vegetation, attention should be focused on the need to increase the area of forests and their productivity. It is advisable to grow stands that are characterized by high rates of annual increment of stemwood. This can be achieved by increasing the presence of elite, large-sized, fast-growing trees, which will lead to an increase in the total basal area of tree trunks and the total standing volume of forest stands, as well as their annual increment.

Keywords

• oxygen
• air humidity
• transpiration
• productivity
• health effect