Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Altitudinal and horizontal shifts of the upper boundaries of open and closed forests in the Polar Urals in the 20th century

  • Published:
Russian Journal of Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In the Polar Urals (the Rai-Iz massif and Mounts Tchernaya and Malaya Tchernaya), altitudinal and horizontal shifts of the upper boundary of open and closed larch forests in the 20th century have been studied. Spatiotemporal parameters of these shifts have been assessed with the aid of the ARC/INFO geographic information system (ESRI Inc., United States), using our original large-scale geobotanical maps showing the distribution of different types of forest-tundra communities in the early 1910s and 2000s. The results show that tree vegetation has been actively expanding to higher elevations over the past 90 years. On average, the upper boundaries of open and closed forests have ascended 26 and 35 m and shifted horizontally 290 and 520 m, respectively. These shifts have been conditioned by climate warming and increasing humidity observed since the 1920s.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Shiyatov, S.G., The Time of Seed Dispersal in Siberian Larch in the Northwestern Part of Its Range and the Role of This Factor in Relationships between Forest and Tundra, in Voprosy fiziologii i geobotaniki (Problems in Physiology and Geobotany), Zap. Sverdlovsk. Otd. Vses. Vot. O-va, Sverdlovsk, 1966, issue 4, pp. 109–113.

  • Shiyatov, S.G., On Types of the Timberline and Its Dynamics in the Polar Urals, in Biologicheskie osnovy ispol’zovaniya prirody Severa (Biological Foundations of Nature Resource Use in the North), Syktyvkar, 1970, pp. 73–81.

  • Shiyatov, S.G., Terent’ev, M.M., and Fomin, V.V., Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Forest-Tundra Communities in the Polar Urals, Ekologiya, 2005, no. 2, pp. 83–90.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Division, Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. Vos’mogo Marta, 202, Yekaterinburg, 620144, Russia

    S. G. Shiyatov, M. M. Terent’ev & V. V. Fomin

  2. Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Zürcherstrasse 111, CH-8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland

    N. E. Zimmermann

Authors
  1. S. G. Shiyatov
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. M. M. Terent’ev
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. V. V. Fomin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. N. E. Zimmermann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

Original Russian Text © S.G. Shiyatov, M.M. Terent’ev, V.V. Fomin, N.E. Zimmermann, 2007, published in Ekologiya, 2007, Vol. 38, No. 4, pp. 243–248.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Shiyatov, S.G., Terent’ev, M.M., Fomin, V.V. et al. Altitudinal and horizontal shifts of the upper boundaries of open and closed forests in the Polar Urals in the 20th century. Russ J Ecol 38, 223–227 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1067413607040017

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1067413607040017

Key words

Search

Navigation