THE STUDY OF SIBERIAN LARCH INTRODUCTION IN ARTIFICIAL FOREST STANDS IN THE ALTAI REGION
The larch (Larix Mill.) is the only deciduous coniferous species in the Northern Eurasia and possesses unique biological properties distinguishing it from other coniferous species. Siberian larch (L. sibirica Ldb.) grows in the vast area of forest zone from the Urals to the Baikal in the east, and from the tundra in the north to the Altai Mountains and Sayan Mountains in the south. The ecology of Siberian larch in the Altai Region is diverse. In the 1990s the larch plantations in the Altai Region were intensively cut. The problem of larch restoration should be solved by artificial stands. The research targets were the trees from 2 to 5 years of age planted in the territory of the Petrovskiy Forestry, Troitskiy District (the Ob River area forests), and the Novichikhinskiy Forestry (belt pine forests) of the Altai Region. The research was conducted according to the methods of detailed-route investigations with the method of trial areas and the instrumental method. The forest plantations under study were created with the optimum density: 4.4-6.6 thousand trees per 1 hectare. They consisted of pure and mixed plantations: the pure ones were pine and larch plantations, and the mixed ones consisted of pine-larch and spruce-larch trees. In the Ob River area forests, the way of species mixture, quality and timeliness of cultural practices, and the influence of natural renewal of pine and birch have greatly affect the growth and development of larch. In the stands mixed with pine, larch predominance should be projected. Pure larch plantations gradually turn into mixed plantations due to natural renewal of pine and birch. In the belt pine forests, artificial larch plantations are more resistant to the environmental conditions and have better survival than the larch species in the Ob River area forests. In the Altai Region, the growth and development of larch plantations show positive results at the early stages of their development.