Student Research Reports

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The landscape around Taevaskoja is diverse, with areas of different elevations and water regimes. Given the variation in landscape, the land cover is likely also diverse, as the composition and abundance of trees and understory plants depend on the availability of water in the soil. The objective of the expedition was to determine whether and how different land cover types are present in the Ahja River valley (lower area) and on the sandstone cliff bordering the river (higher area). We selected one research area in the valley and another on the higher bank and conducted land cover studies based on the GLOBE protocol. Additionally, we identified all the shrub and herbaceous plant species and the more abundant moss species growing in the research areas. The land cover of the lower area had a Modified UNESCO Classification (MUC) code of 0192, and the forest type in the Estonian vegetation classification was bog forest, while the higher area had an MUC code of 0193 and was classified as broadleaf forest. Thus, the land cover around the Ahja River is variable, and differences between the research areas are evident both in the MUC system and in the Estonian vegetation classification. We did not collect data on soil and water regimes in our research areas, so in the future, it would be necessary to investigate how soil and water regimes differ in the selected research areas and whether the differences inland cover are due to soil variations or other factors.