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Russia is the world's largest forest power. It is all the more surprising that our forests are very young, they are no more than 200 years old.

They should live and live

I first thought about this while looking at the paintings of I.I. Shishkina. Something about them alarmed me. And one day I realized: the beautiful forest in all the paintings bears little resemblance to a dense forest; rather, it depicts young growth. Why didn’t the artist capture the forest with old, centuries-old trees? Yes, because in those years there was no such forest on Russian territory.

In order for the reader to have an understanding of how long a tree can live, I will tell you the age of some trees. Olive lives 2000 years, royal oak - 2000, yew - 2000, juniper - 1700-2000 years, oak - 500-900, cedar pine - 1200 years, sycamore maple - 1100, Siberian larch - 700-900, Siberian cedar - 850, linden – 800, spruce – 300, birch – 100–120 years. The main characters of our forests are pine, spruce, birch, and oak.

According to researchers from the Polar Alpine Botanical Garden-Institute A.V. Kuzmina and O.A. Goncharova, the average age of trees in the Murmansk region is about 150 years. The picture is similar throughout Russia. Don't believe me? Get out into the forest and try to find at least one tree older than 200–300 years. It won't work. And such a tree would be visible from afar. For example, a spruce of this age should have a diameter of at least two meters! According to archaeologists excavating ancient city Arkaim, in the Chelyabinsk region there were coniferous forests with trees more than five meters in diameter!

There are historical sources indicating that our forests should be more mature. Travelers of the 18th century reported large oak trees in Valdai. There are also earlier sources. Alberto Campenze (1490–1542), a Dutch writer, reported on Muscovy in a letter addressed to Pope Clement VII: “In general, they have much more woods than we do. Pines are incredibly large, so one tree is enough for the mast itself. big ship" In official history, the entire territory of Russia was called Muscovy until the 18th century. Hence the natural question: where are trees over 500 years old on Russian territory? There is none of them. There are, of course, individual specimens preserved thanks to man. For example, the so-called Peter's oaks in the Moscow Kolomenskoye Museum-Reserve, which are about 500 years old.

Massive rejuvenation

The Tale of Bygone Years mentions a huge forest - the Okovsky Forest, the remains of which are located in the southwestern part of the Tver region. This chronicle was written around 1110–1118. It turns out that the trees in the Okovsky forest must be at least 900 years old, and if we take into account that the forest was already standing at the time of writing “The Tale” and the events described in it, then the age of some species must be more than 1000 years. The basis of the Okovsky forest were spruce and oak trees. According to the tree age tables, there should be an old forest here. But in the forests of the Tver region, the average age of trees is again about 150 years.

In a normal forest there should be both old and young trees, just like in the photo late XIX- early twentieth century - deforestation in Humboldt County, California. Notice - thick trees next to thin trees, that is, old trees with young trees. But... Why are there no tree tops? As if the forest had undergone some kind of catastrophic impact. We can see a similar picture in the photo of the site where the Tunguska meteorite fell in 1908. At that time, a forest covering an area of ​​2000 km² was felled in Siberia. But the most interesting thing is that there are no old trees of large diameter at the site where the Tunguska body fell. That is, at that time a young forest was growing in Siberia! But the main forest reserves of Russia are concentrated in Siberia.

Another proof of the youth of our forests is the wide distribution of birches. As you know, many of their species grow in clearings, burnt areas, and wastelands. The average lifespan of a birch is 100–120 years. If we start from the average age of forests at 150 years, it turns out that most of Russia's forests suffered catastrophic destruction around 1840–1870. But, most likely, the most accurate date is 1810–1815. After the destruction of the forests, the land was completely a burnt area. And only by 1840 did their full-scale restoration begin. In place of the so-called deforestation, new young growth grew.

What does science say?

It is worth immediately abandoning the version that the forests were destroyed by cutting down for economic needs: for kindling or housing construction. Yes, the forest was used by humans. For example, during the time of Catherine II, the trade in ship timber flourished. Oak trees were used, according to the German traveler Adam Olearius (1599–1671), “for ritual fire in honor of Perun the Thunderer.” But it is impossible to destroy a forest on the territory of, say, the Tver region in a short period of time. Yes, Russian people did not treat the forest so barbarically. For him, the forest has always been his breadwinner. Picking mushrooms, berries, medicinal plants, hunting, beekeeping is part of the way of life, a way of surviving in years of crop failure. The forest is an integral part of the folklore and mythology of the Rus. Pain-boshka, Borovik, Leshy, Moss-haired Man and other characters lived there.

