0130-B1
G.B. Gladun[1]
The contemporary condition of the anthropogenous landscapes of Ukraine and the role of forest stands in their sustainable functioning were studied. Examples of sustainable functioning of agrolandscapes in different climatic zones were taken from the network of pilot farms of URIFFM, where for several decades, optimized systems of massive forests and forest melioration stands have been working successfully.
These systems function to protects lands from degradation, erosion and destruction, to increase their biological potential and biodiversity and the general biological productivity of agrolandscapes, and also to create the preconditions for stable food production.
Thus, optimization of massive forests and protective forest stands is the main precondition for sustainable development of agrolandscapes, conservation of biodiversity and improvement of general biological productivity.
The forests of Ukraine by their purpose and location play mainly ecological (water conservative, protective, sanitary-hygienic and improving) and other functions and are less are used as a source of timber. General areas of forest fund woodlands makes 10,8 mln. hectare, 9,4 mln. hectare of them are covered with forest vegetation, that makes 15,6% of Ukrainian territory. Forests location on the country’s territory is rather unequal. The greatest forest terrains are concentrated in Polissya and in the Ukrainian Carpathians.
Forest covered area in different natural zones of Ukraine is greatly different and is not optimal (it is the factor, under which forests, being the most complex and the most powerful vegetative group, have the best influence on climate, soils, erosion process stabilization, as well as provide necessary timber). Forest cover is not the same in different natural zones of Ukraine. In Polissya it makes about 27%, in Forest Steppe - 13%, in Steppe - 4%. On the average forest cover in Ukraine makes 15,6%. That is why it is considered to be one of the not woody enough European countries.
The main directions of forest management are:
- increase forest area to the optimal one in all natural zones;
- maintenance of forest ecological systems biodiversity, forest structure improvement and productivity increase;
- increase of forest ecological systems resistance to negative external agents, climate change, increasing antropogeneous loading, forest fires, diseases and pests;
- rational sustainable forest usage, aimed to meet interior country’s market timber needs; amelioration and steppe afforestation
Contemporary land use in Ukraine does not fully comply with criteria of harmonious balance of ecological, economic, industrial and public interests. Therefore the main strategic task is to increase the efficiency of land use with the main aim of conservation and wide reproduction of natural-resource potential of anthropogenous changed lands. The agrolandscapes are characterized by long-raged and qualitative changes where land use transformation strategy influences on natural evolutionary structure of landscapes, and radically reconstructs intercomponental interactions, processes of substance, energy and information exchange.
Therefore in agroecosystems for maintenance of rational ecological balance it is necessary to apply growing quantity of anthropogenous energy (fertilizers, soil processing, pest and diseases control, an irrigation, herbicides treatment etc.). These measures help only temporally and complicate the decision of problems on biodiversity conservation and intensification of agrolandscapes self-renewal and self-control processes. The significant part of the specified problems can be successfully solved by using of melioration measures because protective forest stands not only positively influence on agroecology, remove negative effects of natural-anthropogenous origin in borders of agrolandscapes, but also improve their structure, spatially separate monophytocenoses and become mechanical obstacle in distribution of dry winds, deflation and erosion, pathogenic organisms and pests of agricultural crops.
The main tasks of forest melioration at the present stage of anthropogenous transformation of landscapes are in removing of specified disbalance in agrolandscapes structure, positive transformation of microclimatic parameters, aerothermal and hydrological regimes, increase of biodiversity and creation of comfortable conditions for the population. Thus, generally landscapes forest melioration of a flat part of the country is a system of measures on optimization of forest coverage of the territory that provides sustainable resource usage.
General meliorational forest coverage shows motley system of quantitative, qualitative and spatial - functional parameters in target stands and large forests localization in landscape structure. It is the integrated parameter and consists of forest coverage of separate spatial - target groups of forest stands closely connected with existing massive forest coverage of landscapes.
