Grishin S.Yu.
В издании Plants and volcanoes: Proceed. of the International Symposium. For the preservation and conservation of plants in Mt.Fuji.
Год: 2011 Страницы: 19-29
The Klyuchevskoy (4750 m) volcano is the most active and largest in the northeastern Asia. Erupting 60 million tons of volcanic products per year, it influences ecosystems of a huge territory. The eruptions impacts on vegetation, the most important component of the ecosystems, are outlined in this presentation. The alpine timberline is situated at about 700 m above the sea level. Eruptions of the central crater influence the alpine belt vegetation through ash falls. As a result, the volcanic desert conditions dominate in the high mountain zone. This desert is about 70 km2. Ash falls of the central crater also control ecosystems on the lava surfaces through a rapid growth of the soil-pyroclastic cover on the primarily lifeless substrata. Eccentric eruptions wrap the mountain slopes in lava and ash. The lava flows of XX century overlapped approximately 30 km2 of the volcano slopes in the alpine, subalpine and forest belts. The effect of eruption lasts approximately no less than 1500-2000 years. Ash falls of the eccentric eruptions of XX century led to the loss of plant cover over the area of approximately 5 km2. The eruptions of adjacent volcanoes (first of all - Shiveluch and Bezymianniy) influence the vegetation of Klyuchevskoy volcano periodically. The giant directed blast of Bezymianniy in 1956 destroyed the vegetation at the area of about 500 km2, including plant cover of the Klyuchevskoy volcano slopes. As a whole, diversity, structure and dynamics of the local vegetation are controlled by active volcanism.
