Coniferous forests of Karelia. An amazing land of forests, lakes and rivers. Karelia. Paanajärvi National Park
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The vegetation cover of Karelia includes about 1,200 species of flowering and vascular spores, 402 species of mosses, and many species of lichens and algae. However, a little more than 100 species have a significant influence on the composition of vegetation. higher plants and up to 50 species of mosses and lichens. About 350 species have medicinal value and are included in the Red Book of the USSR as rare and endangered species in need of protection.
The distribution boundaries of a number of species lie within Karelia. For example, in the eastern part of the Pudozhsky district there is the western border of the distribution of Siberian larch, in the Kondopoga region - the northern border of the corydalis, the medicinal primrose; the northern limit of the swamp cranberry range is located, although in the Murmansk region, but not far from the border with Karelia; To the north, only small-fruited cranberries are found.
Forests
Karelia is located within the northern and middle taiga subzones of the taiga zone. The boundary between the subzones runs from west to east slightly north of the city of Medvezhyegorsk. The northern taiga subzone occupies two-thirds, the middle taiga - one third of the area of the republic. Forests cover more than half of its territory. Forest is the main biological component of most landscapes in the region.The main tree species that form the Karelian forests are Scots pine, Norway spruce (mainly in the middle taiga subzone) and Siberian spruce (mainly in the northern taiga), downy and silver birch (warty), aspen, and gray alder.
Norway spruce and Siberian spruce easily interbreed in nature and form transitional forms: in the south of Karelia - with a predominance of the characteristics of Norway spruce, in the north - Siberian spruce. Within the subzone of the middle taiga, in the stands of the main forest-forming species, Siberian larch (south-eastern part of the republic), small-leaved linden, elm, elm, black alder and the pearl of Karelian forests - Karelian birch - are found as admixtures.
Depending on their origin, forests are divided into primary and derivative. The former arose as a result of natural development, the latter - under the influence of human economic activity or natural catastrophic factors leading to the complete destruction of native forest stands (fires, windfall, etc.) - Currently, both primary and derivative forests are found in Karelia. The primary forests are dominated by spruce and pine. Birch forests, aspen and gray alder forests were formed mainly under the influence of economic activity, mainly as a result of clear cuttings associated with timber harvesting and shifting agriculture, which was carried out in Karelia until the early 30s. Forest fires also led to the replacement of coniferous trees with deciduous ones.
According to the forest fund accounting data as of January 1, 1983, forests with a predominance of pine occupy 60%, with a predominance of spruce - 28, birch - 11, aspen and gray alder - 1% of the forested area. However, in the north and south of the republic, the ratio of forest stands of different species differs significantly. In the northern taiga subzone, pine forests occupy 76% (in the middle taiga - 40%), spruce forests - 20 (40), birch forests - 4 (17), aspen and alder forests - less than 0.1% (3). The predominance of pine forests in the north is determined by more severe climatic conditions and the widespread occurrence of poor sandy soils here.
In Karelia, pine forests are found in almost all habitats - from dry ones on sand and rocks to wetlands. And only in swamps does pine not form a forest, but is present separately standing trees. However, pine forests are most common on fresh and moderately dry soils - lingonberry and blueberry pine forests occupy 2/3 of the total area of pine forests.
Indigenous pine forests are of different ages; they usually have two (rarely three) generations of trees, with each generation forming a separate layer in the forest stand. Pine is light-loving, so each new generation appears when the crown density of the older generation decreases to 40-50% as a result of the dying of trees. Generations usually differ in age by 100-150 years.
During the natural development of indigenous tree stands, the forest community is not completely destroyed; a new generation manages to form long before the complete death of the old one. Wherein average age the tree stand does not last less than 80-100 years. In native pine forests, birch, aspen, and spruce can be found as admixtures. With natural development, birch and aspen never displace pine, but spruce on fresh soils, thanks to its shade tolerance, can gradually take over the dominant position; Only in dry and swampy habitats is pine out of competition.
Forest fires play an important role in the life of pine forests in Karelia. Crown fires, in which almost the entire forest burns and dies, are rare, but ground fires, in which only living ground cover (lichens, mosses, grasses, shrubs) and forest litter are partially (rarely, completely) burned, occur quite often: they practically affect all pine forests are on dry and fresh soils. If crown fires are harmful from an environmental and economic point of view, then the effect of grassroots
On the one hand, by destroying living ground cover and partially mineralizing the forest floor, they improve the growth of the tree stand and contribute to the appearance of a large amount of pine undergrowth under its canopy. On the other hand, persistent ground fires, in which living ground cover and forest litter are completely burned, and the surface mineral layer of the soil is actually sterilized, sharply reduce soil fertility and can damage trees.
Upper Lampi intrigued us because we couldn’t really see it from the trail. Karelian forest It turned out to be very dense and looked like either a fairy tale wild with old moss-covered trees or a jungle with flowers taller than a man. But it’s curious what the Karelian forest hides. Therefore, as it was decided the day before, my daughter and I went back into the forest to see what kind of mysterious rock this was. You only need to walk through such thickets in closed clothes and be sure to use tick repellent, and, by the way, there weren’t very many mosquitoes.
Ivan-tea is taller than a man.
So, we again follow the third route of the health path from. After some time on the road, you get the impression that the path goes along the slope of a mountain covered with forest. On the left there are elevations, and on the right there is a lowland and it seems quite deep.
After walking about 1 km, we reached a rock, but it looked more like a stone ridge stretching along the path and overgrown with moss and trees. You can’t just get to the rock through the thickets of grass and bushes, but in one place from the path path to the left, a barely noticeable path goes to the rock. We wouldn’t have noticed her at all if it weren’t for the red rag on the tree branch near the path. Someone's mark.
We turned onto the path and began to slowly climb up the mossy stones.
Suddenly Nastya exclaims: “Oh, mom, look!” And points back down. Turning back, I was dumbfounded by surprise. Looking at us with its mouth open was... a snag in the form of a mythical buffalo. Mystic some kind I even got goosebumps. Wow, we walked past this snag and didn’t notice its unusual shape.
But we didn’t look at the snag for a long time; we were attracted by the more pleasant gifts of the Karelian forest. The slope is full of red currant bushes. Oh, how beautifully these berries sparkle in the sun.
Having climbed another ledge of the ridge, we discovered a blueberry tree. Mm, so many blueberries, delicious.
And the Karelian forest seems to beckon us to move forward, revealing its beauty to us. There are so many beautiful flowers that look like bells. I wonder what they are called?
Following these blue flowers, we rise even higher. What bizarre outlines do the stone blocks overgrown with moss and grass have? It's like an owl watching you with one eye.
We climbed up. Oh, birdhouse on a birch tree. How sweet it is. True, it seems to me that they pinned him down a bit too low.