Forest melioration of landscapes is the integral compound in general optimization of natural resources usage. It has antierosion, antideflation, soil-protective, climate regulating, water resources regulating, sanitary & hygienic, recreational and other functions and as no one of melioration types in a complex improves environment and positively influences on landscapes biota. Therefore these features should be taken into account at scientific validation of zone-regional forest melioration complexes which should be adapted to the concrete conditions, dominated negative factor of natural or anthropogenous origin and the basic direction of economic use of natural-resource potential of the landscape. The examples of special ecological conditions in regions are prevalence of intensive deflation processes in Donbass; dry winds and deflation in Priazovsky lowland; water erosion in central Pridneprov'e, Pridesnjansky region, Volino-Podol'sky heights and others. Without an enhanced attention to forest melioration protection of lands against specified negative factors it is rather problematic to provide a stable ecological situation in the regions.
According to the considered problems of contemporary forest melioration of landscapes it is advisable to develop complex forest melioration zoning which would allow to solve environmental problems on interbranch level. Forest melioration zoning should have the certain hierarchy and be distributed on 3-4 classification levels, which would enable to solve prime questions on priority bases, to separate regional problems in the separate block and to concretize the dominant negative factor, which is necessary to be removed.
The main qualitative characteristic of landscapes disturbance, their potential danger to destructive is ecological tension of the territory [1]. It is the integrated estimation of nocuity of climatic, orographical, hydrological and anthropogenous factors that have the maximal potential danger during their extreme volumes, or joint influence.
The situation after full complex of forest melioration measures introduction probably can be assessed by using of the "forest melioration situation of landscapes" parameter. Application of forest stands of forest melioration complex is most advisable at complex landscapes melioration when other kinds of melioration measures supplement positive influence on landscapes (according to recently adopted low on land melioration).
Forest melioration is also considered as the important condition of soils conservation according to "The national program of soils protection on 1997-2010". But under the project the estimate of capital investments allocation in forest melioration is appreciably underestimated, and advantage is given to agrotechnical, meadow melioration, to hydrotechnical and other kinds of melioration which demand annual expenses and have no such long-term influence on objects of protection which is provided by forest stands.
At the same time, in pilot farms of URIFFM with optimum melioration forest coverage long-term researches results were obtained, which evidenced about the greater effect from joint application of various melioration types (irrigation, chemical and hydrotechnic melioration, application of mineral fertilizers and means of protection of plants from weeds, pests and diseases). Full forest melioration situation of land use of research stations allowed to use bioclimatic potential on protected fields more effective, to develop scientific bases of productivity programming in Steppe and Forest-steppe agrolandscapes [2]
Forest melioration stands have expressed enough functional attribute on protection and conservation of the certain kind of resource that is why their main purpose is creation of optimum conditions for objects functioning in their localization. Forests of I and II groups mainly carry out general ecological and soils & water protection functions, linear forest stands on near watershed spaces - field-protecting, on slopes and elements of a hydrographic grid - antierosion, around of water objects - water-protecting, at transport roads - road protective and others.
Each of spatial - functional types of forest melioration stands creates the certain melioration potential adapted to object of protection and it also influences on the neighbor conditions. This influence of forest stands on environmental space depends on several factors, mains of them are: stand localization; forest stands parameters, which determine their protective, influence; land types bordered with stands etc.
Agroforest melioration stands play great role in flora and fauna distribution that assists to biodiversity of agrolandscapes, raises their general biological potential and becomes the important precondition of agricultural production transition to ecologically safe agriculture bases. Now it is also actual, because demand for non-polluting agricultural production in the internal and external markets has essentially increased and as Ukraine was included in number of six largest world exporters of grain. This problem can be solved by introduction of obligatory ecological and agricultural lands certification, that will stimulate application of ecologically proved technologies, but also make active restoration of soil potential as irreplaceable factor of these technologies.
