Karelian forests. Beautiful places in Karelia. Green Belt of Fennoscandia

The nature of Karelia enchants everyone who has ever visited these places. Amazing beauty northern nature, wild rivers with steep rapids, virgin purity of forests, Fresh air, filled with the intoxicating aroma of pine needles, stunningly beautiful sunsets and the richness of the world of flora and fauna have long attracted tourists and travelers to Karelia.

Karelia is located in the northwest Russian Federation. Most of the republic is occupied coniferous forests, famous for tall pines and slender firs, juniper thickets and an abundance of berries.

There are more than 60 thousand lakes in Karelia, the most famous of which are Onega and Ladoga. Many rivers and streams run through the republic, but the rivers are mostly short. The longest Karelian river Kem has a length of only 360 km. There are swamps and waterfalls in Karelia.

It is the reservoirs in combination with the Karelian forests that create that amazing climate that fascinates everyone. It is no coincidence that Karelia is called " lungs of Europe"By the way, it was here, not far from Petrozavodsk, that the first Russian resort was created, founded in 1719 by decree of Peter I.

Karelia was admired by many artists and poets. The Kivach waterfall is one of the most famous sights of Karelia, Marcial Waters is the first Russian resort founded in 1719 by decree of Peter I, Kizhi and Valaam are among the most mysterious places Russia, but mysterious petroglyphs White Sea still haunt archaeologists and historians.

Flora of Karelia

Features of the Karelian flora are primarily due to geographical location republics. Main part flora formed in the postglacial period. AT northern regions and on the heights of the mountains grow plants characteristic of the tundra: mosses, lichens, dwarf spruce and birches.

But most The republics are occupied by coniferous forests. Pine forests grow closer to the north. Approximately in the region of Segozero passes the border between the northern and middle taiga forests. Here begins the forest strip, where spruces and pines grow mixed. The closer to the southern outskirts of Karelia, the more spruce forests, which alternate with mixed ones.

Of the conifers, the common spruce and the common pine are the most common. Finnish pines are often found in the west. Birch, alder, aspen, linden, elm and maple grow in mixed forest thickets.

The lower tier of forests is made up of numerous shrubs. Where pines grow, there are fewer shrubs. The closer to the south, the more thickets of lingonberries and cloudberries, blueberries and blueberries, wild rosemary and swamp world appear.

Near reservoirs, the soil is covered with gray mosses and lichens. Here it is easy to find heather and reindeer moss.

And also the Karelian forests are the kingdom of mushrooms. Most of all they collect boletus and boletus. In the southern regions, porcini mushrooms, boletus, mushrooms and chanterelles are often found.

Fauna of Karelia

The fauna of Karelia is rich and varied. Here you can meet all the animals that traditionally live in the taiga. But the peculiarity of the Karelian Republic is also that there are many reservoirs. This means that there are much more representatives of the North Sea representatives of the animal kingdom than in any other corner of Russia.

From large mammals to Karelian forests lynx can be found brown bear, wolf and badger. Numerous hare hares have long been a desirable prey for local hunters. Lots of beavers and squirrels. Rivers and lakes were chosen by muskrats, otters, martens and European minks. And in the White Sea and Lake Onega there are seals.

The fauna of the southern regions is somewhat different from the northern ones. Elks and wild boars live in the south, raccoon dogs and Canadian minks.

The world of birds is also diverse. The sparrow family is best represented. In the north, there are a lot of upland game: capercaillie, black grouse, hazel grouse and white partridges. From birds of prey it is worth noting hawks, numerous owls, golden eagles and harriers.

Waterfowl of Karelia are its pride. Ducks and loons settle on the lakes, gulls and eiders, which are valued for their fluff, have chosen the sea coast. And sandpipers settle in swamps.

Karelian fish can be conditionally divided into three categories:

Anadromous (whitefish, salmon, salmon, smelt);

Lake-river (pike, roach, perch, burbot, ruff, in the south - pike perch, grayling and river trout);

And marine (herring, cod and flounder).

