Light Regime Under the Canopy of a Birch-Blueberry Forest
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37482/0536-1036-2026-3-175-182Keywords:
illumination, forest stand light regime, forest canopy, light conditions beneath the forest canopy, tree species composition, birch-blueberry forest, birch, spruce, Bolshoy Solovetsky IslandAbstract
The research was carried out on Bolshoy Solovetsky Island in the White Sea. Illumination was studied in a birch-blueberry forest with a fairly large allotment area. The forest is typical for the island. Stand composition: 7B3S; with equal average heights for birch and spruce. The canopy consists mainly of birch with occasional spruce; it is moderately dense and has the V quality class, which is typical for the Bolshoy Solovetsky Island. We selected 20 reference birch trees and 20 spruce trees to analyze the light conditions under the forest canopy. The light intensity was measured under their crowns using a TKA-Lux luxmeter, with 5–10 repetitions in different parts of the sub-crown space. The measurements were taken on August 12 and 14 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on days with varying weather conditions (cloud cover), both clear and cloudy, as well as in different directions, from the north and from the south. Illumination in an open area near the studied birch-blueberry forest was 66,000 lux on a clear, sunny day and 22,000 lux on a cloudy day. Illumination under the forest canopy through the breaks in the trees was found to be half that of an open area on a clear day, and one-third on a cloudy day. On clear days, the average illumination under the canopy of birch trees was 10,500 lux, and under spruce trees, 4,300 lux; on cloudy days, these figures were 4,000 and 1,500 lux, respectively. On clear days, the differences between the north and south sides are significant and statistically significant, both under birch canopies and under spruce canopies. On cloudy days, these differences are minimized and unreliable. Overall, spruce blocks light twice as effectively as birch.
Acknowledgements: The research was carried out within the framework of the state assign- ment of the N. Laverov Federal Center for Integrated Arctic Research of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (State registration No. 124103100030-1).
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