Vol 29, No 6 (2025)

This article tackles the assessment of forest growing conditions determinism while evaluating the capacity as well as ecological and economic efficiency of forest climatic projects in the framework of low-carbon economic development. In the course of the work, the main theoretical and methodological provisions related to determining the efficiency of forest climatic projects are considered. Using the example of the Central forest-steppe, the main types of forest conditions that have the most significant impact on the ecological and economic efficiency of forest climatic projects are identified. Carbon intensity coefficients of investment costs have been determined as integral indicators of the forest-climatic projects efficiency, including both in-kind effects in the form of reducing emissions and increasing greenhouse gas absorption, and financial effects in the form of investment outlay for project activities. Based on the results of the study, it was found that the forest areas with richer forest conditions, such as oak forests and semioak forests in the Central forest-steppe zone, have the greatest economic capacity for implementing forest-climatic reforestation projects in burnt forest areas and cut-over lands. In addition to oak and semioak forests, semipine ones are suitable for the implementation of forest-climatic afforestation projects in the Central forest-steppe. It has been established that the coefficients of carbon intensity of investment outlay for the most effective forest-climatic reforestation projects exceed the value of 1, and for the most effective forest-climatic afforestation projects exceed the value of 2, which indicates broad perspectives for their implementation in the Central forest-steppe zone of Russia. At the same time, the need to develop the processes of regulating forest-climatic projects through the development of a national standard for project activities has been identified.

The article studies the influence of orographic factors in the mid-mountain relief on stocks of berry bushes in the area of Northern taiga subzone in the Sverdlovsk region. Forest plantations in the mountains with various slopes directions within absolute heights of 650…850 m above sea level are studied. It is established that berry bushes at the studied areas are represented by three species: blueberry Vaccinium myrtillus L., lingonberry Vaccinium vítis-idaea L. and blueberry Vaccinium uliginosum L. Their plant cover varies from 2 to 18 %. Blueberries are mostly predominant species. Blueberries are prevalent more often at sites above the 800 m above sea level. There is a correlation dependence of the berry bushes plant cover on the absolute height, which is described by the second-order parabola equation. Strength of relationship varies from weak to strong on different slopes (pearson correlation coefficient rxy 0,49…0,81). The plant cover decreases on southern and northern slopes depending on the altitude increase from 650 to 750 m above sea level. Then, plant cover of berry bushes gradually restores, almost to the initial values to heights of 800…850 m above sea level. Plant cover of berry bushes decreases on western and eastern slopes with increase of height from 650 to 800 m. above sea level on the western and eastern slopes. Slight increase of plant cover of berry bushes detected only at the altitude of 800 m. above sea level. There is a difference of indicators of plant cover of berry bushes on different slopes of mountains. The western slope is characterized by the largest plant cover of berry bushes (3,5…21 %), the north slope has the smallest one (0,5…7 %). Plant cover of berry bushes is 2,7…18 % on the southern slope, and 1…19 % on the eastern slope. Research materials confirm a significant role of slope direction and altitude in growing wild berry bushes resources.

Federal specially protected sites play an important role in the Russian environmental conservation system. Efficient protection of its natural sites is one of the gaps in fire safety provisions that needs further improvement of specially protected areas safety against natural (forest and landscape) fires. Integrated studies and pyrological situation evaluations in specially protected areas are scarce that does not enable development of research-based operations to reduce specially protected areas fire occurrence. Federal specially protected areas (state natural reserves, national parks, state forest reservations) fire occurrence indicator changes regularities with regard to federal districts, natural geographic conditions as well as specially protected areas have been specified. It is shown that the highest values of fires and burned-out areas was observed in Far East and Siberian federal districts while maximum fire occurrence area in terms of fire area per specially protected areas 1 million ha is typical with low density for South federal district specially protected areas. This feature is proved by observed shift of fire occurrence gradient from north regions to south ones, its minimum values are observed in sub-tundra and taiga zones and maximum ones in steppe and forest steppe zones. Semi-desert and desert zones in South Federal District especially stand out with maximum relative fire occurrence values. Most fire numbers per specially protected areas 1 million ha account for national parks that probably relates to increased recreation load and number of fire sources. Especially outstanding are state natural reserves where fires were recorded only in 2 federal districts over 2011–2024 period that shows either a real low fire stress in these areas or incorrect information presentation. The regularities presented in the paper will serve as a background for federal specially protected areas fire protection provision improvement.

The article presents the results of a study of variety-specific features of Phlox paniculata L. ('Venets', 'Zolotaya Rus', 'Knyaz Serebryany', 'Lunny Kamen', 'Phobus', 'Esmeralda', 'Geniy' and 'Peppermint Twist') regeneration under in vitro conditions. The highest values of the multiplication coefficient, determined by the number of microshoots, were established for three phlox varieties: 'Geniy' — 29,2 ± 3,3; 'Zolotaya Rus' — 23,8 ± 2,7; 'Esmeralda' — 23,5 ± 4,1. Low ability to reproduce in vitro, caused mainly by a small number of microshoots, was revealed in two phlox varieties: 'Peppermint Twist' — 8,7 ± 0,5 and 'Venets' — 8,7 ± 1,6. The maximum number of microshoots was determined: in the 'Geniy' variety — 10,4 ± 0,8 pcs., the minimum — in the 'Peppermint Twist' variety — 1,2 ± 0,1 pcs. The highest number of nodes was noted in the 'Peppermint Twist' variety — 6,9 ± 0,6 pcs./explant, the smallest — in the 'Zolotaya Rus' variety — 2,9 ± 0,4 pcs./explant. A conditional division of all studied Phlox paniculata L. varieties into three groups based on in vitro propagation intensity is proposed: 1) 'Genius', 'Golden Rus', and 'Esmeralda'; 2) 'Phobus'; 3) 'Peppermint Twist', 'Venets', 'Prince Silver', and 'Lunnyy Kamen'. The presence of a root system and callus at the base of the explants was recorded for most varieties after 60 days of cultivation.

