INFLUENCE OF CLIMATE FACTORS ON THE FOREST ECOSYSTEMS OF THE RIVNE REGION

Abstract

Climate change is having a serious impact on forests as well as people, especially those whose livelihoods depend primarily on forests. On the other hand, forestry offers important opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon sequestration, which is why most strategies to combat climate change involve forests. The UN Convention on Climate Change advocates two approaches to addressing climate change: mitigation (e.g. reducing emissions and increasing carbon sequestration) and adaptation (e.g. adapting to climate change that already exists). Forestry can play a key role in both approaches.The article presents the results of studies of the influence of climatic indicators on forest ecosystems. An analysis of the current state of the forest sector of the Rivne region was carried out and the main indicators of the impact of global warming on the forests of the region were established. Over the past decades, there has been a change in the species composition of forests in the Rivne region in the direction of a decrease in valuable and productive tree species (conifers and hardwoods) as a result of an increase in the area of ​​derivative stands and low-value forest plantations. The increase was mainly due to low-quality hard-leaved coppice plantations and soft-leaved plantations, that is, the qualitative composition of plantations changed in a negative direction.According to the structure of forests by species groups, the dominant species in the Rivne region are conifers, in particular Scots pine. Conifers, which are the dominant species in the Rivne region, are the most negatively affected by climate change. Therefore, there is a need to develop strategies for adaptation of forestry to climate change. Many countries have already developed strategies based on sustainable forest management, but the lack of appropriate legal mechanisms, property rights and user rights limits the implementation of these strategies. The most negative impact is the increase in air temperature and the change in the amount of precipitation, which in turn leads to a change in the growing season and a change in the species composition of forest ecosystems. Climate change can cause the replacement of zonal types of vegetation, the ratio of forest formations and forest types; decrease in the vitality of forests, their resistance to pests and diseases, increase in the intensity of forest drying; outbreaks of mass reproduction of pests; increase in the number and scale of fires (especially in coniferous forests).