The abundance of water bodies has led to large numbers reptiles and insects. Of all the snakes that are found in Karelia, the most dangerous is common viper. And from the end of May to the beginning of September, hiking in the forest and picnics are overshadowed by clouds of mosquitoes, horseflies and midges. In the south, by the way, great danger represent ticks, especially in May-June.

Climate in Karelia

Most of Karelia is located in the temperate continental climate zone with elements of the sea. Although winter lasts a long time, severe frosts are rare here. Mostly winters are mild, with plenty of snow. Spring, with all its charms in the form of melting snow, flowering trees and an increase in daylight hours, comes only in mid-April. But until the end of May, the probability of a return of frosts remains.

Summer in Karelia is short and cool. In most of the territory really summer weather established only by mid-July. The temperature rarely rises above +20ºC. But already at the end of August it is felt autumn mood weather: overcast skies, heavy rains and cold winds.

The most unstable and unpredictable weather dominates sea ​​coast and in the area of ​​Ladoga and Onega lakes. Frequent cyclones come from the west. The weather is mostly cloudy, with constant winds and an abundance of rainfall. On the coast of the White Sea, the highest cloudiness in the entire republic is observed.

Upper Lampi, we were intrigued by the fact that we could not really see it from the trail. Karelian forest It turned out to be very dense and looked like a fairy-tale jungle with old moss-covered trees, or a jungle with flowers taller than human height. But it is curious what the Karelian forest hides. And therefore, as it was decided the day before, my daughter and I went back to the forest to see what kind of mysterious rock it was. You need to walk through such thickets only in closed clothes and be sure to use repellents from ticks, and by the way, there were not very many mosquitoes.

Ivan tea is taller than human growth.

So, we again go along the third path path from. After some time of the way, one gets the impression that the path goes along the slope of a mountain overgrown with forest. On the left is an elevation, and on the right is a lowland and it seems quite deep.

After walking about 1 km, we reached the rock, but it looks more like a stone ridge stretching along the path and overgrown with moss and trees. Just like that, through the thickets of grass and bushes, you can’t get close to the rock, however, in one place from the health path route, a barely noticeable path leaves to the rock to the left. We would not have noticed it at all if it were not for the red cloth on a tree branch by the path. Someone's label.

We turned onto the path and began to slowly climb up the mossy stones.

Suddenly Nastya exclaims: “Oh, mom, look!” And points back down. Turning back, I was taken aback by surprise. A snag in the form of a mythical buffalo was looking at us with its mouth open. Mystic some. I even got goosebumps. Wow, we passed by this snag and did not notice it unusual shape.

But we did not look at the snag for a long time, we were attracted by the more pleasant gifts of the Karelian forest. The slope is full of red currant bushes. Oh, how beautifully these berries sparkle in the sun.

Having risen to the ledge of the ridge, they found a blueberry. Mm, so many blueberries, yummy.

And the Karelian forest, as if inviting us to go forward, revealing its beauty to us. There's so much here beautiful flowers similar to bells. I wonder what they are called?

We rise after these blue flowers even higher. What bizarre outlines of boulders overgrown with moss and grass. It's like an owl watching you with one eye.

We climbed up. Oh, a birdhouse on a birch. How nice. True, it seems to me that he was nailed a little low.

Yes, there is a whole field different colors! Straight bouquet. And there are strawberries here too.

My daughter loves macro photography. I think she's good at it.

It looks like someone comes here to the mountain quite often. There are traces of a fire and some boards, poles, and it seems like cardboard. As if they were going to build something here, or they are just sitting on these boards by the fire. We did not go there, walked around this place, and ... another birdhouse. Painted this time. Interesting.

We did not have time to go a few steps, two more painted birdhouses. Strange somehow, on a small patch in the forest, 4 birdhouses were counted.

Passed by them to the cliff. I wanted to look down to take photos from the top of this rocky ridge, but the stones overgrown with moss and grass on the edge of the cliff seemed to me a very unreliable support, it was easy to stumble and fall down. Therefore, it turned out only such a photo. At eye level, mountain ash, birch, and spruce rise from behind the edge of the cliff. The height of the ridge in this place is probably 8-10 meters. It is difficult to determine by eye in such wilds.

On the edge of a cliff.

