Research Laboratory for Terrestrial Ecosystems

Main research areas: Quantification and optimisation of ecosystem services of urban green spaces

Research objectives:

Quantifying and optimising the ecosystem services provided by the green areas in the city districts of Nizhny Novgorod

Key results:

2021-2022

1. Materials on vegetation cover and land use categories (residential, industrial, landscaped, central public and business, special purpose areas) of administrative districts in the upper part of Nizhny Novgorod city (Nizhegorodsky, Sovetsky, Prioksky, Novinki) were studied and analysed.
2. A complete inventory of green spaces on the campus of Lobachevsky University and a selective inventory in the administrative districts of the upper part of Nizhny Novgorod were carried out using the following indicators: trunk diameter, total tree height, crown size (crown height, trunk height to the base of the crown, crown width, percentage of crown volume not occupied by branches), percentage of crown volume consisting of dead branches, crown illumination.
3.  An aerial survey of the UNN campus and of the natural sanctuary "The Oak Grove of the University Botanical Garden" was carried out using a UAV. The target areas were photographed more than once, with certain time intervals between individual surveys. The obtained materials were processed using photogrammetric software. Orthophotomaps were generated, textured 3D models were constructed, surface models were developed and a number of multispectral indices were calculated.
4. The total number of trees in the upper part of Nizhny Novgorod was estimated to be 5.03 mln, the density was 266 trees per 1 ha.
5. Ecosystem services of green spaces were assessed for the city districts in the upper part of Nizhny Novgorod, as well as for Lobachevsky University campus: carbon stock and sequestration were determined, the degree of atmospheric air purification from pollutants was estimated, the reduction of surface runoff due to absorption of precipitation by tree and shrub vegetation was calculated.