Assessment of the actual state of green plantings in sanitary protection zone of smelter VMK "Krasny oktyabr" CJSC, Volgograd

This work is devoted to the assessment of the actual state of tree plantation in smelter’s sanitary protection zone by means of vision estimate of plant health. The research subject is the forest plantation in sanitary protection zone of steel plant VMK «Krasny Oktyabr» CJSC, Volgograd. The research was conducted at the end of the growing season in 2017 from the end of September to mid-October. We divided survey plot into 7 pre-selected geobotanical sites with an area of 400 m2. According to the received data, the species composition is dominated by Ulmus pumila and Fraxinus pennsylvanica, occupying 77 %. Populus pyramidalis and Robinia pseudoacacia have the best state of health; Fraxinus pennsylvanica, Morus nigra and Ulmus pumila by contrast have the worst state. For information, 43 % of the trees were classified as damaged and 40 % were strongly damaged. Based on this analysis we concluded that it indicates heavy environmental contamination from metallurgic plant combining with harsh climatic conditions and lack of forest’s tending. This situation leads to reducing the defense characteristics of sanitary protection zone and, thus, the negative impact of VMK « Krasny Oktyabr » on the surrounding area, including settlement zone, will be increased.