ISSN 20790864, Biology Bulletin Reviews, 2013, Vol. 3, No. 6, pp. 493–504. © Pleiades Publishing, Ltd., 2013. Original Russian Text © O.V. Smirnova, D.V. Lugovaya, T.S. Prokazina, 2013, published in Uspekhi Sovremennoi Biologii, 2013, Vol. 133, No. 2, pp. 164–177. Model Reconstruction of Restored Taiga Forest Cover O. V. Smirnova, D. V. Lugovaya, and T. S. Prokazina Center for Problems and Ecology and Productivity of Forests, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia email:
[email protected] Abstract—A model reconstruction of the potential forest cover of dark coniferous taiga on the Russian Plain, the Urals, and some territories of Western and Central Siberia is presented. The dot area of tallherb dark coniferous forests has been constructed based on 850 geobotanical releves (from the Database of the Center for Problems and Ecology and Productivity of Forests, Russian Academy of Sciences). The dot area of tall herb dark coniferous forests has been compared to that of Tilia cordata and contemporary zonality of the studied area. The ecotopes and ecological characteristics of the tallherb forests have been determined. Con stant species of the tallherb forests have been revealed. Based on the literature data and the created database of herbaria labels, refined ranges of tallherb species were constructed. The importance of studying tallherb dark coniferous forests has been assessed to determine the origin of the dark coniferous taiga and select virgin forests for evaluating the main functions of the ecosystem. Keywords: potential cover, ecosystem functions, dark coniferous taiga, tallherb forests, ranges of constant tall herb species DOI: 10.1134/S207908641306008X INTRODUCTION along with the paleobotanical and florogenetic meth ods.