In order to assess the carbon and nitrogen reserves for such elements of the forest community as living ground cover and forest litter, studies were conducted in pine and mixed forests on different soil types and moisture conditions on the territory of the Kivach State Nature Reserve. The content of carbon and nitrogen in different types and groups of ground cover species and in organogenic soil horizons was determined. It was found that in the vegetative organs (stems and leaves) of shrubs (blueberries, lingonberries, and heather) the carbon content is on average 53–55%, in sedges, cereals, forbs, green, sphagnum and polytrich mosses, and fruticose lichens, 45–46%. The nitrogen content in forbs, cereals, and sedges averages 1.5–1.6%, in shrubs, 0.9%, and in fruticose lichens, 0.3%. The content of carbon and nitrogen in the underground phytomass of the herbaceous-shrub layer averages 51.3 ± 0.3% and 0.51 ± 0.03%, respectively. Depending on habitat conditions, the total carbon stock in the living ground cover varies from 0.98 to 2.77 t/ha, and nitrogen from 0.017 to 0.030 t/ha. The content of carbon and nitrogen in the organogenic horizons of soils varies in accordance with the degree of decomposition of plant residues, from 53.1 ± 0.6 and 1.1 ± 0.05% in the fresh litter subhorizon to 39.3 ± 0.1 to 0.9 ± 0.07% in the lower organogenic horizons, respectively. Significant reserves of nitrogen were observed in the organogenic horizons of soils in mixed forests (0.57 ± 0.04 t/ha) compared to pine forests (0.47 ± 0.03 t/ha).
Genikova et al. (2025) studied this question.