There’s a whole clearing of different flowers here! Just a bouquet. And there are also strawberries here.
My daughter loves taking photos in macro mode. I think she does it well.
Looks like someone comes here to the mountain quite often. Traces of a fire and some boards, poles, and what appears to be cardboard are visible. It’s as if they were going to build something here, or they were just sitting on these boards by the fire. We didn’t go there, we walked around this place, and... another birdhouse. This time painted. Interesting.
Before we had time to walk a few steps, there were two more painted birdhouses. It’s strange somehow, in a small patch in the forest we counted 4 birdhouses.
We walked past them to a cliff. I wanted to look down to take photographs from the top of this rocky ridge, but the stones overgrown with moss and grass on the edge of the cliff seemed to me to be a very unreliable support; it was easy to trip and fall down. That's why we only got this photo. At eye level, rowan trees, birches, and spruces rise from the edge of the cliff. The height of the ridge in this place is probably 8-10 meters. It is difficult to determine by eye in such wilds.
On the edge of a cliff.
Returning from the cliff, we decided to take a look at the birdhouse, which seemed to us of an unusual shape. Wow, he has a face. And it looks less like a birdhouse and more like an idol, well, like a woodsman. Or the devil?
Interesting, of course, and even funny, but somehow I felt uneasy. What kind of place is this? Again mysticism. And thoughts about the witch’s mountain and shamanic dances came into my head. Ugh, these are probably the village boys having fun here.
So, what else is a birdhouse? We need to get out of here, otherwise they've completely surrounded us.
They began to go down. We passed next to our recent acquaintance, who at the beginning of the journey amazed us with her mystical appearance. There she is to the left of Nastya, from this angle the snag doesn’t look scary at all. An ordinary old log, uprooted.
We didn’t immediately descend onto the path; we walked through the Karelian forest along the foot of the stone ridge, enjoying the riot of greenery and fabulous wilds. Admiring how the rays of the sun break through the crowns of the trees.
Here our attention was drawn to a tree trunk covered with a lichen we had never seen before. The leaves of the lichen are so large, almost half the size of your palm. By the way, the next day we saw exactly the same lichen on display. This is a type of foliose lichen.
The tree turned out to be a mountain ash. She bent over, perhaps from old age, or perhaps it was some kind of rowan tree. There are Karelian birches, maybe it’s Karelian rowan. Using this mountain ash, it is probably possible to study all types of lichens growing in Karelia. Above the leaf lichen, the rowan trunk is covered with fruticose lichens, epiphytes and moss. This is a copy! It's like being in a museum.
Having marveled enough at Karelian forest and thinking to myself a little mysticism , began to get out to the path. And the path is so beautiful - thickets of ferns and flowering meadowsweet.
This is such a mysterious, educational and delicious acquaintance with the Karelian forest. And we ate our fill of berries, and admired the flowers, and it was as if we had plunged into a fairy tale.
The nature of Karelia fascinates everyone who has ever visited these places. Amazing beauty northern nature, wild rivers with steep rapids, pristine purity of forests, Fresh air, filled with the intoxicating aroma of pine needles, stunningly beautiful sunsets and the richness of the world of flora and fauna have long attracted tourists and travelers to Karelia.
Karelia is located in the north-west of the Russian Federation. Most of the republic is occupied coniferous forests, famous for their tall pines and slender spruce trees, juniper thickets and an abundance of berries.
There are more than 60 thousand lakes in Karelia, the most famous of which are Onega and Ladoga. Many rivers and streams run through the republic, but the rivers are mostly short. The longest Karelian river, the Kem, is only 360 km long. Karelia has its own swamps and waterfalls.
It is the reservoirs in combination with the Karelian forests that create that amazing climate that enchants everyone. It is no coincidence that Karelia is called the “lungs of Europe”. By the way, it was here, not far from Petrozavodsk, that the first Russian resort was created, founded in 1719 by decree of Peter I.
Many artists and poets admired Karelia. Kivach Falls is one of the most famous attractions of Karelia, Marcial Waters is the first Russian resort, founded in 1719 by decree of Peter I, Kizhi and Valaam are among the most mysterious places in Russia, and the mysterious petroglyphs of the White Sea still haunt archaeologists and historians .
Flora of Karelia
The peculiarities of the Karelian flora are determined, first of all, by the geographical location of the republic. Main part flora formed during the post-glacial period. In the northern regions and at the heights of the mountains, plants characteristic of the tundra grow: mosses, lichens, dwarf spruce and birch trees.
But most of the republic is occupied by coniferous forests. Pine forests grow closer to the north. Approximately in the Segozero area there is a border between northern and middle taiga forests. Here begins the forest strip, where spruce and pine trees grow mixed. The closer to the southern outskirts of Karelia, the more spruce forests, which are interspersed with mixed ones.
Of the conifers, the most common are Norway spruce and Scots pine. Finnish pines are often found in the west. Birch, alder, aspen, linden, elm and maple trees grow in mixed forest thickets.
The lower layer of forests consists of numerous shrubs. Where pine trees grow, there are fewer bushes. The closer to the south, the more thickets of lingonberries and cloudberries, blueberries and blueberries, wild rosemary and swamp world appear.
Near reservoirs, the soil is covered with gray mosses and lichens. Heather and moss are easy to find here.
And Karelian forests are the kingdom of mushrooms. Boletuses and boletuses are the most collected. Porcini mushrooms, boletus mushrooms, saffron milk caps and chanterelles are often found in the southern regions.
Fauna of Karelia
The fauna of Karelia is rich and diverse. All the animals that traditionally live in the taiga are found here. But another feature of the Karelian Republic is that there are many bodies of water. This means that there are much more representatives of the North Sea representatives of the animal kingdom than in any other corner of Russia.
Large mammals in Karelian forests include lynx, brown bear, wolf and badger. Numerous white hares have long become the desired prey of local hunters. Quite a few beavers and squirrels. Rivers and lakes are favored by muskrats, otters, martens and European minks. And in the White Sea and Lake Onega there are seals.
The fauna of the southern regions is somewhat different from the northern ones. The south is home to moose and wild boars, raccoon dogs and Canadian minks.
The world of birds is also diverse. The passerine family is best represented. In the north there is a lot of upland game: wood grouse, black grouse, hazel grouse and white partridge. From birds of prey Worth noting are hawks, numerous owls, golden eagles and harriers.
Waterfowl of Karelia are its pride. Ducks and loons settle on the lakes; the sea coast is favored by gulls and eiders, which are valued for their fluff. And waders settle in the swamps.
Karelian fish can be divided into three categories:
Migratory species (whitefish, salmon, salmon, smelt);
Lake-river (pike, roach, perch, burbot, ruffe, in the south - pike perch, grayling and river trout);
And marine (herring, cod and flounder).
