Phytomass and Carbon and Nitrogen Reserves in the Upland Oak Forests of the Southern Forest Steppe

Abstract

Abstract The current state of the solonetz and ground elder–sedge types upland oak forests of in the Tellermanovsky forest has been studied. The phytomass of forest stands was estimated based on model trees with allowance for the types of their development (according to the original classification). The content and stocks of carbon and nitrogen in phytomass, forest litter, and soil have been evaluated. It was found that the phytomass of oak forests in similar plantations is lower than that before the period of oak drying (in the 1970s to the early 1980s). The mass of fallen leaves and forest litter corresponds to the previous values due to the development of the lower tree layers. The studied oak forests differ most sharply by the stocks of carbon and nitrogen in the phytomass and much less by their reserves in the soil, capacity and rate of the annual cycle. The content of carbon, nitrogen, and nonstructural carbohydrates in the organs of the oak in these oak forests is similar.