The version of natural fires also does not stand up to criticism. The forest cannot burn all over Russia at the same time. Only if fires are caused artificially. Let me remind you that in 2010, 2 million hectares of forest burned in 20 regions of the country. Experts immediately called this event a disaster, and alternative researchers said that the forest was set on fire artificially, including from space satellites.

Official science recognizes the youth of forests in Russia. Science also recognizes, for example, that Siberian larch currently grows mainly in burnt areas. A study of the boundaries of its age showed interesting results: trees under 50 years old - 7.1%; 51–100 years old – 3.7%; 101–200 years – 68%; 201–299 years old – 20.5%; over 300 years – 0.7%. The age of the main mass of larch is 101–200 years. And according to the age table, Siberian larch is listed among the long-lived and normal conditions should reach an age of 700–900 years. Where are these long-livers in their native forests? Logically modern science- burned out. Because " Forest fires are the main mechanism for renewing forests, replacing old trees with young trees,” so natural fires do not allow trees to live to an old age. However, there is such a unique natural source of wood as bog oak or, in other words, “ebony”. It is mined from the depths of rivers and swamps, in places where oak grew many thousands of years ago. The wood acquires its black color after staining for more than 1000 years. The diameter of some specimens is sometimes more than two meters! This means that modern oaks can and should be much older and, accordingly, larger.

Alexey Kozhin

Photography - shutterstock.com ©

Read the continuation in the June issue (No. 6, 2015) of the magazine “Miracles and Adventures”

Why are all the trees in Russia very young and in Siberia the average age of trees is only 150 years old? In America there are huge sequoias that are 2000 years old or more. Why such a huge difference? And why do we have coal in Russia and not in America?

Stone forest

Pine lives for 400 years and individual specimens in Siberia reach a little more and die, pines rarely survive longer, because now in Siberia it is very harsh conditions. But in Kemerovo coal is mined in mines. Where did this Coal come from, which warms us, if not from compressed ancient huge trees, which for some reason mysteriously disappeared from us?

How was coal formed? Not a single academician will answer this question, let alone the Internet. Coal was formed by just a 5-7 meter layer of old tree species, compressed and turned into coal - compressed wood. Some kind of plate fell from above and compressed it, heating them up at the same time. What force lifted hundreds of tons of rocks into the air and covered these trees from above, if you have to go down quite deep into the mine? What is the reason for the emergence of coal? Where have all our redwood trees gone, like in America? They obviously were! Apparently, coal was compressed from these redwood trees. But America doesn’t have coal, because there was a more favorable climate and all the Sequoias survived.

Maybe it's because of the Tunguska meteorite? The Tunguska meteorite fell on June 30, 1908 in the area of ​​the Podkamennaya Tunguska River, an event called the “Tunguska phenomenon” occurred at 4 am. But, if the Tunguska meteorite exploded while passing over Europe, then its explosion would be capable of completely destroying a city like St. Petersburg. Thank God that this did not happen, but something happened, because there are no forests in St. Petersburg - young trees are everywhere and the oldest trees were clearly planted deliberately near the Peter and Paul Fortress - 300-year-old oak and linden remained there
and Oranienbaum there are ancient trees left, but all the trees around are relatively young. It’s not for nothing that they say that there was some unthinkable cataclysm in Nature in 1812-1814 and Napoleon lost to the Russians because he froze in Russia.

The tree ring method is extremely poor at reflecting the effects of all major volcanic eruptions - the eruption of a tropical volcano in what is now Mexico or Ecuador in 1258, the underwater volcano Kuwae in the vicinity of the Pacific islands of Vanuatu in 1458, the mysterious eruption of 1809 and the explosion of the Tambora volcano on the Indonesian island of Sumbawa. in 1815.

What kind of cold snap was there then? In 1812, when Napoleon went to Russia, he was stopped by the Russian Frost, and Hitler was also stopped by the Russian frost. Santa Claus is the bodyguard of the Russians. But I have a question: Where does this frost come from at the right time, at in the right place and where did the permafrost come from in Siberia, when it used to be warm in Russia? Russia is the Motherland of elephants?

Everyone remembers Palms in Astrakhan Streis, Jan Jansen:

17th-century engraving from a book by Jan Streis. The atrocities of Stepan Razin's Cossacks in captured Astrakhan.

In St. Petersburg, orange trees grew in Oranienbaum Lomonosov near St. Petersburg - this is the Orange City - On all the ancient engravings of the city there are rows of orange trees, moreover, right in the ground, and not in a greenhouse.