The abundance of water bodies also led to a large number of reptiles and insects. Of all the snakes that are found in Karelia, the most dangerous is common viper. And from the end of May to the beginning of September, hikes in the forest and picnics are overshadowed by clouds of mosquitoes, horseflies and midges. In the south, by the way, ticks pose a great danger, especially in May-June.
Climate in Karelia
Most of Karelia is located in a zone of temperate continental climate with marine elements. Although winter lasts a long time, severe frosts are rare here. Winters are generally mild, with plenty of snow. Spring, with all its delights in the form of melting snow, blossoming trees and increasing daylight hours occurs only in mid-April. But until the end of May there remains a possibility of frost returning.
Summer in Karelia is short and cool. In most of the territory, truly summer weather sets in only by mid-July. Temperatures rarely rise above +20ºC. But already at the end of August you can feel the autumn mood of the weather: cloudy skies, heavy rains and cold winds.
The most unstable and unpredictable weather dominates the sea coast and in the area of Lakes Ladoga and Onega. Frequent cyclones come from the west. The weather is most often cloudy, with constant winds and plenty of precipitation. The highest cloudiness in the entire republic is observed on the White Sea coast.
The vegetation cover of Karelia includes about 1,200 species of flowering and vascular spores, 402 species of mosses, and many species of lichens and algae. However, a little more than 100 species of higher plants and up to 50 species of mosses and lichens have a significant influence on the composition of vegetation. About 350 species have medicinal value and are included in the Red Book of the USSR as rare and endangered species in need of protection. The distribution boundaries of a number of species lie within Karelia. For example, in the eastern part of the Pudozhsky district there is the western border of the distribution of Siberian larch, in the Kondopoga region - the northern border of the corydalis, the medicinal primrose; the northern limit of the swamp cranberry range is located, although in the Murmansk region, but not far from the border with Karelia; To the north, only small-fruited cranberries are found.
Forests.
Karelia is located within the northern and middle taiga subzones of the taiga zone. The boundary between the subzones runs from west to east slightly north of the city of Medvezhyegorsk. The northern taiga subzone occupies two-thirds, the middle taiga - one third of the area of the republic. Forests cover more than half of its territory. Forest is the main biological component of most landscapes in the region.
The main tree species that form the Karelian forests are Scots pine, Norway spruce (mainly in the middle taiga subzone) and Siberian spruce (mainly in the northern taiga), downy and silver birch (warty), aspen, and gray alder. Norway spruce and Siberian spruce easily interbreed in nature and form transitional forms: in the south of Karelia - with a predominance of the characteristics of Norway spruce, in the north - Siberian spruce. Within the subzone of the middle taiga, in the stands of the main forest-forming species, Siberian larch (south-eastern part of the republic), small-leaved linden, elm, elm, black alder and the pearl of Karelian forests - Karelian birch - are found as admixtures.
Depending on their origin, forests are divided into primary and derivative. The former arose as a result of natural development, the latter - under the influence of human economic activity or natural catastrophic factors leading to the complete destruction of native forest stands (fires, windfall, etc.) - Currently, both primary and derivative forests are found in Karelia. The primary forests are dominated by spruce and pine. Birch forests, aspen and gray alder forests were formed mainly under the influence of economic activity, mainly as a result of clear cuttings associated with timber harvesting and shifting agriculture, which was carried out in Karelia until the early 30s. Forest fires also led to the replacement of coniferous trees with deciduous ones.
According to the forest fund accounting data as of January 1, 1983, forests with a predominance of pine occupy 60%, with a predominance of spruce - 28, birch - 11, aspen and gray alder - 1% of the forested area. However, in the north and south of the republic, the ratio of forest stands of different species differs significantly. In the northern taiga subzone, pine forests occupy 76% (in the middle taiga - 40%), spruce forests - 20 (40), birch forests - 4 (17), aspen and alder forests - less than 0.1% (3). The predominance of pine forests in the north is determined by more severe climatic conditions and the widespread occurrence of poor sandy soils here.
In Karelia, pine forests are found in almost all habitats - from dry ones on sand and rocks to wetlands. And only in swamps does pine not form a forest, but is present in the form of separate trees. However, pine forests are most common on fresh and moderately dry soils - lingonberry and blueberry pine forests occupy 2/3 of the total area of pine forests.
Indigenous pine forests are of different ages; they usually have two (rarely three) generations of trees, with each generation forming a separate layer in the forest stand. Pine is light-loving, so each new generation appears when the crown density of the older generation decreases to 40-50% as a result of the dying of trees. Generations usually differ in age by 100-
150 years. During the natural development of indigenous tree stands, the forest community is not completely destroyed; a new generation manages to form long before the complete death of the old one. Moreover, the average age of the tree stand is never less than 80-100 years. In native pine forests, birch, aspen, and spruce can be found as admixtures. With natural development, birch and aspen never displace pine, but spruce on fresh soils, thanks to its shade tolerance, can gradually take over the dominant position; Only in dry and swampy habitats is pine out of competition.
Forest fires play an important role in the life of pine forests in Karelia. Crown fires, in which almost the entire forest burns and dies, are rare, but ground fires, in which only living ground cover (lichens, mosses, grasses, shrubs) and forest litter are partially (rarely, completely) burned, occur quite often: they practically affect all pine forests are on dry and fresh soils.
If crown fires are harmful from an environmental and economic point of view, then the effect of ground fires is ambiguous. On the one hand, by destroying living ground cover and partially mineralizing the forest floor, they improve the growth of the tree stand and contribute to the appearance of a large amount of pine undergrowth under its canopy. On the other hand, persistent ground fires, in which living ground cover and forest litter are completely burned, and the surface mineral layer of the soil is actually sterilized, sharply reduce soil fertility and can damage trees.
There is reason to believe that the rare and low-growing so-called “bleached” pine forests, especially widespread in the northern part of the republic, owe their origin to repeated persistent ground fires. In habitats with fresh and moist soils, ground fires prevent the replacement of pine by spruce: thin-barked spruce with a shallow root system is easily damaged by fire, while thick-barked pine with deeper roots successfully resists it. Over the past 25-30 years, as a result of successful fight against forest fires, the scale of replacement of pine by spruce has increased sharply.
Derivative pine forests resulting from economic activity are usually of the same age. The participation of deciduous trees and spruce in them can be quite high, up to the replacement of pine by deciduous trees on rich soils. If, when cutting down the stands, the undergrowth and undergrowth of spruce are preserved, a spruce plantation may form in place of the pine forest. However, from both an economic and environmental point of view, this change is undesirable. Pine forests produce more wood, they contain more berries and mushrooms, and they are more attractive to vacationers. Unlike spruce, pine produces resin. Pine forests have better water and soil protection properties. Replacing pine with spruce can be allowed only on the most fertile soils, where spruce plantings are not much inferior to pine forests in terms of productivity and resistance to adverse natural factors (winds, harmful insects, fungal diseases).