Returning from the cliff, we decided to see the birdhouse, which seemed to us of an unusual shape. Wow, he has a face. And more it looks not like a house for birds, but like an idol, well, a forester. Or goblin?

Interesting, of course, and even funny, but somehow it became uncomfortable. What is this place? Again mystical. And thoughts about the witch's mountain, and about shamanic dances, got into my head. Ugh, these are probably the village boys having fun here.

So, what else is a birdhouse? We need to get out of here, otherwise they completely circled us.

They started going down. We passed next to our recent acquaintance, who at the beginning of the journey struck us with her mystical appearance. There she is to the left of Nastya, from this angle the view of the driftwood is not at all intimidating. An ordinary old log, uprooted.

They didn’t go down the path right away, they walked through the Karelian forest along the foot of the stone ridge, enjoying the riot of greenery and fabulous wilds. Admiring how the rays of the sun break through the crowns of trees.

Here our attention was attracted by a tree trunk, covered with a lichen we had never seen before. Lichen leaves are so large, almost half the size of a palm. By the way, the next day we saw exactly the same lichen in the exposition. It is a type of foliose lichen.

The tree turned out to be a rowan. She leaned over, either from old age, or some kind of mountain ash. There are also Karelian birches, maybe it's Karelian mountain ash. From this mountain ash, one can probably study all types of lichens growing in Karelia. Above the leaf lichen, the rowan trunk is covered with fruticose lichens, epiphytes and moss. Here is an instance! It was like being in a museum.

Having marveled at Karelian forest and thinking to myself a bit of mysticism , began to get out to the trail. And by the path, what a beauty - thickets of ferns and flowering meadowsweet.

Here is such a mysterious, informative and tasty acquaintance with Karelian forest. And they ate berries, and admired the flowers, and as if plunged into a fairy tale.

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. The ice sheets were gradually decreasing, and melt water filled in the hollows in the rocks. Thus, many lakes and rivers were formed in Karelia.

Virgin forest

Karelian forests are the real wealth 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 can boast of pine trees that are five hundred years old.

In Karelia, about three hundred thousand hectares forest areas are in the status national parks and reserves. virgin trees form the basis of the reserves "Pasvik", "Kostomukshsky", national park"Paanayarevsky".

Green wealth: interesting facts

Green moss pine forests settled on more fertile soils, which are represented tall trees. 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 rock tops. Trees in these places are quite rare, and the undergrowth is practically absent. The soil covers are represented by lichens, reindeer moss, green mosses, bearberry, cowberry.

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

mixed forests

On the site of clearings and conflagrations, once primary forests are replaced by secondary mixed forest areas, on which aspens, 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. Exactly at mixed forests in the south of Karelia there are rare elm, linden, maple.

swamps

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. Horses that feed precipitation. Blueberries, cranberries, cloudberries, rosemary grow here.
3. Transitional swamps are an interesting combination of the first two types.

All marshes are externally very diverse. In fact, these are reservoirs covered with intricate mosses. There are also swampy pine areas with small birches, between which dark puddles with duckweed glisten.

Beauty of Karelia

Karelia is a land of extraordinary beauty. Here swamps overgrown 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, energizing those around it, relieves fatigue and irritability.

Local forests are famous for Karelian birch. In fact, this is a very small and nondescript tree. However, it has gained worldwide fame due to 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 salting 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 works. And rosin and turpentine are extracted from the sap of the tree.

A completely unique long-lived pine grows in the Marcial Waters, whose age is about four hundred years. She is listed the rarest trees. There is even a legend that the pine 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 to three hundred years, and some specimens live up to half a century of 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 for making 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.

In the Karelian forests, a serpentine spruce was found, which is a natural monument. 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 hardwood, 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 folk medicine.

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

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The vegetation cover of Karelia includes about 1200 species of flowering and vascular spores, 402 species of mosses, many species of lichens and algae. However, a little over 100 species of higher plants and up to 50 species of mosses and lichens have a significant influence on the composition of vegetation. About 350 species have medicinal value, and are listed in the Red Book of the USSR as rare and endangered species in need of protection.

