Title
North Ural pine-spruce forests (Picea obovata, Pinus sibirica) with Larix sibirica, with mosses, lichens, dwarf shrubs and herbs (Arctostaphylos alpinus, Festuca airoides, Pachypleurum alpinum)
Geographical distribution
Country/territory
Russia: polar Ural to the central Ural
area frequency
10 polygons.
Scientific names of main plant communities and their most common synonyms (with author citation)
No details
Structural feature of the main community(ies) (layers, life-forms, etc.)
Four-layered pine spruce forests; the tree layer consists of Picea obovata and Pinus sibirica or prevailing Pinus sibirica (e.g. at steeper stony slopes). Near the upper tree line, primarily at the eastern slopes of the Urals, Larix sibirica is added. The tree layer is usually open (30-60 % degree of coverage) and the tree height of Picea obovata and Pinus sibirica reaches a maximum of 12-15 m. The shrub layer is open (less than 10 % degree of coverage). The dwarf-shrub-rich herb layer is very interspersed (20-30 % degree of coverage) and species deficient; however, it varies considerably depending on exposure, slope and canopy closure of the tree layer. It is formed from boreal dwarf shrubs, forest herbs, club moss plants, Pyrolaceae species, ferns as well as arcto-alpine dwarf shrubs and herbs. The moss layer is lichen-rich (60-90 % degree of coverage).
Dominant and most frequent species in different layers
Tree layer
Picea obovata, Pinus sibirica, locally with Larix sibirica
Shrub layer
Sorbus aucuparia subsp. sibirica, Rosa acicularis, Lonicera xylosteum, Lonicera altaica, Juniperus communis, Frangula alnus, Ledum palustre, Betula nana
Herb layer
Vaccinium myrtillus, Vaccinium vitis-idaea, Linnaea borealis, Trientalis europaea, Maianthemum bifolium, Lycopodium annotinum, Diphasiastrum complanatum, Orthilia secunda, Pyrola rotundifolia, Gymnocarpium dryopteris, Dryopteris dilatata, Solidago virgaurea, Epilobium angustifolium, Arctostaphylos alpinus, Empetrum hermaphroditum, Phyllodoce caerulea, Festuca airoides, Deschampsia flexuosa, Pachypleurum alpinum
Moss layer (incl. lichens)
Pleurozium schreberi, Hylocomium splendens, Polytrichum juniperinum, Nephroma arcticum, Cladonia amaurocraea, Cladina arbuscula, Cladina stellaris, Peltigera aphthosa
Diagnostically important species
Picea obovata, Pinus sibirica, Larix sibirica; Arctostaphylos alpinus, Festuca airoides, Pachypleurum alpinum, Empetrum hermaphroditum, Phyllodoce caerulea
Ecological variants
No details
Geographical variants (geogr. differential species)
No details
Natural accompanying vegetation (most important units in complex with the name giving mapping unit, scientific names)
small area incidences of open north Uralian montane larch forest; northern and middle Uralian montane-subalpine birch-krummholz forest.
Adjoining climax and permanent vegetation (with numbers of mapping units)
High mountain vegetation (B37), mountain tundras (B39), birch open woodlands (C2), spruce and birch open woodlands (C6), spruce forests (D3, D9, D10, D11, D14, D22), pine forests (D58), raised bogs (S3), palsa mires (S14).
Land use, substitute communities
forestry (substitute communities, plantations of economic tree-species, scrub)
Pine spruce and spruce plantations.
grassland (meadows, pastures, herb-rich communities)
No details
arable land (characteristic weed communities)
No details
settlements (typical ruderal vegetation)
No details
Site conditions of the mapping unit
Landscape type, geomorphology
Uplands, strongly inclined and steep mountain slopes
Altitudinal belt and/or altitudinal range
submontane-montane; 400-1000 m
Geology (bedrock)
glacial and fluvioglacial sediments (Pleistocene above Triassic, Permian); granite (Palaeozoic: Silurian, Ordovician)
soil type, also the depth of fine textured earth (soil), stone content; (international nomenclature)
shallow, stone-rich, podzole soils disrupted by boulders; (lithic dystric podzoluvisols)
soil texture
sandy to clayey loam, mostly stony
soil moisture, water balance
fresh to moderately dry
soil reaction
strongly acidic
soil fertility
oligotrophic
Climate incl. local climate
climate type (following Walter & Lieth)
VIII1, VIII2
average annual temperature
-1 °C
average annual precipitation
600-800 mm
average temperature of the warmest month
July 16-18 °C
average temperature of the coldest month
January -18 to -17 °C
local climate or other climatic peculiarities
---
Importance for nature protection
Present state and development trend of natural vegetation (degree of endangerment)
The forests play an important water and soil protecting role and have been changed little by man.
endangered communities, species worthy of protection in natural vegetation
---
causes of endangerment
Timber exploitation, hunting.
required measures for protection and restitution
---
Localities of representative stands (loci typici) with state of protection
of the natural vegetation
Russia: Zapovednik Pečoro-Ilyčskij.
of characteristic substitute communities worthy of protection
---
Most important references (author, year)
Gorčakovskij 1959; Sočava 1930
Compiled by
Z. Neuhäuslová based on documents by P.L. Gorčakovskij