The productivity of pine forests in Karelia is much lower than in the southern and middle regions of the country, which is largely explained by unfavorable soil and climatic conditions. However this is not the only reason. As mentioned earlier, persistent ground fires not only damage trees, but also reduce soil fertility. In trees of different ages, pine is subject to oppression during the first 20-60 years, which negatively affects its growth until the end of its life.
In native spruce forests, the tree stand is of different ages. As an admixture, they may contain pine, birch, aspen, and less commonly, gray alder. The share of these species in the forest stand usually does not exceed 20-30% (by stock).
The processes of mortality and restoration in spruce stands of absolutely different ages occur simultaneously and relatively evenly, as a result, the main biometric indicators (composition, wood supply, density, average diameter and height, etc.) of such stands fluctuate slightly over time. The state of mobile equilibrium can be disrupted by felling, fire, windfall and other factors.
In spruce forests of different ages, the youngest and smallest trees predominate in terms of the number of trunks; in terms of stock, trees older than 160 years with a diameter above average predominate. The canopy of the crowns is discontinuous and jagged, allowing a significant amount of light to penetrate to the soil surface, and herbs and shrubs are quite numerous here.
Thanks to its shade tolerance, spruce firmly holds the territory it occupies. Fires in spruce forests were rare and did not have a significant impact on their lives. Windblows were not observed in stands of different ages.
Derivative spruce forests arose in clearings, or in the so-called “cuttings,” as a rule, through a change in species - open spaces were first populated by birch, less often by aspen, and spruce appeared under their canopy. By 100-120 years, less durable deciduous species died off, and spruce again occupied the previously lost territory. Only about 15% of fellings are restored by spruce without changing species and mainly in cases where viable undergrowth and thin spruce are preserved during felling.
The replacement of spruce with deciduous species during forest felling is associated with its biological and environmental features. Spruce is afraid of late spring frosts, so in the first years of its life it needs protection in the form of a canopy of deciduous trees; spruce does not get along well with cereals, which disappear after the appearance of birch and aspen; spruce bears fruit relatively rarely (abundant seed harvests occur once every 5-6 years) and grows slowly in the first years of life, so birch and aspen overtake it; finally, spruce occupies mainly rich soils, where deciduous species grow most successfully.
Derivative spruce forests are relatively uniform in age. Under their closed canopy there is twilight, the soil is covered with fallen pine needles, there are few grasses and shrubs, and there is practically no viable undergrowth.
Compared to pine, the range of habitats for spruce is significantly narrower. Compared to pine forests, the productivity of spruce forests in similar growing conditions is noticeably lower and only on rich fresh soils is it approximately the same (at the age of ripeness). About 60% of Karelia's spruce forests grow within the middle taiga subzone.
Deciduous forests (birch, aspen and alder forests) in the conditions of Karelia arose mainly in connection with human activity, and, thus, they are derivative. About 80% is located in the middle taiga subzone deciduous forests republics. Birch forests make up over 90% of the area of deciduous trees.
Most birch forests were formed after cutting down spruce plantations. The replacement of pine by birch occurs much less frequently, usually in the most productive forest types of the middle taiga subzone.
Under the influence of economic development, mainly logging, indigenous forests in Karelia are disappearing. They are being replaced by derivative plantings of natural and artificial origin, the peculiarity of which is their uniform age. What economic and environmental consequences might this entail?
Judging by the volume of wood, even-aged pine and spruce forests are preferable. The wood reserve of even-aged blueberry spruce forests aged 125-140 years in the conditions of southern Karelia reaches 450-480 m3 per hectare, while in the most productive uneven-aged spruce forests under the same conditions this reserve does not exceed 360 m3. Typically, the wood supply in spruce stands of different ages is 20-30% less than in same-aged ones. If we compare the wood products of even-aged and uneven-aged forest stands not by volume, but by weight, the picture changes noticeably. Since the density of wood in forests of different ages is 15-20% higher, the difference in wood mass is reduced to 5-10% in favor of even-aged stands.
However, in terms of resources of most types of non-timber forest products (berries, medicinal plants, etc.), the advantage is on the side of forests of different ages. They have a more diverse and numerous population of birds and mammals, including commercial species. It should also be noted that even-aged forests, compared to uneven-aged forests, have less wind resistance, worse soil and water protection properties, and are more susceptible to pests and diseases.
But in the specific natural-geographical conditions of Karelia (short and cool summers, weak autumn and spring floods, dissected topography resulting in a small catchment area, moderate wind conditions, etc.), the replacement of forests of different ages by ones of the same age, as a rule, does not entail serious environmental consequences .
A negative phenomenon from an economic point of view is the replacement of coniferous trees with deciduous trees - birch, aspen, alder. Currently, species change can be prevented by rational forest restoration and thinning. According to available data, pine is successfully renewed in 72-83% of felled areas, spruce - only in 15%, and solely due to the remaining undergrowth and undergrowth. The remaining fellings are regenerated with deciduous trees. However, after 10-15 years, on more than half the area of deciduous young stands, a second tier is formed - from spruce, due to which highly productive spruce stands can be formed through thinning or reconstruction felling. The change in species does not cause any noticeable environmental consequences.
When shaping the forests of the future, one should proceed from their intended purpose. For forests of the second and third groups, where the main goal is to obtain the largest amount of wood, even-aged stands are preferable. Forests of the first group, designed to perform soil protection, water conservation, recreational and sanitary-hygienic functions, are more suitable for plantings of different ages.
The dominant importance of the forest as a source of renewable natural resources (wood, medicinal raw materials, mushrooms, berries, etc.), as a habitat for valuable commercial species of animals and as a factor stabilizing biosphere processes, in particular, restraining the development of negative manifestations of anthropogenic impact on the environment, in the conditions of Karelia will continue in the future.
Swamps.
Together with swampy forests, swamps occupy 30% of the republic's area. Their widespread development is facilitated by the relative youth of rivers and streams. They cannot wash away the solid crystalline rock formations that come to the surface and develop valleys, therefore, despite the large slopes of the terrain, they poorly drain most of the territory of Karelia. There are many swamps in Olonetskaya, Ladvinskaya, Korzinskaya, Shuiskaya and other lowlands. But the most swampy area is the White Sea Lowland. The fewest swamps are in the Ladoga region, on the Zaonezhsky Peninsula and in part of the Pudozhsky district.
