Regeneration of Pinus sibirica Du Tour as a result of trophic relationships with the thin-billed nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes macrorhynchos Brehm C L)

Abstract

Identifying the patterns of dynamics of natural populations of woody plants at the stage of their renewal is one of the main problems of forest ecology. The reforestation process is determined by both the dynamics of seed production and the specificity of seed dispersal of forest tree species. The five-needled pine renewal the Cembrae subsection with wingless seeds depends on birds of the genus Nucifraga sp., which store and spread their seeds. The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between seed production and regeneration of Pinus sibirica Du Tour using the thin-billed nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes macrorhynchos Brehm C. L.) as a mediator. Long-term studies of these relationships have been carried out in the Siberian pine forests of the North Ural Mountains. As a result, a paradoxical conclusion is made that the number of Nucifraga birds during the period of storing and spreading of seeds in the previous year is a key factor in the abundance of Pinus sibirica seedlings. In turn, the number of seeds, both from the previous year and the current year, affects the number of Nucifraga birds.