Oranienbaum. Engraving by A.I. Rostovtsev, 1716.

Oranienbaum. Engraving by A.I. Rostovtsev, 1716. Sailboats came straight to the palace, which already stood in 1716. Oraniybaum where in open ground oranges grew earlier. #Peter #Lomonosov

Engraving. Grand Palace Oranienbaum. Mid-18th century.

Engraving. Grand Palace Oranienbaum. Mid-18th century.

Trees react very sensitively to the slightest changes in climatic conditions - an increase or decrease in temperature, solar radiation energy and other factors. All these events are reflected in the shape and thickness of annual rings - layers of wood in the trunk, which are formed during the growing season. It is believed that dark rings correspond to unfavorable environmental conditions, and light rings correspond to favorable ones. and now, when trees are cut down, the entire core is completely dark - these were not favorable years for tree growth.

Michael Mann from Pennsylvania State University in State College (USA) and his colleagues tested how accurately tree rings reflect the short-term drop in temperature that occurs after severe tropical volcanic eruptions.

To do this, Mann and his colleagues compared graphs of seasonal temperature fluctuations from 1200 to the present day, which were obtained using a “conventional” climate model and a technique that included analysis of tree rings. The traditional model tracks changes in the intensity of solar radiation and fluctuations in the planet's energy balance, which are reflected in increases or decreases in average temperatures.

The second method used as initial data sections of trunks obtained in 60 high-mountain forest areas on the so-called “treeline” - the maximum height at which ordinary trees can grow. Local climatic conditions only minimally satisfy the needs of woody vegetation, and abnormally high or low average annual temperatures are clearly reflected in the rings.

Because of this, chronological errors can accumulate in sections as one moves from relatively modern rings to more ancient ones."

And you know. What I think is that it’s easy in Russia because of the anomalous low temperatures our forest simply has not grown. And the dark cores of trees are proof of this Glacial period affected our trees.

The truth is somewhere near.

In Russia, the Conservation Council natural heritage nation in the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, the program “Trees - Monuments of Living Nature” was opened.

Enthusiasts all over the country search with fire during the day for trees two hundred years old and older.

Trees that are two hundred years old are unique! So far, about 200 of all breeds and varieties have been discovered throughout the country. Moreover, most of the trees found have nothing to do with the forest, like this 360-year-old pine. This is determined not only by its modern proud loneliness, but also by the shape of the crown.

Thanks to this program, we are able to fairly objectively assess the age of our forests.

Here are two examples of applications from the Kurgan region.

But in the Kurgan region, perhaps, there are more favorable conditions for pine trees - the pine from the Ozerninsky forest, which was discussed above, has a trunk thickness of 110 centimeters and is only 189 years old. I also found several freshly cut stumps with a diameter of about 70 cm and counted 130 annual rings. Those. The pines from which the forest came are about 130-150 years old.

If things continue to be the same as they have been for the last 150 years - the forests will grow and gain strength - then it is not difficult to predict how the children from these photographs will see this forest in 50-60 years, when they bring their grandchildren to these, for example, pine trees (fragment the photo above is of a pine tree by the lake).

You understand: pine trees at 200 years old will cease to be rare, in the Kurgan region alone there will be countless of them, pine trees over 150 years old, grown in the middle of the forest, with a trunk as straight as a telegraph pole without knots, will grow everywhere, but now there are none of them at all, that is, no at all.

Of the entire mass of pine monuments, I found only one that grew in the forest in the Khanty-Mansiysk Okrug:

Considering the harsh climate of those places (equated to the regions of the Far North), with a trunk thickness of 66 cm, it is fair to consider this tree to be much older than 200 years. At the same time, the applicants noted that this pine is rare for local forests. And in the local forests, with an area of ​​at least 54 thousand hectares, there is nothing like that! There are forests, but the forest in which this pine was born has disappeared somewhere - after all, it grew and stretched among pines that were even older. But there are none.

And this is what will prevent those pines that grow, at least in the Kurgan forests, from continuing their lives - pines live and for 400 years, as we have seen, we have ideal conditions for them. Pine trees are very resistant to diseases, and with age, resistance only increases, fires are not terrible for pine trees - there is nothing to burn down there, pine trees can easily tolerate ground fires, but high fires are still very rare. And, again, mature pines are more resistant to fires, so fires destroy, first of all, young trees.