The peat deposit of Karelian swamps contains 90-95% water. Their surface is abundantly moistened, but unlike shallow lakes and rivers overgrown with vegetation, water rarely stands more than 20 cm above the soil surface. The top layer of bog soil is usually composed of loose and very moisture-intensive, poorly decomposed peat.
Swamps arise by peat filling shallow and small-area reservoirs that appeared in abundance on the territory of Karelia after the retreat of the glacier, or when weakened, drained on dry lands. The boundary between the swamp and wetlands is conventionally taken to be a peat depth of 30 cm; The 50-centimeter peat deposit is already considered suitable for industrial development.
As peat accumulates, the soil-groundwater or groundwater that feeds the swamp after its formation gradually ceases to reach the root layer, and the vegetation switches to feeding on atmospheric waters, which are poor nutrients. Thus, during the development of swamps, the soil is progressively depleted of nitrogen-mineral nutrition elements. There are lowland (rich in nutrition) stage of development of bogs, transitional (average nutrition), high (poor nutrition) and dystrophic (super poor nutrition), in which peat accumulation stops and its degradation begins.
If bogs develop in more or less closed basins or by filling shallow lakes with peat, the central part of the bog massif is first depleted. The most intensive accumulation of peat occurs there.
The vegetation of the swamps is very diverse, which is due to large differences in environmental conditions - from rich to extremely poor, from extremely wet to arid. In addition, their vegetation is complex. With the exception of heavily watered swamps, which are common only in the first stages of development, the surface of swamps is characterized by microrelief. Microrelief elevations are formed by hummocks (grass, moss, woody ones), often elongated in the form of ridges and abundantly moistened hollows. Environmental conditions Thermal conditions, moisture and nutrition are sharply different on hummocks and hollows, and therefore the vegetation on them is very different.
In the lowland swamps, herbaceous vegetation predominates in the form of thickets of reeds, horsetail, horsetail, cinquefoil, sometimes with a moss cover of moisture-loving green mosses. On the outskirts of swamp areas with abundant flowing moisture, in combination with herbaceous vegetation, forests with black (sticky) alder, birch, pine or spruce are developed, occupying high microrelief.
In transitional swamps, mainly the same species grow as in lowland swamps, but there are always sphagnum mosses, which over time form a continuous moss cover. Birch and pine grow, but they are depressed, the tree layer is sparse.
In raised bogs, sphagnum mosses reign supreme on all elements of the microrelief: in hollows - the most moisture-loving ones (mayus, Lindbergia, Balticum), on higher elevations - fuscum, magellanicum, capable of surviving droughts, in low-moisture hollows and flat places - papillesum. Among the higher plants grow sundews, Scheuchzeria, cheretnik, cotton grass, downy grass, marsh shrubs, and cloudberries. Among the trees there is only oppressed low-growing pine, forming special swamp forms.
In dystrophic bogs, the productivity of vegetation is so low that peat accumulation stops. IN large quantities secondary lakes appear, sphagnum mosses on hummocks and ridges are gradually replaced by bushy lichens (resin moss, reindeer moss), and in hollows - by algae and liver mosses. Since the dystrophic stage occurs primarily in the central part of the bog massif and peat accumulation does not occur here, over time the top of the massif becomes concave from convex and becomes heavily watered, which causes the formation of secondary lakes.
The bog massifs of Karelia are characterized by winding coastline and the presence of dry islands; Due to the peculiarities of the relief, a significant part is occupied by hollows. The water supply of these massifs is associated with groundwater outlets. central part Such swamps have a lower surface compared to the edges, abundant flowing moisture, heavily watered hollows or even lakes.
Hollows and lakes are separated from each other by narrow bridges in the form of ridges covered with grass-moss, less often - pure moss vegetation with oppressed pine or birch. The edges of the swamps adjacent to the dry lands are fed by poor waters flowing from them and are occupied by the vegetation of transitional or even raised swamps. Swamp massifs of this structure are called “aapa”; they are most common in the northern mainland of Karelia.
The swamp massifs of the Shuiskaya, Korzinskaya, Ladvinskaya, and Olonets lowlands have a completely different structure. Lowland swamps predominate there without a low watered central part. They are largely drained and used in forestry and agriculture. In some places in these lowlands there are swamps that have reached the upper stage of development.
The vast Pribelomorskaya lowland is dominated by raised bog massifs, in the central part of which the vegetation of dystrophic type bogs is developed. Along with sphagnum mosses, moss is abundant, which is the winter food of reindeer, and in the hollows there are liver mosses and algae.
Mainly popular economic importance bogs of Karelia are determined by the great possibilities of their reclamation for forestry and Agriculture. With high agricultural technology, swamp soils are very fertile. But we should not forget that in their natural state, swamps have a certain water conservation value. Large harvests of cranberries, cloudberries, blueberries and many types of medicinal plants ripen in the swamps every year. In order to protect berry fields and medicinal plants, as well as typical and unique swamps for scientific research, a number of swamp areas (mainly in the southern part of the republic) by resolutions of the Council of Ministers of the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic were excluded from drainage plans or declared reserves.
Mountain tundra.
In the very north-west of Karelia, where the spurs of the Maanselka ridge are located, you can find areas of mountain tundra covered with low-growing shrubs, mosses and lichens with rare small birch trees. Areas of moss and lichen wastelands are also found much further south, almost throughout Karelia, on the peaks and steep slopes of herrings, composed of crystalline rocks with thin soil or no soil at all. In the latter case, only crustose lichens grow here.
Meadows and hayfields.
Until recently, natural meadows and hayfields on grass swamps occupied about 1% of the republic's area. Unfortunately, a significant part of them last years overgrown with forest.
Almost all natural meadows of Karelia arose locally from forest clearing and on fallow arable land. The only exceptions are coastal meadows and swamp hayfields. The latter are essentially not meadows, but grass or moss-grass swamps; Currently, they are almost never used for making hay.
Meadow vegetation consists of true meadows, as well as empty, peaty and swampy types of meadows, with peaty ones being the most common.
Among true meadows, large-grass and small-grass grasslands, most often confined to fallow lands, are of greatest importance. The former are developed on the richest soils, their grass is composed of the best forage cereals, among which usually meadow fescue with an admixture of timothy, meadow foxtail, sometimes hedgehog and creeping wheatgrass. Other herbs include bluegrass, clovers, mouse peas and meadow forbs.
However, such meadows are few. Most often they can be found in areas of the northern Ladoga region. They are the most productive and the quality of the hay is high. Among upland (non-swampy) meadows, small-grass meadows are widely represented, with a predominance of thin bentgrass or fragrant spikelet in the herbage. They are also confined primarily to fallow lands, but with depleted soils. The grass composition often contains a lot of legumes and meadow forbs, often with a predominance of mantles. The productivity of such meadows is lower, but the yield and quality of hay increase significantly with surface application of fertilizers.
