Ihor Shvadchak

Faculty of Forestry, Ukrainian State University of Forestry and Wood Technology, UKR-290057, Lviv, Ukraine

Introduction

Ukraine is considered to be a republic with scarce woodland, the total forest area being only 14.3% of its territory. The Carpathian mountains is the most wooded region of the republic (37.5%). It occupies 7.4% of the Ukraine territory with about 21% of the forests concentrated there. The total area of the Ukraine woodland is 6 151 000 ha. Owing to favourable forest-growing conditions, the forest productivity in the Ukraine is much higher than in many other countries of eastern Europe: the average wood stock on 1 ha is 194 m³, and in the Ukrainian Carpathians, 373 m³; an average increment per 1 ha is, correspondingly, 3.9 and 5.1 m³. However, as investigations have shown, these indices cannot be considered sufficient for the Ukraine (Chernyavskij and Shvadchak 1994). At the same time, the problem of increasing forest productivity should be considered together with solving the problem of genepool conservation of forest tree species.

These problems are of particular importance for spruce forests of the Ukrainian Carpathians, where excessive forest exploitation during the last one and a half centuries and the application of seed material of unknown origin during forest growing have led to decreases of many spruce stands and to considerable economic losses. A preference for spruce monocultures in the Carpathians led to an increase of 200 000 ha in areas of spruce stands during the last two centuries (Golubets 1978). The situation was aggravated by the fact that in artificially created spruce stands, forms and races of different west European origin began to grow together (Bardecki 1909). It was in these stands that catastrophic wind damage and epidemics of diseases and insects periodically took place.

Spruce forests in the Ukrainian Carpathians and in Polissya presently occupy an area of about 570 500 ha (9.3% of the lands covered with forests). In modern forest cover of the Ukrainian Carpathians, forests formed by common spruce occupy about 533 000 ha, or a third part of the forested area of this region. Taking into consideration all the forests where spruce occurs, the total area will amount to 1 million ha. The area of flat spruce forests is about 37 000 ha.

Natural range and ecological conditions

The area of natural distribution of Norway spruce in the Ukraine consists of two parts: unbroken spruce forests in the Eastern Carpathians and small island places of this species growing on the plains of the northern part of the Ukrainian Polissya.

Owing to a long exploitation period of the Ukrainian Carpathians spruce forests and considerable spruce cultivation, the current limits of distribution of this species have been considerably changed. On vast areas, beech, beech-spruce, beech-fir-spruce groups of uneven age and composite structure have reformed into pure spruce cultures. That is why two categories of spruce forests, natural and artificial are singled out in the forest cover of the Ukrainian Carpathians (Fig. 1).

Natural spruce forests of the Ukrainian Carpathians are adapted to the climatic zone with the sum of active temperatures from 1000E up to 1600E, the general vegetation period duration not more than 136 days and total annual precipitation up to 1500 mm.

Natural spruce forests (Piceeta abietae) occupy the highest elevation zones of the forest cover of the Gorgan, Chernogory, Chyvchyn, Marmarosh and Grynyav mountains. In the spruce forest zone two ecologically and cenotically different levels are singled out: the upper level with pure spruce forests (higher than 1200 m) and the lower level with mixed spruce forests that include fir and beech.

The average value of the lower border of an unbroken spruce forests is 1030 m (minimum 700 m), and the upper value is 1470 m (Golubets 1988). Composite natural spruce forests prevail in the northeast and occur in the southwest microaspects of the Ukrainian Carpathians at elevations of 900-1200 m. It is there that a lot of research of the Carpathian forests determines optimum conditions for spruce growing (Vincent 1936; Gensiruk 1957; Tyshkiewich 1962), and conditionally the same-age spruce stands under the same conditions give over 1000-1100 m³/ha at the age of 100 years (Tsuryk 1981).

Spruce formation in the Ukrainian Carpathians is divided into six subformations: Piceeta (130 000 ha), Cembreto-Piceeta (2000-3000 ha), Fageto-Piceeta (35 000 ha), Abieto-Fageto-Piceeta (100 000 ha) and Fageto-Abieto-Piceeta (50 000 ha) according to Golubets (1988).

About 40% of the total spruce forest area in the Ukrainian Carpathians is occupied by artificially established spruce forests. Their simplified structure, one layer, lower age of natural maturity (than in natural spruce forests), low endurance to windbreakage, diseases and harmful insects are characteristic features of these forests.

Reconstruction of spruce monocultures, regeneration of mixed forests, increase of spruce forest endurance and improvement of their useful and protective functions remain actual problems of the Carpathian forestry.

Reserve territories organization; selection of forest genetic reserves (representing the best populations of species), plus stands (stands with the highest productivity and qualitative characteristics) and plus trees (trees with high economical characteristics); creation of clone and archive-parent plantations (in order to preserve and space plus trees by means of vegetation); creation of forest seed plots (to provide seeds); creation of clone and family plantations (in order to obtain seeds with higher genetic-selection characteristics); creation of test cultures of plus trees; population cultures, and initial sort tests are the main methods of forest genetic conservation.

Nature reserves

There is a developed network of natural reserve fund in the Ukraine including State reserves, natural national parks, protected localities, etc. The network of especially protected territories including mainly spruce forests at present consists of 74 objects with an area of 39 550 ha or 6.9% of the total area of spruce forests of the Ukraine.

