Spatial analysis of the main field-protective forest plantations in the Stavropol Territory

S. A. Antonov, S. V. Peregudov
North-Caucasus Federal Scientific Agrarian Center, ul. Nikonova, 49, Mikhailovsk, Shpakovskii r-n, Stavropol’skii krai, 356241, Russian Federation

Abstract. The studies aimed to assess the safety of protective forest plantations and their anti-deflationary efficiency in the Stavropol Territory. The work was carried out in 2021. The research was based on Earth remote sensing data for 2019 and modern geoinformation technologies. In the Stavropol Territory about 47% of arable land, which is mainly located in the eastern regions, was subject to water and blowing erosion. The main and most effective means of combating these types of degradation are protective forest plantations, the total area of which is 177 thousand hectares. They were created in the Stavropol Territory more than 40 years ago and today their safety is 74%. The death of the plantings was observed on an area of 46865 hectares. To analyse the safety of protective forest plantations, we used the author's methodology developed in the laboratory of GIS technologies of the FSBSI "North Caucasian" Federal National Research Centre. From 2015 to 2019 more than 394,000 hectares of illegally ploughed land were identified in the Stavropol Territory, which reduced the protective forest cover in a number of municipalities below the recommended level. The total shortage of protective forest plantations in the region was estimated at 22.3 thousand hectares. In some municipalities, located in the eastern part of the Stavropol Territory, there was a discrepancy between the real space between strips and the recommended values for more than 88% of plantations. This led to an increase in wind speed in the surface layers, and as a result, to an increase in deflationary load in those areas.

Keywords: protective forest plantations; space between strips; safety; forest cover; geographic information systems.

Author Details: S. A. Antonov, Cand. Sc. (Geogr.), leading research fellow (e-mail: Этот адрес электронной почты защищён от спам-ботов. У вас должен быть включен JavaScript для просмотра.); S. V. Peregudov, junior research fellow.

For citation: Antonov SA, Peregudov SV [Spatial analysis of the main field-protective forest plantations in the Stavropol Territory]. Dostizheniya nauki i tekhniki APK. 2022;36(5):26-30. Russian. doi: 10.53859/02352451_2022_36_5_26.