It was found that from the periphery to the center of S. sorbifolia thickets, the average length and diameter of the shoot increase by 2 times, the volume of one shoot by 8–9 times. In the periphery zones, young (1–5 years old) shoots absolutely predominate. In the center of the thickets, there is a significant proportion of cohorts older than 10 years, but shoots aged 1–5 years account for more than half of all shoots. In the center of the S. sorbifolia thickets, the abundance of plants of the grass-shrub layer is 10–20 times lower or more compared to the control forest community; the taxonomic richness of the grass-shrub layer is 6–8 times lower. The richness of taxa and the abundance of seedlings from the soil seed bank did not change depending on the abundance of S. sorbifolia. The average illumination intensity was as follows: 4±1 lx×10² under S. sorbifolia; 7±1 lx×10² under Rubus idaeus; 80±10 lx×10² under the canopy of urban pine forests. Dense thickets of S. sorbifolia intercept about 93 % of the light from the level falling on their crowns.

Yu.A. Lipikhina, N.V. Zolotareva, E.N. Podgaevskaya, O.A. Kiseleva, D.V. Veselkin