A small area is occupied by empty meadows with low-growing grass stands, dominated by white grass and sometimes sheep's fescue. They are unproductive, but they should not be neglected: white beetles are responsive to surface application of fertilizers. Meadows dominated by pike are confined to poorly drained heavy mineral soils with signs of stagnant moisture or to peaty soils of different mechanical composition. They also develop as a result of excessive grazing and lack of care for perennial grass crops on drained peat and heavy clay soils. Pike fish are distributed throughout Karelia.
In the grass stand, in addition to pike, there are dog bentgrass, bluegrass, red fescue, caustic and golden buttercups and other meadow forbs. Clover is rare and in small quantities. An admixture of representatives of swampy meadows is common - black sedge, filamentous rush, reed grass, and meadowsweet. The yield is quite high, the quality of hay is average, but if haymaking is late, it is low. Surface application of fertilizers significantly increases the yield, but the composition of the grass stand and the quality of the hay change little.
Small sedge meadows with a predominance of black sedge in the herbage are developed on peat or peaty-gley soils with abundant stagnant moisture. There is often a moss cover of moisture-loving green mosses. Productivity is average, hay quality is low. The effectiveness of surface application of fertilizers is insignificant.
Meadows with a predominance of reed grass in the grass stand are relatively common, mainly in the southern part of the republic. Coastal aquatic vegetation is of great importance. A number of commercial fish lay eggs on parts of plants submerged in water. Waterfowl, including ducks, use this vegetation as feeding and protective grounds. This is also where the muskrat feeds. It is advisable to mow widespread thickets of reed and horsetail and use them as green fodder for livestock, hay and silage.
Until mid-August, reed leaves contain a lot of carbohydrates, sugars and proteins (no less than good hay). There are fewer proteins in horsetail, but their content remains unchanged until late autumn. However, when using coastal aquatic vegetation as food for domestic animals, one should be wary of poisonous plants from the Umbrella family - hemlock (poisonous hemlock) and hemlock - that are occasionally found in thickets of horsetail and sedge. Their poisonous properties are also preserved in hay.
List of plants with beneficial properties growing in Karelia
Common calamus Astragalus Danish Ledum swamp Common sagebrush Common berenets saxifrage Black henbane Swamp whitefly Swamp whitewing Swamp birch (warty) Silver birch (warty) Spotted hemlock Spreading boar Northern (tall) Hogweed Siberian lingonberry Common ivy budra Mountain boletus Mountain beeweed Officinalis Valerian officinalis Cornflower meadow, blue Basil
pre-arborifolia, yellow, simple Watch three-leaved Reed grass, ground Reed grass, common loosestrife. Common heather Veronica longifolia, oak forest, medicinal. Vekh poisonous Columbine vulgare Common crowberry bisexual, black. Voronets spike-shaped. Crow's eye four-leaved Field bindweed Lush carnation, grass Forest and meadow geranium. Blueberry Knotweed viviparous, amphibian, snake, crayfish, pepper, bird, knotweed. Common adonis (cuckoo flower) City and river gravilate. Wintergreen round-leaved Hernia glabrous Elecampane officinalis Reed-like canaryweed Elecampane British, tall. Sweet loosestrife White sweet clover, officinalis. White sandman (white resin) Angelica sylvestris Common fragrant spikelet Common oregano Angelica officinalis Angelica (angelica) officinalis. Hedgehog team Norway spruce, Siberian. Common larkspur Larkspur High tenacious Creeping butterwort Common chickweed (woodlice) St. John's wort (common), spotted (tetrahedral) Wild strawberry Wintergreen umbrella Common goldenrod (golden rod) Fragrant bison Istod bitterish, common. Viburnum common Marigold Marigold Iris calamus (yellow iris) Swamp fireweed Common oxalis Common meadow clover (red) creeping (white), medium. Swamp cranberry (four-petaled) Round-leaved bell, peach-leaved, onion-shaped (rapunzel-shaped), prefabricated (crowded). Consolidum splendid (larkspur) European hoofhoof Bear's ear mullein Field bark Awnless brome Arctic drupe (bramble, glade grass, princeling) stony Cat's foot dioecious Nettle dioecious, stinging. Burnet plant officinalis Yellow water lily White water lily, small (tetrahedral), pure white Autumn kulbaba Autumn bathhouse European kupena officinalis Wood meadowsweet Meadowsweet (meadowsweet) meadowsweet May lily of the valley Potentilla goose, erect (kalgan), silver. Spreading quinoa Northern Linnea Heart-shaped linden Meadow foxtail Large burdock Soddy meadow (pike) Common toadflax (wild snapdragon) Acrid, creeping, poisonous buttercup, sickle-shaped alfalfa (yellow) Horned grasshopper Common raspberry Common mantle White pigweed stepmother Common Lungwort (obscure) Small-petalled Canadian Spurge Acute (common) Cloudberry Soapwort officinalis Soapwort marsh mint Field mint Meadow bluegrass Impatiens common Forget-me-not field Auburna vulgaris (tarsinum) Meadow fescue, red Dandelion officinalis Comfrey officinalis Sticky alder, gray Omaloteka forest ) Common bracken Hairy sedge Sow thistle Sedum, hare cabbage Bittersweet nightshade, black Shepherd's purse
Common tansy Marsh cinquefoil European sorrel Water sorrel Blue blue Common cress, umbelliferous Susak umbellata Marsh and swamp dryweed Black currant Common borer Common pine Common pine Common pine Common arrowhead Common arrowhead Hairy hawkweed Meadow heart - sour Meadow greenweed Male shieldweed Pikulnik bipartite (gills) beautiful Moss club club-shaped Podbel multifolia ( andromeda) Soft real fragrant bedstraw (fragrant woodruff) Large lanceolate medium plantain Fine bentgrass Common wormwood Common popovka (nivberry) Common motherwort Five-lobed wheatgrass Creeping agrimony (burdock) Angustifolia cattail Rhodiola rosea (golden root) Chamomile (medicinal) ) fragrant (odorous , green, tongueless, daisy-shaped) odorless (three-rib odorless) English round-leafed sundew Common rowan Duckweed small Timothy grass Common thyme Common caraway Common bearberry Common torica field Torichnik red Triostrena marsh Southern reed (common) Thousand common foliage Fallopia climbing (Knotweed convolvulus) Violet tricolor (pansy eyes) Chamerion angustifolia (fireweed) Horsetail - field Common hops Common chicory Common hellebore Lobel's Trifid succession Common bird cherry Common blueberries Common blackcap Curly thistle Meadow rank Chine woodland
Evgeniy Ieshko
Vice-chairman
Presidium of the Karelian Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Karelia – a country of lakes, forests and stones
In the land of lakes and forests
Karelia is traditionally called lake and forest edge. Its territory, larger in area than Belgium, Holland, Switzerland and Denmark (without Greenland) combined, is inhabited by a little more than 700 thousand people. Representatives of many nationalities live here, having much in common in their culture. The predominant population is Russians, Karelians, Belarusians and Ukrainians. For example, peoples such as the Vepsians and Ingrians, indigenous to these places, are very few in number today. There is concern that if current unfavorable demographic trends continue, they may disappear.