Natural flat spruce forests are protected in Shatsk National Park (the total area is 67 000 ha) and in 14 protected localities in Polissya. The area of the latter is about 700 ha. In most cases they are mixed forests of an island type which overcame a significant anthropological influence.

The biggest stands of native spruce forests in the Ukrainian Carpathians have been preserved in Grynyav, Chyvchyn and Marmarosh crystal mountain mass. Practically, all of them are now in different reserves and protected localities. About 28 230 ha of natural spruce forests have been included in Carpathian National Park (21 350 ha) and Carpathian State Reserve (6880 ha), 1610 ha of them being represented by the groups of a virgin type. In 20 protected localities representing different forest-growing conditions of the northeast and southwest microaspects of the Ukrainian Carpathians, 5126 ha and 4194 ha of natural spruce forests, respectively, are protected. The total area of spruce forests of a virgin type, according to our estimates, is about 5740 ha.

The main method of improvement in forest growing of the past lies in a wider implementation in forestry practice of up-to-date achievements of seed procurement and selection.

Seed application in the Ukraine is regulated by `Instructions on Forest Seed Growing' (Molotkov et al. 1993). Seed procurement should be done in plus stands and specially accredited to seed departments. Seed collection in artificial stands or in unapproved forest seed regions or subregions is forbidden.

There is the following division into districts in the Ukraine concerning common spruce:

Carpathian forest seed district

a) high mountain subdistrict (higher than 1250 m a.s.l.),

b) low mountain subdistrict (1250-950 m; 950-500 m a.s.l.),

South-Polissya forest seed district

a) Rivno-Zhytomyr subdistrict,

b) Kiev-Chernigov subdistrict,

Ukrainian forest-steppe.

Spruce population transfer in the limits of the Carpathian high mountain subdistrict is carried out up to 150-200 m, and in low mountain ones up to 200-300 m vertically from the place of seed procurement.

The total area of spruce seed procurement departments is 1260 ha, including 1043 ha under mountain conditions. Spruce plus stands of 221 ha European area are singled out only in the Carpathians.

Creating a network of forest gene reserves in 1983-1985 became a specific method of genepool conservation of forest tree species in the Ukraine. Genetic reserves were selected in all geobotanical and forest districts, high-altitude ecological belts in the mountains and the main forest types. It should be noted that only well-preserved natural forests were taken as a basis for selecting genetic reserves. That is why in some cases genetic reserves were included in already exisiting reserves and protected localities. Therefore, there exists a double control on these objects.

Any economic activity which can affect genetic structure and natural development of these reserve plantations is forbidden. Seed and vegetation material procurement in a genetic reserve is allowed only in exceptional cases (scientific research, conservation of a given population in situ or ex situ), when reliable natural regeneration is available and only in high-productive years (Shvadchak 1990).

A reserve needs a protection zone not less than 100 m in width. The main task of management in a protected zone is conservation and regeneration of the native genetic reserve plantations. Complex cutting combined with intermediate fellings is allowed in this zone. If natural regeneration in the protected genetic reserve belt is bad, creation of forest cultures with the help of native material is sometimes allowed.

In order to preserve and rationally use the valuable genepool of common spruce in the Ukraine, 43 genetic reserves with an area of 2773 ha amounting to 4.9% of spruce forests have been selected (see Table 1).

Among other objects directed at spruce genepool conservation one can name plus trees (211 plus trees in total) and creation from their vegetative material of clone plantations and test cultures. In all, 2 ha of archive-parent plantations of spruce and 47.8 ha of clone plantations of the first order have been formed, 2.5 ha of which were planted under the flat conditions of Polissya. By means of seed material one spruce family plantation with the area of 1.8 ha has been created. One clone plantation with an area of 12.2 ha has been entered into a constant seed base where seed procurement is done in productive years.

Wide experiments with geographical origin (provenance trails) with spruce in the Ukraine, despite the species' significant spreading, have not been carried out. Some investigations of five west European provenances (planted in 1963) proved unsuitable for the Ukrainian Carpathians (Golubets 1978). Also, the data about parent stands in this investigation were absent. The results of European international experiments with common spruce in 1938 and 1964-1968, including some provenances from the Ukraine, indicate the prospects of east-Carpathian ecotypes for Central Europe. Spruce provenances from Chornogirya stands should be of particular interest. Certain trends to unification of spruce population from Chornogirya stands have been noted in our investigations (Shvadchak 1989). It is interesting that the Chornogirya, according to some scientists (Srodon 1948; Kozij 1963), was one of the most important refuge locations of spruce, from which it spread after the post-glacial period.

Despite the mistaken actions during forest spruce growing in the Ukrainian Carpathians, a valuable genepool of this species is still conserved having significant importance for further investigations as to European spruce improvement, not only for the Ukraine but also for many countries of central and western Europe. It is expedient to carry out an international experiment in order to study the provenances of common spruce.

There is a necessity to create an all-European database of common spruce genetic resources and to develop a strategy of assessment and conservation of genetic resources of Picea abies in Europe.

Bardecki, H. 1909. Zuzytkowanie krajovych nasion lesnych. Sylwan: 457-460. (Pol.)

Chernyavskij, M. & Shvadchak, I. 1994. Preservation of the biodiversity and ecological balance of Ukrainian forests (trend and prospects). In: Conservation of Forests in Central Europe. Proceedings of the WWF Workshop, Zvolen: 123-130.

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