The article presents data on the history of chemical engineering scientific schools relating to the forestry for over a 100-year period of their existence at MSFU, which at different periods of its existence was in the Soviet Union and then in the Russian Federation and had the names of Moscow Forest Engineering Institute (MFEI), then Moscow State Forest University (MSFU) and today the Mytishchi Branch of the Bauman Moscow State Technical University (National Research University). The article considers the issues of chemical engineering training in the initial period of MFEI in 1919–2025 and the formation of fundamental directions of scientific schools’ development. The article shows the influence of chemical engineering research institutes in the field of chemical wood processing created in the 1920–1930 with the participation of leading chemists of MFEI on the formation of scientific schools in the post-war period during an active development of the country in new directions of chemical and mechanochemical wood processing. The historical continuity of the research topics within the development of scientific schools from the first post-revolutionary period of formation up to the present time is shown. The current history, scientific and educational contribution of the basic, general education and graduating Department of Chemistry and Chemical Technologies of the Forest Complex to the training of students and postgraduates in modern areas of chemical and biotechnological processing of wood raw materials, which together with the university celebrated 105 years since its foundation in 2025, is briefly described. This article is the final one in the series "Wood as a chemical raw material. History and modernity" (previous parts of the series were published in the journal "Lesnoy Vestnik / Forestry Bulletin": 2020 vol. 24, no. 1, no. 5; 2021. vol. 25, no. 1, no. 3, no. 5; 2022. vol. 26, no. 1, no. 2; 2023. vol. 27, no. 3, no. 6; 2024, vol. 28, no. 6.).

The article presents an analysis of the growth and wood quality of four diploid (2n = 38) and triploid (2n = 57) white poplar (Populus alba L.) hybrid clones, produced using diploid (2n) pollen artificially induced by elevated temperatures. New data on wood quality, including density and structural characteristics of wood fibers, are reported for 34-year-old triploid hybrids grown in mixed-ploidy poplar test plantations in the Voronezh Region. Analysis revealed differences in growth and wood quality among the triploid hybrids, attributed to their genetic characteristics. We suggest that the use of 2n gametes with high heterozygosity, formed in our case due to the absence of chromosome conjugation and segregation during the first meiotic division under heat induction, can promote the high growth and productivity of triploids. The triploid hybrid no. 65 and diploid hybrid no. 184 exhibited the best performance in the region, with superior growth, trunk volume, wood density, and fiber length and thickness. Specifically, their wood fiber lengths (1,43 mm and 1,35 mm) exceed their fiber thicknesses (0,0217 mm and 0,021 mm) by 66 and 64 times, respectively, making them promising for paper production. These hybrids also showed the highest wood densities (372 kg/m³ for no. 65 and 364 kg/m³ for no. 184). The study suggests that establishing forest plantations allocated to wood production with selected diploid and triploid white poplar hybrids is a promising approach for forest-steppe conditions.

One of the most important tasks for our country’s spaceflight is to observe and monitor various territories on the Earth surface. This task is addressed by space equipment Uragan, which serves as a framework for developing technologies and hardware for Earth studies onboard the Russian Segment of the International Space Station. The experiment uses standard photographic and video equipment, as well as specially developed scientific equipment. The experiment serves as a framework for addressing various tasks, including potentially dangerous and catastrophic phenomena of natural or man-made origins. One of the focus areas of the experiment consists in monitoring bird and animal migrations on Earth using space technologies. Scientific equipment Icarus was developed within the framework of international cooperation between Germany and Russia. The experiment uses miniature sensors attached to birds and animal. Data from the sensors goes to the Russian Segment of ISS and from there to the Mission Control Center near Moscow. The received data are used for studying migratory paths of the survey targets. Ornithologists can predict migratory paths of the tagged birds and animals and interpret their changes. The paper presents the general principle of the movable target tracking technology that is being developed and provides a brief description of the equipment that is used. It describes the role of the crew in carrying out the experiment. The cosmonauts who co-authored the paper were among the originators of onboard implementation of the experiment involving the Icarus equipment. The paper presents some of the study results. Tagging birds within the framework of space experiment Uragan made it possible, for example, to gain new knowledge about wintering and migratory activities of 23 species of birds nestling in Russia. The paper also reviews potential and prospects for further development of the technology for tracking migration of animals and other targets on Earth from space that has been tried out onboard the ISS. It provides a description of future experiments proposed for the new Russian Orbital Station.

A mathematical model for operational planning of a timber processing plant is presented. The problem of creating daily raw material supply chains from a commodity exchange and optimally utilizing production facilities is considered. Unlike existing approaches, the developed model allows for the consideration of raw material cutting technology and lot delivery times under uncertainty. Key output indicators are determined: the optimal profit trajectory over the planning horizon, daily production volumes, and raw material purchases. The model is tested using data from the Russian commodity exchange and a plant in Primorsky Krai. It is shown that even in complex scenarios, the model delivers significantly superior results and ensures stable planning. It is recommended for use to improve management efficiency at timber processing plants.