The glaciation of its territory played a significant role in the formation of the modern relief of Karelia, which is characterized by rockiness and a clear orientation of water basins (from northwest to southeast). Intensive melting of the glacier began here about 13 thousand years ago. The ice sheet had a width and length of hundreds of kilometers. The ice finally melted only in the early Holocene. The waters of melting glaciers filled the folds of the rocky terrain. As a result, many lakes were formed. The catalog of reservoirs of the republic includes 61 thousand lakes. There are more than 27 thousand rivers in Karelia.
First traces ancient man, who created their settlements on the territory of present-day Karelia, date back to the 3rd millennium BC. In the first half of the next millennium, separate isolated groups already lived along the entire perimeter of Lake Onega. Among the surviving material evidence of this historical period, a special role is given to rock carvings - petroglyphs. Hundreds and hundreds of various drawings of ancient people have been discovered on the sloping smooth granite rocks of the eastern shore of Lake Onega. Art Museum under open air attracts many tourists and researchers to this region. Petroglyphs try to decipher and, on this basis, comprehend the worldview of Neolithic man and, perhaps, understand themselves more deeply.
Virgin forests
For a number of reasons, intensive forestry activities have bypassed the Karelian forests located along the border with Finland. This led to a high degree of preservation of the “islands” of pristine nature. The largest tracts (more than 100 thousand hectares each) of virgin (indigenous) forests in western Eurasia are preserved only in the Republic of Karelia and the Murmansk region. The age of individual pine trees in such forests reaches 500 years or more. In these areas of the taiga zone of Russia, a corresponding network of specially protected natural areas has been created.
In Karelia, indigenous forests in the rank of national parks and reserves are preserved on an area of about 300 thousand hectares. It is expected that about 150 thousand hectares of protected taiga lands should be added to this. To the west of the Russian-Finnish border, such large tracts of virgin forests have not survived. That is why the pristine forests of Karelia are of global importance.
Virgin forests are an integral part of the Paanajärvi National Park, the Kostomuksha, Pasvik, and Lapland nature reserves. One of the most precious pearls of the Green Belt of Fennoscandia, which, like a meridian, stretches from north to south along state border from Barents Sea to the Gulf of Finland, the currently created Kalevalsky National Park will become.
Not only beauty, but also wealth
The driving force behind the development of Karelia's forests was the nascent industry. IN early XVIII centuries, deforestation (in particular, for shipbuilding) here was mainly of a selective nature. Only around metallurgical plants did they practice clear cuttings. In the 19th century, the volume of harvested wood grew rapidly. If in 1850 305 thousand m 3 of forest were harvested, then in 1899 - 2.5 million m 3. At the beginning of the 20th century, annual timber harvesting in Karelia reached 3 million m3, and in the 60s it exceeded 10 million m3. Harvesting records were set and immediately broken. In 1967, a still unsurpassed record was set - about 20 million m 3.
Today, the estimated logging area of Karelia, amounting to 9.2 million m 3, is used at approximately 65%. The period of reforms experienced by the country did not bypass the forestry industry. Timber harvesting declined greatly in the 1990s, and only recently has the intensity of logging begun to increase again. Wood is required by the growing papermaking and construction industries. Timber is an important export product with enduring demand on the world market.
With deforestation and change natural landscapes The biological diversity of flora and fauna is changing. Intensive logging, the development of a network of logging roads, an increased number of mushroom and berry pickers - all this worries wild animals. That is why the wolverine and forest deer are “pushed” to the north from the southern zone, and the whooper swan and bean goose also move their nesting sites there.
Problems of aquatic communities are also often associated with the negative impact of human economic activities. For example, as a result of the construction of hydroelectric power stations, the ecosystems of the Kemi and Vyga rivers were damaged. As a result, the largest populations of Atlantic salmon and other valuable fish in the republic were lost. salmon fish. Fortunately, these examples are the exception rather than the rule. In general, economic activity in the republic does not have a serious negative impact on the nature of Karelia. Countless picturesque corners of the vast taiga region are pristine and pure. This is also facilitated by the fact that Karelia is located at a considerable distance from large sources of pollution located in industrial areas Central Europe and Russia.
What's in the basket?
The forests of the republic contain rich reserves of medicinal, berry plants and edible mushrooms.
150 species of medicinal plants have been identified in the region, 70 of which are used in scientific medicine. The greatest interest for industrial harvesting are blueberries, lingonberries, bearberry, wild rosemary, cinquefoil erect (balangal), mountain ash, St. John's wort, and common raspberry. Up to 70% of the identified available reserves of medicinal plants are the leaves and shoots of lingonberries, blueberries and wild rosemary.
Although the reserves of the main types of medicinal plants are estimated at 10.5 thousand tons, the volume of industrial procurement of medicinal plants in the republic is currently insignificant - only 5-6 tons per year.
About 100 species of edible plants and about 200 species of honey plants grow in Karelia. Blueberries, lingonberries, cranberries and cloudberries are of greatest economic importance. The biological reserves of berries from these plants amount to 120.4 thousand tons, of which 61.8 thousand tons are available for mass procurement.
Despite the significant reserves of available berry resources, the republic does not have solid production facilities for their processing. Therefore, large quantities of wild berries are exported outside the republic in unprocessed form. Part of the collected berries - 4.5 - 5.5 thousand tons per year - is exported. For comparison: the population of Karelia also annually prepares 4–5 thousand tons of berries for their own needs.
A significant addition to the local table are edible mushrooms. In the forests of Karelia there are about 200 species of edible mushrooms, of which 47 are recommended for harvesting. The local population usually collects no more than 20 species. Of the tubular ones, this is primarily the king of mushrooms - White mushroom, then aspen, birch, boletus, moss and goat. IN large quantities Residents of Karelia prepare salted lamellar mushrooms for the winter and, above all, real milk mushrooms, volushki and serushki. Real chanterelle, pine and spruce saffron milk caps, which are occasionally found in the southern regions of Karelia, are also highly valued.
In years with an average harvest, the reserves of edible mushrooms in the republic are estimated at 164 thousand tons, in high-yield years they increase by about 1.5-2 times, and in lean years they are 6-7 times lower than average.
