Khanina L., Demidov V., Shovkun M., Bobrovsky M.
RJEE Vol. 11 (1). 2026 | DOI: 10.21685/2500-0578-2026-1-2
Abstract | PDF (Rus) | Additional files
Receipt date 28.11.2025 | Publication date 26.03.2026
A MASS OUTBREAK OF BARK BEETLE-TYPHOPHORUS (IPS TYPOGRAHUS L.) IN THE FORESTS OF THE PRIOKSKO-TERRASNY BIOSPHERE NATURE RESERVE: ASSESSMENT OF THE AFFECTED AREA AND VEGETATION DYNAMICS
L.G. Khanina1, V.E. Demidov2, M.M. Shovkun3, M.V. Bobrovsky4
1, 4 Institute of Mathematical Problems of Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, a branch of the M.V. Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino, Russia
2, 3 M.A. Zablotsky Prioksko-Terrassny State Nature Biosphere Reserve, Danki, Russia
4 Institute of Physico-Chemical and Biological Problems of Soil Science, Russian Academy of Sciences, a separate division of the Federal Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino, Russia
1 khanina.larisa@gmail.com, 2 vasdemidov@mail.ru, 3 196226@rambler.ru, 4 maxim.bobrovsky@gmail.com
Abstract. According to the analysis of satellite imagery from 2017–2023, the total area of clearings that have formed within the Prioksko-Terrassny Nature Reserve following the loss of spruce forests due to an intense outbreak of Ips typographus L. in 2010–2011, amounted to 104.12 ha (2.2 % of the reserve’s total forest area) by the beginning of 2023. Spruce forests in wet biotopes and in the valleys of small rivers were affected to a lesser extent by the outbreak. An analysis of the vegetation relevés of bark beetle-infeсted stands, carried out in 2019 and 2024, compared with the vegetation relevés of background spruce stands unaffected by the spruce bark beetle was performed. The analysis showed that the outbreak did not lead to a reduction in alpha, beta and gamma diversity of the vegetation in the reserve’s spruce forests. The outbreak of Ips typographus L and the loss of the tree stand initially led to a levelling of ecological conditions in the disturbed forests, which caused an increase in the number of dominant and highly constant plant species in the ground cover of the bark beetle-infested areas, with a lower number of indicator species accounted by IndVal method. Over time, the ecological conditions in the affected areas began to change in a successional direction: an increase in the proportion of first poor pine-forest species, then nemoral and boreal plant species. Although the overall succession trend was consistent, the specific conditions governing the restoration dynamics varied considerably, leading to an increase in the overall beta diversity of the disturbed sites and an increase in the species richness of the area. At the same time, spruce stands unaffected by the bark beetle exhibited the highest overall diversity assessed by the Shannon index, owing to within-community processes and the preservation of a high number of specific intraforest nemoral, nitrophilous and boreal plant species. With the general boreal and nemoral aspect of the ground vegetation in the studied communities, Picea abies and Tilia cordata dominated equally in the undergrowth of the disturbed communities, but spruce was more common than linden.
Keywords: satellite imagery, remote sensing decoding, succession, alpha, beta and gamma diversity, Shannon biodiversity index, ecological scales, ecological-cenotic groups, NMDS, PERMANOVA, iNext, IndVal, accumulation curves with interpolation and extrapolatio.
For citation: Khanina L.G., Demidov V.E., Shovkun M.M., Bobrovsky M.V. A mass outbreak of bark beetle-typhophorus (Ips typograhus L.) in the forests of the Prioksko-Terrasny Biosphere Nature Reserve: assessment of the affected area and vegetation dynamics. Russian Journal of Ecosystem Ecology. 2026;11(1). (In Russ.). Available from: https://doi.org/10.21685/2500-0578-2026-1-2