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Silva Fennica vol. 37 no. 2 | 2003

Category : Research article

article id 507, category Research article

Tysk Staffan Ericsson, Lars Östlund, Rikard Andersson. (2003). Destroying a path to the past – the loss of culturally scarred trees and change in forest structure along Allmunvägen, in mid-west boreal Sweden. Silva Fennica vol. 37 no. 2 article id 507. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.507

Keywords: forest history; dendroecology; blazed trees; culturally modified trees; forest trails; tree age structure

Abstract | View details | Full text in PDF | Author Info

The tradition to blaze trees to mark trails and boundaries is very old in northern Scandinavia. The disappearance of culturally modified trees (i.e. trees with trail blazes) and changes in forest structure along a section of an old bridle trail in boreal Sweden was analyzed using historical maps and forest surveys from the period 1876 to the year 2000. Remaining blazed trees were located during a field study and selected scars were dated. In total 104 scarred living and dead trees were found. The scars originated from the early 1500s to the early 1900s. Analysis of the forest surveys showed that the forest along the trail was dominated by older trees, and that the majority of the scarred trees probably were present, throughout the 19th century. By the mid 20th century logging had begun to affect the tree age along the trail and in 1974 no stands older than 180 years were present. A conservative estimate shows that around 90% of the original blazed trees have vanished. The trail was interpreted as have being lined for centuries with scarred trees which gradually have been destroyed during the 20th century. Culturally modified trees constitute an unique source of information for understanding pattern of old trails as well as of past human land use and movement in the landscape prior to the 20th century. This biological archive have to a large extent been destroyed by forestry activities and it is therefore very important to survey, recount and protect the trees that are still present.

Ericsson, SLU, Dept. of Forest Vegetation Ecology, S-901 83 Umeå, Sweden E-mail: staffan@delta.se
Östlund, SLU, Dept. of Forest Vegetation Ecology, S-901 83 Umeå, Sweden E-mail: lo@nn.se
Andersson, SLU, Dept. of Forest Vegetation Ecology, S-901 83 Umeå, Sweden E-mail: ra@nn.se

article id 506, category Research article

Teijo Palander, Katja Turunen, Sanna Laukkanen. (2003). Attitude of Finnish timber buyers towards implementation of a forest computer visualisation. Silva Fennica vol. 37 no. 2 article id 506. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.506

Keywords: change resistance; competence; forest computer visualisation; timber trade

Abstract | View details | Full text in PDF | Author Info

Timber buyers’ opinions as regards forest computer visualisation are studied. The results indicated that timber buyers are still rather conventional in their computer use since they mainly use only the information system of their own company. The majority of the buyers perceived computer visualisation to be slightly useful for their work, or they had no opinion concerning the usefulness of it. One third of the buyers considered computer visualisation to be a quality factor for timber trade, and the majority were willing to use it if a program is going to adopt by their company. In analysis, different personal characteristics were found for three timber buyer groups: qualified, neutral and reluctant. Qualified buyers were the largest one, about half of the buyers belonging to this group. The greatest barriers to adopting a positive attitude to computer visualisation turned out to be weak computer skills and a general lack of interest in computer use. On the other side, it was found that organisational factors did not influence the buyers’ computer skills or attitudes towards visualisation. The results of this study can be utilised by timber buying organisation in ensuring the successful adoption of a new computer system.

Palander, Faculty of Forestry, University of Joensuu, P.O. Box 111, FIN-80101 Joensuu, Finland E-mail: teijo.palander@joensuu.fi
Turunen, Faculty of Forestry, University of Joensuu, P.O. Box 111, FIN-80101 Joensuu, Finland E-mail: kt@nn.fi
Laukkanen, Faculty of Forestry, University of Joensuu, P.O. Box 111, FIN-80101 Joensuu, Finland E-mail: sl@nn.fi

article id 505, category Research article

Jari Kärnä, Eric Hansen, Heikki Juslin. (2003). Environmental activity and forest certification in marketing of forest products – a case study in Europe. Silva Fennica vol. 37 no. 2 article id 505. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.505