Orchids of Karelia
The flora of Karelia is distinguished by great diversity. Botanists find plants here that are not found, or almost never found, in the neighboring countries of Northern Europe, where, with the introduction of new farming methods, habitats suitable for these plants are disappearing. These, in particular, include orchids, representatives of the family of delicate, exotic flowers that usually grow in tropical latitudes. But it turns out that some orchids take root well in the north. There are 33 species of orchids “registered” in Karelia. Moreover, 27 species grow on the territory of the Kizhi archipelago, which is distinguished by unique natural and climatic conditions. Here, for example, grow such species that have almost disappeared in European countries, such as lady's slipper, unifolia, green hemlock, and Dortmann's lobelia.
Orchids of Karelia are, as a rule, small, inconspicuous plants. The exception is the representatives of the lady's slipper genus, which numbers about 50 species, of which 4 are found in Russia. Among them, the lady's slipper and the grandiflora are the most decorative. Both species are included in the Red Book of Russia, as well as in Appendix II of the Convention on international trade species of wild fauna and flora. By the way, the slipper is real - the first orchid of the temperate zone, taken under protection back in 1878 (in Switzerland). Nowadays this species is protected in all European countries; it is listed in the IUCN Red List.
Seal
Among the inhabitants of the reservoirs of Karelia, the Ladoga seal (a pinniped mammal of the seal family) can rightfully be proud of its status. This is an endemic subspecies of the ringed seal, a relic of the Ice Age, listed in the Red Books of Fennoscandia, Ross 
II, Karelia and to the list rare species animals of the World Conservation Union.
In freshwater reservoirs, seals live only in lakes Ladoga (Karelia), Baikal (Siberia) and Saimaa (Finland). The presence of a marine relic in a freshwater lake is explained by the origin of Lake Ladoga as a body of water that separated from the sea. The Ladoga seal is the smallest subspecies of the ringed seal, whose body length is 110-135 cm. In summer, these animals prefer to stay in the northern part of the lake, where there are an abundance of islands, stones and capes, convenient for rookeries. In winter, seals move to the shallower southern parts of the reservoir. Many researchers associate the seasonal movements of seals with fish migration.
In the early 30s of the last century, reserves Ladoga seal were determined at 20 thousand heads. However, due to predatory fishing (in some seasons, up to one and a half thousand animals were shot), the seal population has greatly decreased. This was facilitated by the beginning of the use of nylon nets in the 50s, when the number of cases of seal deaths in them reached 700 animals per year. As a result, by 1960, the number of seals in Lake Ladoga had decreased to 5–10 thousand heads.
Since 1970, the seal fishery in Lake Ladoga has been regulated by setting limits on catch; in 1975, a ban was introduced on sport and amateur hunting of this animal. Since the early eighties, the seal has been protected. Its population does not yet exceed 5,000 animals, but there is a tendency for its recovery.
Olonia – the goose capital
The coast of Lake Ladoga (the largest freshwater lake in Europe) and the surrounding areas are a real “bird Eldorado”. In the spring, during the time of migration through this territory to the North-East along the White Sea-Baltic Flyway, huge masses of birds that wintered in Western Europe and Africa rush. Some of them overcome the space between the Baltic and the White Sea in one non-stop flight (for example, the brent goose, some waders). But most other migrating birds stop along this route to rest and feed. Particularly large aggregations in Karelia near the city of Olonets are formed by geese, which find here ideal conditions for feeding in vast fields and excellent, safe places to spend the night in the waters of Lake Ladoga or large swamps flooded with melt water. It is this combination that contributes to the formation of very large geese camps here, the most powerful in Northern Europe. Behind spring period here from 500,000 to 1.2 million individuals are taken into account.
Shungite as a national treasure
Shungites are unique rocks , received their name from the Karelian village of Shunga, located on the shores of Lake Onega. Structural analogues of shungite are not found anywhere in the world. The reserves of the world's only Zazhoginsky deposit of shungite rocks, located in the Medvezhyegorsk region, are estimated at 35 million tons.
Shungite rocks are a natural composite with an unusual structure, in which highly dispersed crystalline silicate particles are evenly distributed in an amorphous silicate matrix. Shungites also contain carbon in a non-crystalline state. On average, the deposit's rock contains about 30% carbon and 70% silicates. Shungite has a number of unique properties that determine its scope of use. Thus, shungite carbon has high activity in redox reactions. Using shungites, it is possible to obtain structural rubbers (rubber plastics), electrically conductive paints, and plastics with antistatic properties. Shungite electrically conductive materials can be used in low-voltage heaters power density, safe in terms of fire.
Shungite-based materials have radio-shielding properties. In addition, shungite has the ability to purify water from organic impurities, in particular from oil products and pesticides, from bacteria and microorganisms. These properties are already used in a variety of filters. Thus, in Moscow, shungite filters are used to purify wastewater from the ring road.
The use of shungite preparations is promising in pharmacology and cosmetics. Infusions of water on shungite, shungite pastes can have antiallergic, antipruritic and anti-inflammatory effects. Preparations based on shungite can treat allergic, skin, respiratory, gynecological, muscle and joint diseases.
Green belt Fennoscandia.
The concept of the Fennoscandia Green Belt (FGB) was born in the early 90s as a project harmonious combination interests of society and nature. The original idea implied the development of a unified policy in the field of protection environment on both sides of the Russian-Finnish border. This policy aims to combine effective forest management with the preservation of unique natural and cultural heritage.
The created FPF is a strip with the largest preserved tracts of virgin (indigenous) forests in Eastern Europe. coniferous forests along the Russian-Finnish border. It unites into a single whole both unique natural complexes ( virgin forests, rare and endemic species of flora and fauna, key habitats of migratory birds, etc.), and cultural monuments (wooden architecture, rune singing villages, etc.) of the North-West of Russia and Finland. The Green Belt has global ecological, historical and cultural significance and deserves to be assigned the status of a “UNESCO World Heritage Site.” Work to nominate it to the list of World Heritage Sites is currently underway. The core of the ZPF is the already existing and planned protected natural areas (SPNA) - 15 on the Russian side with a total area of 9.7 thousand km 2 and 36 on the territory of Finland with a total area of 9.5 thousand km 2. The creation of the FPF will contribute to the development of international integration in the field of conservation of natural (in particular, habitats and biodiversity of boreal forests) and cultural heritage of Northern Europe, as well as their sustainable use (sustainable management of forest resources, development of small businesses related to non-forest resources and eco-tourism, revival and preservation of cultural traditions, crafts, folklore holidays).
The green belt of Fennoscandia should become a network of protected areas organically connected with areas of economic activity. It is intended to stimulate the development of the territories included in it and attract additional investments into the local economy.