After the above, will anyone argue with the statement that we had no forests at all 150 years ago? There was a desert, like the Sahara - bare sand:

This is a firebreak. What we see: the forest stands on bare sand, covered only with pine needles with cones and a thin layer of humus - just a few centimeters. All our pine forests, and, as far as I know, in the Tyumen region, stand on such bare sand. This is hundreds of thousands of hectares of forest, if not millions - if this is so, then the Sahara is resting! And all this was literally some hundred and fifty years ago!

The sand is dazzlingly white, without any impurities at all!

And it seems that such sands can be found not only in the Western Siberian Lowland. For example, there is something similar in Transbaikalia - there is a small area there, only five by ten kilometers, that still stands in “undeveloped” taiga, and the locals consider it a “Miracle of Nature.”

And it was given the status of a geological reserve. We have this “miracle” - well, there are heaps, only this forest in which we spent an excursion measures 50 by 60 kilometers, and no one sees any miracles and no one organizes nature reserves - as if this is how it should be...

By the way, the fact that Transbaikalia was a complete desert in the 19th century was documented by photographers of that time; I have already posted what those places looked like before the construction of the Circum-Baikal Railway. Here, for example:

A similar picture can be seen in other Siberian places, for example, a view in the “dead taiga” during the construction of the road to Tomsk:

All of the above convincingly proves: about 150-200 years ago there were practically no forests in Russia. The question arises: were there forests in Russia before? Were! It’s just that for one reason or another they ended up buried by the “cultural layer”, like the first floors of the St. Petersburg Hermitage, the first floors in many Russian cities.

I have already written here several times about this very “cultural layer”, but I can’t resist once again publishing a photo that recently spread around the Internet:

It seems that in Kazan the “cultural layer” from the first floor, which was considered a “basement” for many years, was stupidly removed with a bulldozer, without resorting to the services of archaeologists.

But bog oak, and even more so, is mined without notifying any “scientists” - “historians” and other archaeologists. Yes, such a business still exists - the extraction of fossil oak.

In Russia, the Council for the Preservation of the Natural Heritage of the Nation in the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation has opened the program “Trees - Monuments of Living Nature”. Enthusiasts all over the country search with fire during the day for trees two hundred years old and older. Trees that are two hundred years old are unique! So far, about 200 of all breeds and varieties have been discovered throughout the country. Moreover, most of the trees found have nothing to do with the forest, like this 360-year-old pine. This is determined not only by its modern proud loneliness, but also by the shape of the crown.

Thanks to this program, we are able to fairly objectively assess the age of our forests.
Here are two examples of applications from the Kurgan region.

This is currently the oldest tree in the Kurgan region, whose age is set by experts at 189 years - a little less than 200 years. Pine grows in Ozerninsko Bor near the Sosnovaya Roshcha sanatorium. And the forest itself, naturally, is much younger: the Patrirah pine grew alone for many years, which can be seen from the shape of the tree’s crown.
Another application was received from the Kurgan region, claiming a pine tree over 200 years old:

This tree ended up on the territory of the arboretum - it was preserved along with some other local species that grew on this territory before the establishment of the arboretum. The arboretum was founded when a tree nursery was organized for the Forestry School, created in 1893. The forest school and tree nursery were necessary to train forestry specialists who would carry out forest management and assessment work during the construction of the Kurgan section of the Trans-Siberian Railway at the end of the 19th century.
Note: the forest school and tree nursery were founded about 120 years ago and their purpose was to evaluate forest lands that already existed by that time.
These two trees grow in the Kurgan region, this is the south of Western Siberia - it borders on the Chelyabinsk, Tyumen, Omsk regions, and in the south - on Kazakhstan.
Let us pay attention: both trees began their life not in the forest, but in an open field - this is evidenced by the shape of their crown and the presence of branches extending almost from the very base. Pines growing in the forest are a bare, straight whip, “without a hitch,” with a panicle on the top, like this group of pines on the left side of the photo:

Here it is, straight as a string, without knots, the trunk of a pine tree that grew next to other pines:

Yes, these pines grew in the middle of the forest, which was here until the early 60s of the last century, before a sand quarry was organized here, from which sand was washed with a dredge onto the highway under construction, which is now called “Baikal”. This place is located a kilometer from the northern outskirts of Kurgan.
Now let’s make a foray into the Kurgan forest and look at the “structure” of a typical West Siberian forest on the ground. Let's move a kilometer away from the lake into the thick of the "ancient" forest.
In the forest you constantly come across trees like this pine in the center:

This is not a withered tree, its crown is full of life:

This is an old tree that began its life in an open field, then other pines began to grow around and the branches from below began to dry; the same tree is visible on the left in the background of the frame.

