Statistical Data
on Forest Fund of Russia and Changing of Forest Productivity in the Second Half of XX Century
V.A. Alexeyev, M.V.
Markov, R.A. Birdsey
Published by the Saint-Petersburg Forest
Ecological Center, 2004. 272 Pages (English and
Russian).
Russian stocked forests comprise 771 million hectares and
contain approximately 120 Petagrams of carbon. This is approximately 20% of the world’s
total forest area and carbon in forest ecosystems. Knowledge of how this vast area of land is
changing and will change in the future is of paramount importance in
understanding and managing the global carbon cycle.
This new compilation of historical statistical data on Russian
forests includes
the official inventory information on areas and growing stock of forests for
the period 1961-1998, compiled from the published State Forest Fund Accounts
for 71 administrative regions of Russia. This extensive data set has never before been
collected and printed in one book. Much
of this information has been unavailable except for official use in Russia. Author’s analysis of data
revealed different occasional and systematic errors in published estimates.
The analysis revealed trends in forest productivity, and some of the
causes of observed changes, including the influence of Global Change. The inventory data suggest that the temporal dynamics of
stand productivity depend upon many biotic and abiotic factors. The contributing
factors and intensity of influence of each of them, as well as their aggregate
influence, are different in the various administrative regions of Russia. This book is a valuable
resource for anyone studying or reporting about Russian forests, forest productivity,
and the global carbon cycle.
Free
copies of this book may be obtained by written request to:
Vladislav
A. Alexeyev, Director
The
Saint-Petersburg Forest Ecological Center
21
Institutsky Ave.
St.
Petersburg, 194021
Russia
Email:
alexeyev@mail.rcom.ru
Richard A. Birdsey
Program Manager,Global Change Research
USDA Forest Service
11 Campus Blvd. Ste. 200
Newtown Square, PA 19073
Email: rbirdsey@fs.fed.us