Forest stands of the Pokuttia Carpathians: distribution and forest mensurational description

Abstract

The Pokuttia Carpathians are characterized by a combination of the low-mountain part (up to 800 m above sea level), covered by beech forests with terrace-valley and hollow-terrace positions, and the mid-mountain part with mixed coniferous-broadleaved forests. The mountain ranges here reach heights from 900 to 1,500 m above sea level. The unique character of the region lies in the fact that its territory covers almost all altitudinal vegetation zones - from oak forests in the low-mountain part (300-500 m above sea level) to pure fairly fertile spruce forest types in the mid-mountain part (about 1,500 m above sea level). The forested area of the low-mountain part of the Pokuttia Carpathians is 22,651.4 ha, and the forested area of the mid-mountain part is 19,678.0 ha. 25 tree species are found in the region, among which three species are predominant - Norway spruce, European beech, and silver fir. They accumulate the largest stock of stemwood – 12,569.4 thousand m3, which is 97% of the total timber standing volume in the region. Compared to the low mountains, the species composition of woody plants in the mid-mountain part is noticeably poorer. Furthermore, in this part of the Pokuttia Carpathians, there are no stands with introduced species. Despite the smaller area of the mid-mountain forests, they are more productive than those in the low-mountain part. When the stock of wood in the low mountains being 6,823.2 thousand m3, it is only 10.5% less in the mid-mountain part. The age structure of forest stands in the Pokuttia Carpathians is unbalanced. In terms of relative indicators, the largest area (66.0%) is occupied by middle-aged stands. A significantly smaller area is occupied by maturing and mature forest stands (12.0 and 11.9%). A small part of the area is occupied by overmature stands which have remained within the protected areas ((1.6%), and young growth of age classes I and II (3.1 and 5.4%). Forests of different age groups occupy a similar share of the stock of stemwood. The forest stands of the Pokuttia Carpathians are generally of high site classes. The stands of site class I and above occupy 62.8% of the area, the stands of site class II – 29.6%, and the stands of site class III – 5.8%. Stands of site class IV and lower are found only in 4.8% of the area. The forest stands of the region are mostly of medium density - 22,351.2 hectares or 56.4%. Low-density stands occupy an area of 15,305.2 ha or 38.6%, sparse forests – 1,218.7 ha or 3.1%. High-density stands are very poorly represented (772 hectares or 1.9%). In the territory of the region, 44 types of forest are recorded, of which six are fairly infertile pine site types, 22 are fairly fertile site types, and 16 are fertile site types. As to the hygrotope (soil moisture class), moist types prevail. Spruce group of forest types is the most widespread, occupying 45.8% of the total area of forested lands of the Pokuttia Carpathians. The beech group of forest types has a slightly smaller share (37.5%). Among spruce forest types, the largest areas of stands are concentrated in fairly infertile pine site types and fairly fertile site types, among beech forest types - in fairly fertile site types. The fir group of forest types occupies a small share of the area (13.4%), the main part of which is concentrated in fairly fertile site types. The same applies to the oak and alder groups of forest types, the share of which in the stands of the Pokuttia Carpathians is quite low (1.6 and 1.5%, respectively). The distribution of the territory of the region by categories of forestry land confirms the priority protective role of forest stands.

Keywords

• forest type groups
• norway spruce
• european beech
• silver fir
• low-mountain and mid-mountain parts
• age
• site class
• density
• growing stock