Forests in the biogeographical corridors connecting the Fennoscandian shield and the Russian plain: natural features, contemporary status, environmental significance

• Published in: Сибирский лесной журнал
• Main Authors: A. N. Gromtsev, V. A. Karpin, N. V. Petrov, A. V. Tuyunen
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Russian
• Published: Russian Academy of Sciences, Siberian Branch Publishing House 2016
• Subjects: biogeographical corridors; taiga landscapes; forests; protected areas; Forestry; SD1-669.5; White Sea; Fennoscandian; taiga
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.15372/SJFS20160603; https://doaj.org/article/b3dc34ce0b0b442e9c8a9f6e56054be4

The results of long-term research on forests in natural biogeographical corridors (territories with forests, mires, inland lakes and other land categories) connecting the largest bodies of water in Northern Europe (Baltic Sea-Gulf of Finland and lakes Ladoga and Onego to the White Sea) are reported. These corridors link isolated pieces of the Eurasian taiga biome at the boundary between two of Europe’s physiographic divisions – Fennoscandian Shield and Russian Plain. They facilitate the dispersal and migration of plant and animal species. The straight-line terrestrial stretch between the Gulf of Finland and the White Sea is around 320 km, and it falls into three sections in the southern, middle and northern taiga subzones, respectively. The corridors were characterized and assessed as follows: 1) physiographic (landscape) features; 2) key natural characteristics (typological structure, quantitative ratios, spatial arrangement, productivity, etc.), present-day condition of forests, including data from forest management inventories of the past decade; 3) overall assessment of the forest cover transformation by human impact; 4) current system of protected areas and protective forests, and its capacity to fulfill the functions of the corridors (sufficiency).