Vegetation-permafrost relationships in the zone of sporadic permafrost distribution in the Kamchatka Peninsula

Abstract

Studies on vegetation and permafrost table depth in the zone of sporadic permafrost distribution in the Uksichan River valley (the central Kamchatka Peninsula) have provided evidence that these components of biogeocenosis are interrelated and develop coordinately. In open larch forests with green forest mosses dominating in the ground vegetation layer, the permafrost table lies approximately 60 cm below the soil surface. When the ground vegetation layer is dominated by sphagnums, the permafrost table rises to 40–20 cm. In areas with a dwarf shrub-lichen ground layer, the soil thaw depth increases. A hypothesis is proposed that cyclic successional replacement of plant communities may take place in open larch forests on permafrost soils, including four consecutive stages with dominance of green mosses, sphagnums, lichens, and dwarf shrubs. In areas disturbed by fires, pioneer moss or herbaceous communities develop in the ground layer.