At the decision of the mentioned circle of questions it is necessary to solve a number of prime problems. Forest melioration application for agrolandscapes protection in conditions of land reform realization demands additional withdrawal from intensive processing up to 3,5 % of arable lands, 6 % of meadows and pastures, and stage-by-stage withdrawal from processing lands with low potential productivity, slopes and ravine lands - this is one of the main problems. Therefore for realization of this measure significant resources of lands stock are necessary for indemnification of land users losses, expenses, which documentation is connected with updating and natural works on land management. Without legislative and normative base for these processes precisely regulation it would be difficult to regulate them.
Questions connected with allocation of budgetary funds on realization of forest melioration measures, and system of preferential crediting or economic stimulation of specified works haven’t been completely solved yet.
It is necessary to apply newest technologies and modern means based on scientific researches and recently developed recommendations more actively. First of all, more intensive implementation of landscape-ecological principles of agrolandscapes forest melioration is necessary to provide not only soil protection from degradation and exhaustions, but also their biodiversity raise due to trees species introduction, and natural extension of wild flora and fauna area.
Evolution of views on agriculture systems has quite logically come to landscape basis provided conditions for wide reproduction of soil fertility and continuous development of agrarian production on this basis. The basis of landscape-ecological agriculture is the system approach which takes into account zoning, cultures and technologies of their cultivation adaptability to local conditions, social and economic expediency, ecological safety of measures and aesthetic-social appearance.
Development of agriculture system on landscape base is in accordance with principles of multistructure agriculture which introduction intensively began with establishment of state in our country. It provides a priority of morphogenetic structures of natural-territorial complexes above both administrative and economic boundaries and borders; and also the account of laws of agrolandscapes functioning in organic unification of natural and economic compounds.
Lands grouping on degree of uniformity are carried out in the certain sequence. At the beginning lands are allocated on level of total solar radiation, and further both on level of total solar radiation and humidity regime. It is a base for allocation of homogeneous land massifs and transition to classification of the supreme rank - of contours determination on soils fertility and culture-technological condition of lands. Next, cultures composition, alternation and cultivation technologies are determined [3].
At adaptive land use each certain natural-anthropogenous lands condition is in accordance with organizational - economic measures, technologies of cultivation and composition. In such context addressing forest melioration elements measures that should be directed on removing of main local destructive factor in borders of the allocated landscape zones, creation of linear boundaries and adequate spatial structure is advisable.
Consecutive state policy of rational natural resources management, conservation and protection of ground resources is carried out in Ukraine. In 2000 the laws of Ukraine "About land melioration"; "About National program of national ecological network formation in Ukraine for 2000-2015", in 2001 - the decision of the Cabinet "About prime measures for creation of protective forest stands on badlands and in river bathins" and in the current year - the decision of the Cabinet about the statement of the State program of "Forests of Ukraine" for 2002-2015, showing the main principles of forest branch development in outlook, were accepted.
Among measures, stipulated in the specified decisions, we shall note planned reforestation on the area of 584,8 thousand Ha. and measures on protective afforestation on 564,3 thousand Ha. Mainly degraded and stony lands without ground vegetation and other categories of lands inexpedient to use in agriculture are allocated under afforestation. But for their realization precise scientific - methodical base, ground of principles and priority of afforestation, particularly in drought conditions of south of Ukraine are necessary.
Practical realization of the specified directions of forest branch activity will allow to solve actual environmental problems of agrolandscapes in near future and to assist distribution of sustainable management of land resources, and harmonization of ecological, economic and social aspects in land use.
1. Zarhina E.S., Sohina E.N., Morina O.M. General principles and approaches to a territorial regulation of nature usage.-Vladivostok: AS of USSR, 1989.-41 p. (in Russian).
2. Gladun G.B., Miloserdov N.M., Koptev V.I. et. al. The forecast of productivity of grain crops for interstrip fields of Steppe and Forest-steppe of Ukraine//Forestry, 1999, # 4.-P. 44-45. (in Russian).
3. The Technique of agriculture system development on a landscape base. - Kursk: KSAA.-132p (in Russian).
| [1] Ukrainian Research Institute
of Forestry and Forest Melioration, G.N. Vysotsky, Pushkinska 86, Kharkiv
61024, Ukraine. Email: [email protected]
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