Heartwood (HW) has a major proportion of a tree trunk, compared with its outer sapwood (SW). Researchers investigated the carbon accumulation to understand the depths of carbon sequestration in pine species in north-western Russia. They mentioned that 64% of the forests of Russian Karelia are Scots Pine which they compared across lingonberry (30% Karelia, 42%…
Category: impacts
What happens to the forest floor after Siberian wildfires?
The main tree species in the Siberian taiga are larch, Scots pine, fir, spruce, Siberian pine and birch. Lightning is more a frequent cause of wildfires in northern Siberia with anthropogenic activity causing wildfires further south, however central and eastern Siberia have been more affected overall by wildfires. They decrease soil quality (organic matter, structure,…
Carbon update from the Ladoga polygon
The Ladoga polygon is part of a network of carbon monitoring sites, with Ladoga providing data for this north-west region of Russia. It stores large volumes of carbon in soils, approx 208 tC/ha which is the largest volume outside of permafrost affected soil. The region has not had any significant agricultural activity for over 40…
Remotely sensing methane over Tatarstan between 2019-23
Tatarstan is in the centre of European Russia, with an area of 67.8km2, and 4 million human population. 90% of the region is no more than 200m above sea level, mostly forest and forest-steppe with deciduous and coniferous trees. It has over 500 rivers, including Volga, Kama and over 8000 lakes and ponds. It is…
Siberian honeybees holding their own
Some tourists don’t take the Transbaikal Siberian train. They fly in and like it so much they want to stay and mingle with the locals. But what do resident bees really think? Zoology researchers from Tomsk State University decided to find out. Bee threats are well researched – pests, pathogens, fertilisers, habitat destruction and Russian…
Climate change impact on birds in Tatarstan forests
Research from Tatarstan between 2018-23 reviewing winter bird species richness: We show for the first time the results of a study into the spatial distribution of birds in forests at the eastern edge of Europe (Republic of Tatarstan, Russia) and changes from early to late winter. A transect method was used to census randomly selected…
How is climate change affecting public health in Russia?
The researchers reviewed 1740 papers and reports which show increasing interest in the impact of climate change on public health in Russia: They were stimulated by the World Climate Change Conference held in Moscow in 2003 with the support of the United Nations and other international organizations, including WHO. The same year, the first review…
Can Steppe trees grow fast enough to suit international climate agreements?
Researchers from Voronezh reviewed the planned timeframes for carbon absorption / emissions reduction in the Paris climate agreement, which has separate credits for projects lasting 5, 10 and 15 years with some extensions. A common method is to use reforestation together with forestry management to help absorb carbon. They noted that most Reducing Emissions from…
What is in defrosted Russian Arctic ice?
Carbon deposits in thawing permafrost include widely reported methane gases released as bubbles and present in craters across Siberia. Scientists wanted to find out more about the greenhouse emissions and what was in the defrosted ground ice including dissolved organic matter (DOM) and particulate organic matter (POM). They studied four locations across the Russian arctic…
Soviet and Russian perspectives on geoengineering and climate management
With geoengineering being a hot topic in climate change discussions, Jonathan Oldfield and Marianna Poborezhskaya reviewed the history and current thinking from both Soviet and Russian perspectives. During Soviet history, discussions mirrored other countries about human influence on climate change such as stratospheric sulfur aerosols to mitigate the effect. Even within the 1950s Soviet scientists…
Russian Climate Research 