CENTRE ON THE PROBLEMS OF ECOLOGY AND PRODUCTIVITY OF FORESTS

RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

Shary P.A., Sharaya L.S. Change of NDVI in Northern Caucasus forest ecosystems as related to topography and climate // Forest Science (Lesovedenie). 2014. No 5. С.83-90.

To analyze relationships between vegetation index NDVI and climate and topography in Kuban River basin, the 500 m grid of average July temperature, Tjul, was generated. The quality of the map, based on the grid, was reasoned by the close link (R2 = 0.978) of the data from weather stations with topography. It was shown that the mean average temperature of july is controlled significantly not only by elevation above sea level, but also by slope insolation and by valley properties. Close non-linear links have been found between NDVI of mountain forests within the basin and Tjul. The samples of pine forests near the glaciers demonstrated close non-linear links between summer NDVI and topography, and distance from the glaciers. For broad-leaved, small-leaved and pine forest types in the basin, the ecological optima of Tjul is found, while it is not for dark coniferous forests. The forecast of NDVI for broad-leaved forests driven by E scenario in GISS climate model until 2050 shows that NDVI might diminish due to the temperature optimum shift towards greater elevations, where topography is characterized by negative conditions for the forests growth.

Geomorphometry, climate and topography effects on forest NDVI, ecological optimum, nonlinear relationship, North Caucasus..

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