Fragmentation and Diversity of the Valdai National Park Forests

Abstract—

The paper discusses the current mosaic, syntaxonomic diversity, and elements of their composition in the recent dynamics of the forests of Valdai National Park. Using the remote methods of tree cover monitoring, a complex assessment was performed of a degree of its inherited and anthropogenic fragmentation; proportions of areas occupied by various forest communities; and the intensity of woody regeneration on meadows since 1990 (the year when the national park was established). Based on high-resolution Sentinel-2B (2017) satellite images (10–60 m), a map tile of the Valdai forest administrative unit (Lesnichestvo) was created, specifying their current state, natural and anthropogenic mosaic, and trends in succession. Assessment of the diversity of forest communities included identification of the main syntaxa of the floristic classification of the park vegetation and forests per se and refinement of their relation to the dominant classification units and forestry typology. The paper presents a brief retrospective analysis of agrarian development in the region and its implication for a structure and dynamics of forests in the park. The conclusion was made about the development of the conservation-driven successions (forestation of meadows due to woody regeneration) in recent decades and intensification of forest degradation due to the recreational use in the shore areas of Velye, Valdaiskoye, Uzhin, and other lakes. Importantly, the park’s historic Old Russian forest-field-meadow landscape that has been forming for centuries on the Valdai Hills characterised by the high biological and landscape diversity is currently deteriorating. Identification of patterns of the natural and anthropogenic landscape mosaic will allow for more rational regulation of the authorized commercial operations, including recreational activities, on lands within the park boundaries and will prevent a decline in the original biodiversity.