Natural Regeneration of Forest Stands after Ground Fires in the Rostov Region

Forest fires cause significant damage to protective plantations in the Rostov region. The largest area of forest fires in the steppe zone is in areas where the predominant species of protective plantations are Crimean pine or Scots pine. According to the adapted classification of fireplaces, the forest stands affected by ground fires are evaluated as heavily damaged. Despite an increase in the area of light, the projective cover of herbaceous vegetation reaches 80–100% only in the 4th-5th year after the fire. Natural regeneration of protective plantations occurs at the expense of invasive species of woody vegetation, such as maple ash, small-leaved elm, and green ash. In order to study the rate and extent of natural regeneration of the stand after ground fires, an assessment of plantations in the Shakhtinsky forest area of the Rostov region that were affected by ground fires in 2018–2022 was carried out.