COLLABORATION IN BASIC SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING (COBASE)

Matthew Pelkki visited Russia in summer 1999. Pelkki is working with Vladimir Sedykh of the V.N. Sukachev Institute of Forestry in Novosibirsk on forest restoration/regeneration problems in West Siberia, particularly in areas impacted by oil and gas development. During this three-week visit, Pelkki’s two main goals were: (1) to develop a set of research protocols for measurements, data collection and storage, and statistical analysis of forest restoration/regeneration problems in West Siberia; and (2) to identity critical biological, social (policy), and economic factors that contribute to the problems of forest regeneration in human-disturbed areas of Western Siberia.

According to Pelkki, there are a number of pressing issues concerning the forests of western Siberia. Because of the exploration and production of oil and gas, vast areas of western Siberia are damaged and destroyed by oil and gas leaks from pipelines, pumping stations, and wells. Drill waste disposal and waste pit reclamation are largely unstudied. Forests are destroyed and fragmented by due to pipelines, power transmission lines, and road networks. Large sand and gravel quarries are left in an unvegetated state, scarring the landscape. And in the coal fields of western Siberia, natural forest forming processes are neglected in favor of more expensive and less biologically diverse artificial forest plantations.

Currently, Pelkki and his Russian collaborators are developing two research programs. The first will focus on rehabilitation of damaged and destroyed bog and swamp forests in the oil and gas complex of western Siberia. This proposal will test practical technology to return these damaged areas to higher levels of carbon sequestration and establish conditions favorable for forest formation and natural decomposition of oil contaminants. The second, an investigation of natural forest forming processes on open-pit coal mines in western Siberia and Kentucky, will compare both natural forest formation and socio-economic and biological barriers to reforestation in post-mining land conditions.