Within Karelia, there are boundaries of distribution of a number of species. For example, in the eastern part of the Pudozhsky region there is the western border of the distribution of Siberian larch, in the Kondopozhsky region - the northern border of corydalis, medicinal primrose; the northern limit of the area of ​​the marsh cranberry is located, although in Murmansk region, but not far from the border with Karelia; to the north, only small-fruited cranberries are found.

The woods

Karelia is located within the subzones of the northern and middle taiga of the taiga zone. The boundary between the subzones runs from west to east somewhat north of the city of Medvezhyegorsk. The northern taiga subzone occupies two thirds, the middle taiga - one third of the republic's area. Forests cover more than half of its territory. The forest is the main biological component of most landscapes in the region.

Main tree species that form the Karelian forests are Scots pine, European spruce (mainly in the middle taiga subzone) and Siberian (mainly in the northern taiga), downy and drooping birch (warty), aspen, gray alder.

Spruce European and Siberian in nature easily interbreed and form transitional forms: in the south of Karelia - with a predominance of signs of European spruce, in the north - Siberian spruce. Within the subzone of the middle taiga, in the forest stands of the main forest-forming species, Siberian larch (southeastern part of the republic), small-leaved linden, elm, elm, black alder and pearl Karelian forests- Karelian birch.

Depending on the origin, forests are divided into indigenous and derivatives. The first arose as a result of natural development, the second - under the influence economic activity human or natural catastrophic factors leading to the complete destruction of indigenous forest stands (fires, windfall, etc.) - At present, both primary and derivative forests are found in Karelia. The primary forests are dominated by spruce and pine. Birch, aspen and gray alder forests were formed mainly under the influence of economic activity, mainly as a result of clearcuts associated with logging and slashing. agriculture, which was conducted in Karelia until the beginning of the 30s. To change conifers leafy led and Forest fires.

According to the forest fund accounting data as of January 1, 1983, forests with a predominance of pine occupy 60%, with a predominance of spruce - 28, birch - 11, aspen and gray alder - 1% of the forested area. However, in the north and in the south of the republic, the ratio of forest stands of different species differs significantly. In the northern taiga subzone, pine forests occupy 76% (in the middle taiga - 40%), spruce forests - 20 (40), birch forests - 4 (17), aspen and alder forests - less than 0.1% (3). predominance pine forests in the north is determined by more severe climatic conditions and the wide distribution of poor sandy soils here.

In Karelia, pine forests are found in almost all habitats - from dry on sands and rocks to swampy ones. And only in swamps does pine not form a forest, but is present separately standing trees. However, pine forests are most common on fresh and moderately dry soils - lingonberry and blueberry pine forests occupy 2/3 of the entire area of ​​pine forests.

Indigenous pine forests are of different ages, they usually have two (rarely three) generations of trees, and each generation forms a separate tier in the stand. Pine is photophilous, therefore each new generation of it appears when the density of the crowns of the older generation decreases to 40-50% as a result of the death of trees. Generations usually differ in age by 100-150 years.

In the course of the natural development of indigenous forest stands, the forest community is not completely destroyed; the new generation has time to form long before the old one completely dies off. Wherein average age stands are never less than 80-100 years old. In primary pine forests, birch, aspen, and spruce can be found as an admixture. With natural development, birch and aspen never crowd out pine, while spruce on fresh soils, due to shade tolerance, can gradually seize a dominant position; only in dry and swampy habitats is pine out of competition.

Forest fires play an important role in the life of pine forests in Karelia. Mounted fires, in which almost the entire forest burns and dies, are rare, but ground fires, in which only the living ground cover (lichens, mosses, grasses, shrubs) and forest floor, occur quite often: they practically affect all pine forests on dry and fresh soils. If crown fires are harmful from an ecological and economic point of view, then the action of grassroots

On the one hand, destroying the living ground cover and partially mineralizing the forest litter, they improve the growth of the forest stand and contribute to the appearance under its canopy of a large number pine undergrowth. On the other hand, persistent ground fires, in which the living ground cover and forest litter are completely burned, and the surface mineral layer of the soil is actually sterilized, sharply reduce soil fertility and can damage trees.

