Combining historical and ecological data: Impact of past population history on forest structure and fungal diversity in Russian Karelia

Before 19th century, the impact of forest industry on forests of Russian Karelia was minimal, and, in the first half of the 20th century, very large areas of western taiga remained beyond the limit of economic profitability of timber industry. However, the Karelian people populated the boreal forests of Karelia and their villages had spread all over the region. The livelihood of these villages based largely on small-scale farming including slash and burn agriculture. In addition, in the cold northern climate, the firewood was extracted from forests in very large quantities. In the political turmoil of 20th century Russia, the significant part of remote villages were decimated, but their imp…