Karelian forests: description, nature, trees and interesting facts

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:55

Karelia is traditionally called the forest and lake region. The modern terrain was formed under the influence of a glacier, the melting of which began thirteen thousand years ago. Ice sheets gradually decreased, and melt water filled depressions in the rocks. Thus, many lakes and rivers were formed in Karelia.

Virgin Forest

Karelian forests are the real we alth of the region. For a number of reasons, forestry activities miraculously bypassed them. This applies to massifs located along the Finnish border. Thanks to this, islands of virgin nature have been preserved. Karelian forests boast pine trees that are five hundred years old.

In Karelia, about three hundred thousand hectares of forests are in the status of national parks and reserves. Virgin trees form the basis of the Pasvik, Kostomukshsky reserves, and the Paanayarvsky national park.

Green we alth: interesting facts

The development of the forests of Karelia began in the period ofindustry. In the eighteenth century, tree felling was selective. Only around the metallurgical plants was clear-cutting. In the nineteenth century, the volume of timber harvesting grew rapidly. The we alth of the Karelian forest was gradually melting away. And only in the nineties of the last century felling was significantly reduced. At the same time, there is again a gradual increase in the pace of timber harvesting, since it is a valuable export product that is always in demand.

Karelian forests: which trees dominate

These places are incredibly beautiful and rich in vegetation.

The basis of Karelian forests is Norway spruce and pine. In the northern regions you can find Finnish spruce, and in the east - Siberian. But vegetation is represented not only by conifers. What is unique about Karelian forests? What trees still grow in these places? Hardwoods are also common here. Karelian forests are famous for birch trees, two of its species - fluffy and warty. Other hardwoods include sticky alder and aspen.

Forest types

South Karelia has large tracts of broad-leaved species - elm, linden, black alder and maple. Karelian pine forests grow, as a rule, on depleted soils and make up several types that differ in the nature of the soil and in the type of vegetation of the lower tier.

On the lowlands, plains and marshes almost everywhere grow sphagnum pine forests with stunted and thin-stemmed forests. Here is the soilcharacterized by thick moss cover, there is also a large number of shrubs - wild rosemary, blueberry and marsh myrtle.

On more fertile soils, green moss pine forests, which are represented by tall trees, settled. In such a dense forest, the undergrowth is very rare and consists of juniper and mountain ash. The shrub layer is made up of lingonberries and blueberries, but the soil is covered with mosses. As for herbaceous plants, there are very few of them.

Lichen pine forests grow on depleted soils of slopes and tops of rocks. Trees in these places are quite rare, and the undergrowth is practically absent. The soil cover is represented by lichens, reindeer moss, green mosses, bearberry, cowberry.

Spruce forests are typical for richer soils. The most common are green mosses, consisting almost exclusively of spruce trees, sometimes aspen and birch can be found. On the outskirts of the swamps on peat-podzolic soils, there are sphagnum spruce forests and long mosses. But the valleys of streams are characterized by marsh-grass spruce forests with mosses and frail alder and meadowsweet.

Mixed forests

At the site of clearings and conflagrations, once primary forests are replaced by secondary mixed forest areas, on which aspen, birch, alder grow, there is also a rich undergrowth and grassy layer. But among hardwoods, conifers are also quite common. As a rule, it is a spruce. It is in the mixed forests in the south of Karelia that rare elm, linden, and maple are found here.

Marshes

Approximately thirty percent of the entire territory of the republic is occupied by swamps and wetlands, which form a characteristic landscape. They alternate with forests. Wetlands are divided into the following types:

1. Lowlands, the vegetation of which is represented by shrubs, reeds and sedges.
2. Horsebacks that feed on precipitation. Blueberries, cranberries, cloudberries, wild rosemary grow here.
3. Transitional swamps are an interesting combination of the first two types.

All swamps look very diverse. In fact, these are reservoirs covered with intricate mosses. There are also swampy pine areas with small birch trees, between which dark puddles with duckweed gleam.

The beauty of Karelia

Karelia is a land of extraordinary beauty. Here, swamps covered with mosses alternate with virgin forests, mountains give way to plains and hills with amazing landscapes, a calm lake surface turns into raging rivers and a rocky seashore.

Almost 85% of the territory is Karelian forests. Coniferous species predominate, but there are also small-leaved ones. The leader is a very hardy Karelian pine. It occupies 2/3 of all forests. Growing in such harsh conditions, it, according to the local population, has unique healing properties, nourishing others with energy, relieves fatigue and irritability.

Local forests are famous for Karelian birch. In fact, this is a very small and nondescript tree. However, it has become world famous for its very durable and hard wood, which resembles marble due to its intricate pattern.

Karelian forests are also rich in medicinal and food herbaceous and shrubby plants. There are blueberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, cloudberries, cranberries and lingonberries. It would be unfair not to mention the mushrooms, of which there are a great many in Karelia. The earliest of them appear in June, and already in September, the period of picking mushrooms for s alting begins - there are waves, bruises, milk mushrooms.

Tree varieties

In the Karelian open spaces, pines grow, whose age is at least 300-350 years. However, there are also older examples. Their height reaches 20-25 or even 35 meters. Pine needles produce phytoncides that can kill microbes. In addition, this is a very valuable breed, its wood is good for shipbuilding and just for construction work. And rosin and turpentine are extracted from the sap of the tree.

In the Marcial waters grows a completely unique long-lived pine, whose age is about four hundred years. It is included in the lists of the rarest trees. There is even a legend that the pine tree was planted by those close to Peter I, but if we take into account its age, then most likely it grew long before that period.

In addition, Siberian and common spruce grows in Karelia. In these conditions, she lives two or three hundred years, and some specimens live up to half a century.age, while reaching 35 meters in height. The diameter of such a tree is about a meter. Spruce wood is very light, almost white, it is very soft and light. It is used to make the best paper. Spruce is also called a musical plant. She received this name not by chance. Its smooth and almost perfect trunks are used for the production of musical instruments.

A serpentine spruce, which is a natural monument, was found in the Karelian forests. It is of great interest for cultivation in park areas.

Larches, common in Karelia, are classified as coniferous trees, but they shed their needles every year. This tree is considered a long-liver, as it lives up to 400-500 years (height reaches 40 meters). Larch grows very quickly, and is valued not only because of its hard wood, but also as a park culture.

In dry spruce and pine forests there is a lot of juniper, which is a coniferous evergreen shrub. It is interesting not only as an ornamental plant, but also as a medicinal breed, since its berries contain substances used in traditional medicine.

Birch trees are widely distributed in Karelia. Here, this tree is sometimes also called a pioneer, since it is the first to occupy any free space. Birch lives for a relatively short time - from 80 to 100 years. In the forests, its height reaches twenty-five meters.