The Growth and Productive Capacity of the Arkhangelsk Climatype of Scots Pine in the Moscow Region
In the study of the geographic variation of the main forest-forming species we do not pay enough attention to the anomalous features of growth of geographically remote climatypes from the object of research. The local or neighboring populations are in absolute preference in the regulations defining principles of forest regeneration. The studies are performed in the65-year-old provenance trial plantations of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) in the Serebryanoborsk experimental forestry of the Institute of Forest Science of the Russian Academy of Sciences, located in the central part of the Moscow region. Despite the northern origin (the distance from the studied provenance trial plantations is more than 700 km to the north), the planting, grown from the seeds of the Velsk forestry, Arkhangelsk region, surpasses the Moscow and Vladimir climatypes by the average height, and significantly is ahead of their average diameter. The distribution of trees according to a diameter in the test stands is close to normal. In the Arkhangelsk climatype a shift toward the predominance of large trees is noticeable, while in the Vladimir climatype it is toward stunted trees. A Moscow provenance occupies an intermediate position. The most intense competitive relations are characteristic for the Vladimir climatype according to the dependence of the relative heights of tree diameters. This primarily reflects the highest density of the plantings. In the Arkhangelsk climatype a high value of the ratio of the tree height to its diameter, corresponding in magnitude to that in the Moscow and Vladimir climatypes, is characteristic for stunted trees whose diameter is less than 22...24 cm. The relatively low safety of the stand and the low intensity of the competitive relations between the 65-year-old trees, the prevalence of leading trees in the stand indicate that the natural thinning in the Arkhangelsk climatype occurred earlier and was more intense than in the control stands of local origin. A large tree height with a relatively large diameter is based on the long period of growth in more favorable conditions of the less dense stand. The growing stock in the Arkhangelsk provenance at the time of the research is not behind the plantation of the Moscow region climatype. Consequently, trees, remaining after thinning, adapted to the climatic conditions of the study area. Based on the growth characteristics of the Arkhangelsk climatype of pine from the Velsk district, Arkhangelsk region, we have concluded of its suitability for cultivation in the Moscow region.