Forests of Karelia

Karelia - harsh land, which has always attracted me with its wild beauty. For a long time I retained my love for its smooth, glacier-turned rocks - “ram's foreheads”, overgrown with twisted pines, for transparent cold lakes, for vast moss swamps, for gloomy spruce and light pine forests, for fast rapids rivers rich in trout and grayling.

Everything here bears traces of the activity of the glacier: both lakes located in the direction of its movement, and swampy hollows that were once lake basins, and smooth ledges of stone, polished by the glacier. rocks, and deposits of glacial rivers - narrow hills (esks) stretching for many kilometers, and powerful accumulations of stones and sand, the so-called moraines.

Several hundred thousand years ago, a giant ice massif dominated here. With abundant rainfall and average annual temperature below zero, the thickness of the ice sheet gradually increased and reached more than a thousand meters.

Imagine dough lying on the table. If you press it with your hands or add a new portion of dough in the center, it begins to spread under pressure, occupying an increasing area of ​​the table. Something similar happened with the glacier: under the pressure of its own gravity, the ice became plastic, "spread", occupying new territories.

Fragments of rocks and stones, frozen into the lower, near-bottom part of the glacier, furrowed, scratched and polished the surface of the earth as they moved. The glacier acted like a giant grater.

Look at the map of Finland and the Karelian ASSR. Numerous lakes cover their territories. Most of the lakes have an elongated shape and, as it were, are elongated from the northwest to the southeast - in the direction of the movement of the glacier. These lake basins are hollowed out by a glacier.

But the climate changed, and the glacier began to melt. Stones that accumulated on its surface or froze into its body settled on the ground and formed hills and ridges of various sizes and shapes. We meet them even now where the glacier once was.

The influence of the glacier also affected the rivers, which are of a rapid nature, and the lakes - clean, deep, both on soils and on vegetation.

Forest, stone and water are found in this region in various combinations. Hundreds and thousands of lakes, dressed with granite, proudly sparkle among the Karelian forests. Cities, towns, villages are surrounded by forests. Everywhere you look, there is a forest.

On elevated parts of the relief, on stony soils or on rocks, and in rare cases on sandy river terraces, lichen forests grow. They are more common in the north of the republic. These forests are called "white moss forests"; their soil is covered with a continuous layer of white lichens (lichens), there is also a lot of heather here.

In trees growing on rocky cliffs, the trunks are “bumpy” - thick at the base, sharply thinning towards the top. Such a forest is not of great industrial value. Another thing is white-moshniki, occupying loose sandy soils along river terraces: they are denser, their canopy is closed. Therefore, the trees in such forests are even and produce hard, small-layer resinous wood.

Another group of forests is represented by green mosses, spruce and pine. They are located on elevated plateaus and gentle slopes with well-developed podzolic soils. There are several types in this group of forests.

Bor-lingonberry is close to white moss. This is a pine forest, with more even trees, well debranched, and developed crowns. Birch and spruce are occasionally found here. In the grass cover, in addition to shiny mosses, there are a lot of lingonberries. Cowberry pine forests grow on upper parts gentle slopes.

Spruce forests-green mosses have a different look. These are dense spruce forests; pine and birch are quite common here. They stand on gentle lower parts stingrays. It is assumed that earlier in such places mainly pine forests grew, while spruce, as a more shade-tolerant species, settled under their canopy and is now replacing the “owners”. This is confirmed by the age of the trees: the pine here is usually twenty-five to fifty years older than the spruce. Where “windows” form in the canopy and where more light falls on the soil surface, Christmas trees grow in whole groups. This young replenishment of spruce will eventually completely replace pine. The surface of the soil is covered with shiny mosses, blueberries and lingonberries, and you can often find cuckoo flax.

In addition to green mosses, there is also a group of long moss forests. They are located in the lower parts of the relief. Here the soil is even more humid, so the grass cover consists of moisture-loving mosses; the first place among them is occupied by kukushkin flax. In some places, a real marsh moss appears - sphagnum. The moss cover in these forests reaches sixty to eighty centimeters in height (hence the name of the forest - moss "long", long moss). In a continuous carpet of cuckoo flax, gonobobel bushes appear on tussocks.