The girth of the trunk at the chest level of an adult is 230 centimeters, i.e. trunk diameter is about 75 centimeters. For a pine tree, this is a significant size, so with a trunk thickness of 92 cm, experts established the age of the tree in the next photo at 426 years

But in the Kurgan region, perhaps, there are more favorable conditions for pine trees - the pine from the Ozerninsky forest, which was discussed above, has a trunk thickness of 110 centimeters and is only 189 years old. I also found several freshly cut stumps with a diameter of about 70 cm and counted 130 annual rings. Those. The pines from which the forest came are about 130-150 years old.
If things continue to be the same as they have been for the last 150 years - the forests will grow and gain strength - then it is not difficult to predict how the children from these photographs will see this forest in 50-60 years, when they bring their grandchildren to these, for example, pine trees (fragment the photo above is of a pine tree by the lake).

You understand: pine trees at 200 years old will cease to be rare, in the Kurgan region alone there will be countless of them, pine trees over 150 years old, grown in the middle of the forest, with a trunk as straight as a telegraph pole without knots, will grow everywhere, but now there are none of them at all, that is, no at all.
Of the entire mass of pine monuments, I found only one that grew in the forest, in the Khanty-Mansiysk Okrug:

Considering the harsh climate of those places (equated to the regions of the Far North), with a trunk thickness of 66 cm, it is fair to consider this tree to be much older than 200 years. At the same time, the applicants noted that this pine is rare for local forests. And in the local forests, with an area of ​​at least 54 thousand hectares, there is nothing like that! There are forests, but the forest in which this pine was born has disappeared somewhere - after all, it grew and stretched among pines that were even older. But there are none.
And this is what will prevent those pines that grow, at least in the Kurgan forests, from continuing their lives - pines live and for 400 years, as we have seen, we have ideal conditions for them. Pine trees are very resistant to diseases, and with age, resistance only increases, fires are not terrible for pines - there is nothing to burn down there, pine trees can easily tolerate ground fires, but high fires are still very rare. And, again, mature pines are more resistant to fires, so fires destroy, first of all, young trees.
After the above, will anyone argue with the statement that we had no forests at all 150 years ago? There was a desert, like the Sahara - bare sand:

This is a firebreak. What we see: the forest stands on bare sand, covered only with pine needles with cones and a thin layer of humus - just a few centimeters. All our pine forests, and, as far as I know, in the Tyumen region, stand on such bare sand. This is hundreds of thousands of hectares of forest, if not millions - if this is so, then the Sahara is resting! And all this was literally some hundred and fifty years ago!
The sand is dazzlingly white, without any impurities at all!
And it seems that such sands can be found not only in the Western Siberian Lowland. For example, there is something similar in Transbaikalia - there is a small area there, only five by ten kilometers, that still stands in “undeveloped” taiga, and the locals consider it a “Miracle of Nature.”

And it was given the status of a geological reserve. We have this “miracle” - well, there are heaps, only this forest in which we spent an excursion measures 50 by 60 kilometers, and no one sees any miracles and no one organizes nature reserves - as if this is how it should be...
By the way, the fact that Transbaikalia was a complete desert in the 19th century was documented by photographers of that time; I have already posted what those places looked like before the construction of the Circum-Baikal Railway. Here, for example:

A similar picture can be seen in other Siberian places, for example, a view in the “dead taiga” during the construction of the road to Tomsk:

All of the above convincingly proves: about 150-200 years ago there were practically no forests in Russia. The question arises: were there forests in Russia before? Were! It’s just that for one reason or another they ended up buried by the “cultural layer”, like the first floors of the St. Petersburg Hermitage, the first floors in many Russian cities.
I have already written here several times about this very “cultural layer”, but I can’t resist once again publishing a photo that recently spread around the Internet:

It seems that in Kazan the “cultural layer” from the first floor, which was considered a “basement” for many years, was stupidly removed with a bulldozer, without resorting to the services of archaeologists.
But bog oak, and even more so, is mined without notifying any “scientists” - “historians” and other archaeologists. Yes, such a business still exists - the extraction of fossil oak:

But the next photo was taken in central Russia - here the river washes away the bank and centuries-old oak trees, uprooted at one time, appear:

The author of the photo writes that the oak trees are just right - smooth, slender, which indicates that they grew in the forest. And the age, given the thickness (the cover set for the scale is 11 cm), is much older than 200 years.
And again, as Newton said, I am not inventing hypotheses: let the “historians” explain why trees older than 150 years are found in large numbers only under the “cultural layer”.