Response of the Treeline of the Western Ridges of the Subpolar Urals to Current Climate Change
А. A. Grigoriev,
S. O. Vyukhin,
Е. I. Shubnitsina,
Yu. V. Shalaumova,
A. A. Basmanov,
M. I. Bogachev https://doi.org/10.18384/2712-7621-2025-4-7-34
Abstract
Aim. This work aimed to qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate alterations in forest land cover and the transformation of woody vegetation at the upper limit of its growth within the western ridges of the Subpolar Urals.
Methodology. Permanent sample plots were established on different slopes within the upper forest ecotone, encompassing a total of 750 trees across an area of 2,32 ha. Repeated landscape photography of woody vegetation was carried out from the same point. A comparative analysis of the spatial and altitudinal distribution of the forest vegetation was conducted using aerial photographs and satellite multispectral imagery acquired between 1963 and 2022. Corresponding treeline positions were determined using GIS. Based on the tree-ring data and allometric equations relating tree phytomass to diameter, we reconstructed annual phytomass accumulation and analyzed tree radial growth dynamics over the past century.
Results. It has been established that a shift in the upper boundary of open forests into mountain tundra communities occurred on the western ridges of the Subpolar Urals over the past 50–70 years. The most intense cumulative change in total aboveground phytomass occurred during the last century, particularly after the 1950s. In recent decades (from the 1990s to the present), there has been an increase in radial growth of trees of all ages. However, the expansion and transformation of woody vegetation during the last century occurred at a slower pace than in other previously studied parts of the Urals (the Southern, Northern, and Polar Urals). This can be explained by an increase in the amount of solid precipitation and later dates for the melting of snow cover.
Research implications. Our results are indicative of the climate transformations in high-rise ecosystems of the Subpolar Urals.
Keywords
climate change,
growth dynamics,
tree phytomass,
treeline,
geoinformation technologies,
Ural Mountains
Supporting agencies: This work was conducted as a part of a collaboration between the Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Yugyd Va National Park. The authors express their sincere gratitude to Professor S. G. Shiyatov for the scientific concept and for inspiring this research, and to Yu. S. Trubnikov for assistance with collecting experimental data. This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation under State Assignment no. 122021000083- 7. Methodological aspects and data analysis tools employed in this research were partly developed under the support of the Russian Science Foundation (project no. 22-76-10042)
About the Authors
А. A. Grigoriev
Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology (Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences)
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Andrey A. Grigoriev, PhD (Agricultura), Senior Researcher
Laboratory of Geographic Information Technologies
Yekaterinburg
S. O. Vyukhin
Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology (Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences)
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Sergey O. Vyukhin, Junior Researcher
Laboratory of Geographic Information Technologies
Yekaterinburg
Е. I. Shubnitsina
National Park «Yugyd Va»
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Elena I. Shubnitsina, PhD (Technical Sciences), Deputy Director
Komi Republic; Vuktyl
Yu. V. Shalaumova
Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology (Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences)
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Yulia V. Shalaumova, PhD (Technical Sciences), Senior Researcher
Laboratory of Geographic Information Technologies
Yekaterinburg
A. A. Basmanov
St. Petersburg Electrotechnical University «LETI»
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Alexander A. Basmanov, Engineer
Faculty of Radio Engineering and Telecommunications; Department of Radio Engineering Systems
St. Petersburg
M. I. Bogachev
St. Petersburg Electrotechnical University «LETI»
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Mikhail I. Bogachev, Dr. Sci. (Technical Sciences), Chief Researcher
Faculty of Radio Engineering and Telecommunications; Department
of Radio Engineering Systems
St. Petersburg
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