Dolgomoshniki are both pine and spruce forests. Once in these forests, you are immediately convinced of how unfavorable the conditions for the development of trees are in them. The height of the trees is small: at the age of one hundred and fifty, they do not exceed fourteen meters. The tree canopy is sparse, the trunks are covered with branches, from which, especially in spruce, lichens hang. Willow and juniper bushes often come across under the forest canopy. Arborists consider this type of forest "unproductive". Hunters, on the other hand, quite often look here, finding broods of black grouse and capercaillie here.

I remember my first capercaillie hunt in the Kola forests. It was in early spring, at dawn, just before dawn.

The capercaillie does not hear anything when he "sings", talks, or rather, when he performs the second knee of his uncomplicated song ("skirting"). On this feature of it, hunting on currents is based, when the hunter sneaks up on the capercaillie to the sound of a song.

Having walked a few steps from the fire, my companion, an experienced hunter-forester, and I plunged into pitch darkness. spruce forest. We advanced with great difficulty, often sinking above our knees into the snow. Then it either brightened, or the eyes got used to the darkness, but we began to distinguish the contours of the trees.

We stopped near a fallen spruce and were silent for fifteen minutes. Suddenly my companion abruptly turned his head. “Sings,” I guessed rather than heard.

The first knee of the capercaillie song - a bone click - resembled the impact of celluloid balls when playing ping-pong. At first, these clicks were heard at large intervals. Then they became more frequent and suddenly disappeared. But instead of them, a new, very peculiar sound was soon heard - either a whistle, or a rustle: the capercaillie, as they say, “grinded”. And it's true: as if someone was swiping one knife over another ...

We rushed forward. But, having taken two or three big steps, they stopped in their tracks: the “turning” stopped. The seconds seemed agonizingly long... Then the bird began to sing again. And then I could not stand it: without waiting for the “turning”, I almost ran forward. The snow crunched treacherously, and the capercaillie immediately fell silent. A second later, there was the sound of flapping wings. The grouse has flown away.

Is it possible to describe the grief of a young hunter, who so shamefully frightened (in the language of hunters - “noisy”) a capercaillie, this handsome man of the Karelian forests!

But back to the forests. In the lowlands arises new type forests - sphagnum pine forests. These forests are more like swamps, covered with a rare, undersized pine. The height of the trees does not exceed eleven to thirteen meters, and the thickness is twenty centimeters. The cover in these forests consists of a continuous carpet of swamp moss - sphagnum. On bumps there are rosemary, cotton grass, sedge. The soils here are peaty, swampy, and excessively moist. At first glance it seems that these forests are not old. And when you cut down a tree and count the narrow annual layers, it turns out that it is one hundred and fifty - one hundred and eighty years old.

So, depending on where the forests are located - whether on the tops of hills, on slopes or in lowlands - their appearance changes dramatically. This is mainly because the character of the soil changes with changes in humidity. A sign of this or that type of forest is the grass cover. He very sensitively "responds" to changes in humidity, to the quality of the soil and therefore makes it possible to judge the forest as a whole.

Of course, the forests of the Karelian ASSR are not limited to the listed types. There are also other forests in it, for example, small-leaved birch forests, aspen forests. But the forests described here are the most common in this republic.

The so-called Karelian birch is of particular value to the forests of the Karelian ASSR. Who does not know beautiful light yellow furniture with an original pattern made from its wood!

Karelian birch has been famous for a long time. In the 18th century, the “forest connoisseur” Fokel pointed out that birch grows in Lapland, Finland and Karelia, which “resembles marble inside”.

In Karelian birch, unlike other trees, annual rings are unevenly arranged around the circumference of the trunk. This gives its wood a peculiar structure, reminiscent of a relief map. highlands. And besides, in the wood of the Karelian birch, the pattern of fibers, beautiful color and shine are especially pronounced.

Previously, the uneven development of the growth rings of the Karelian birch was explained by the fact that it grows on stony soil. It has now been established that the Karelian birch is special form warty birch. Just like the common warty birch, it grows in mixed coniferous-deciduous forests, but most often among green moss.

Karelian birch lives mainly in the southern regions of the Karelian ASSR, but is sometimes found in the forests of the Leningrad and Pskov regions, Belarus and the Baltic republics.