Ecological condition of landscapes of the Bakchar Bog
The general swampiness of Western Siberia reaches 50%. Basically, it is swamp areas practically unchanged by human activity. Research of the consequences of possible influences on paludous landscapes is necessary. The purpose of this research is to study the drying measures influence on paludous landscapes of the Vasyugan Bog located on the Bakchar Bog territory. On this territory automorphic landscapes replace hydromorphic ones, which is typical for the forest-swamped Western Siberia. A raised swamp area with transitive and lowland outskirts, boggy birch-pine, automorphic birch-fir forests and a watered river valley are the main characteristics of this territory. Besides, it has had a network of drying canals since 1970s. To do the research a complex study of the terrain was made, a wide scale landscape map and a hypsometric profile of peat deposit were created. Expedition researches were carried out; and vegetative groupings, groundwater table, phylum of peat deposit, depression of vegetation were described. Drainage changed the paludous landscapes to a greater or lesser extent. Raised moors appeared to be more resistant to drying measures due to particular properties of undecomposed high-moor peat and sphagnum mosses. Eutrophic and mesotrophic fields of the Bakchar Bog outskirts changed more. Drained sedge-sphagnum bog changed completely. There was a complete change of vegetation to birch-suffrutescent mesotrophic phytocenosis. Lowland swamp occupies a significant area in the outskirts. A sedge marsh was here before drainage, and after the depression of bog waters level dwarf birch began to supersede the sedge, and birch has considerably grown. In the northwest of the Bakchar Bog skirt lowland swamp replaces birch-pined marsh forest on turf-gley soils. Drainage has slightly affected the woods and has not invoked any change of phytocenosis; it has only enriched the conditions of growth of plants and has increased the site class of woods a little. In the northeast the valley of the Gavrilovka River with a characteristic increased mineralization and watering, bound to the inflow of waters from the adjoining terrains, is located. Birch-sedge eutrophic phytocenosis occupies the main part of the valley. There are many perished larches due to phytocenosis changes. Drainage engineering increased the efficiency of phytocenosis, increased the site class in many forest sectors, and replaced sphagnum mosses with lichens and hypnum mosses. In general human economical activities have made positive influence on the nature of the field, have created more favourable conditions for forestry though causing negative changes of landscapes here and there.