Keywords: environmental marketing; green marketing; European forest industry

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Forest industries and their industrial customers from four European countries were surveyed by interviews to study the environmental emphasis and the role of timber certification in their marketing planning. Most of the Finnish, Swedish, German and British companies have begun to integrate environmental issues in their strategic, structural and functional level marketing decisions. They see forest certification as a necessary tool for marketing forest products. The level of environmental activity (greenness) of the companies was studied by creating a one dimensional factor score rating. The logic of marketing planning was tested by using one functional level marketing tool – forest certification – as an example to examine how well the level of greenness explains the importance of forest certification for the company. The results show that in the surveyed companies the level of greenness has more explanatory power than background factors such as country or industry sector. The integration of environmental issues into marketing planning and the interest in forest certification by these companies can provide meaningful insights for the forest industries worldwide as they confront similar issues.

Kärnä, Finnish Forest Research Institute, Vantaa Research Centre, P.O. Box 18, FIN-01301 Vantaa, Finland E-mail: jari.karna@metla.fi
Hansen, Oregon State University, Department of Wood Science and Engineering, Richardson Hall 108, 97331-5751 Corvallis, OR, USA E-mail: eh@nn.us
Juslin, University of Helsinki, Department of Forest Economics, P.O. Box 27, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland E-mail: hj@nn.fi

article id 504, category Research article

Sylvain Jutras, Hannu Hökkä, Virpi Alenius, Hannu Salminen. (2003). Modeling mortality of individual trees in drained peatland sites in Finland. Silva Fennica vol. 37 no. 2 article id 504. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.504

Keywords: Pinus sylvestris; Betula pubescens; simulation; peatlands; mortality; generalized linear mixed models; multilevel models

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Multilevel logistic regression models were constructed to predict the 5-year mortality of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and pubescent birch (Betula pubescens Ehrh.) growing in drained peatland stands in northern and central Finland. Data concerning tree mortality were obtained from two successive measurements of the National Forest Inventory-based permanent sample plot data base covering pure and mixed stands of Scots pine and pubescent birch. In the modeling data, Scots pine showed an average observed mortality of 2.73% compared to 2.98% for pubescent birch. In the model construction, stepwise logistic regression and multilevel models methods were applied, the latter making it possible to address the hierarchical data, thus obtaining unbiased estimates for model parameters. For both species, mortality was explained by tree size, competitive position, stand density, species admixture, and site quality. The expected need for ditch network maintenance or re-paludification did not influence mortality. The multilevel models showed the lowest bias in the modeling data. The models were further validated against independent test data and by embedding them in a stand simulator. In 100-year simulations with different initial stand conditions, the models resulted in a 72% and 66% higher total mortality rate for the stem numbers of pine and birch, respectively, compared to previously used mortality models. The developed models are expected to improve the accuracy of stand forecasts in drained peatland sites.

Jutras, Département des sciences du bois et de la forêt, Université Laval, Ste-Foy, Québec, G1K 7P4, Canada E-mail: sj@nn.ca
Hökkä, Finnish Forest Research Institute, Rovaniemi Research Station, P.O. Box 16, FIN 96301 Rovaniemi, Finland E-mail: hannu.hokka@metla.fi
Alenius, Finnish Forest Research Institute, Rovaniemi Research Station, P.O. Box 16, FIN 96301 Rovaniemi, Finland E-mail: va@nn.fi
Salminen, Finnish Forest Research Institute, Rovaniemi Research Station, P.O. Box 16, FIN 96301 Rovaniemi, Finland E-mail: hs@nn.fi

article id 503, category Research article

Jyrki Hytönen. (2003). Effects of wood, peat and coal ash fertilization on Scots pine foliar nutrient concentrations and growth on afforested former agricultural peat soils. Silva Fennica vol. 37 no. 2 article id 503. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.503

Keywords: wood ash; afforestation; Scots pine; vegetation control; herbicides; coal ash; peat ash; peat soils

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The effects of ash and commercial fertilizers on the foliar nutrient concentrations and stand growth of Scots pine were studied in four field experiments established on former cultivated peat soils. The aims were to compare ash types (wood, peat and coal ash), study the effects of ash treatment (pelletization), compare ash fertilization with commercial fertilizers, and to study the interaction between ash fertilization and weed control. Foliar samples were collected 1–3 years and 7–8 years after fertilization. In the unfertilized plots, the foliar nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations were fairly high, while those of potassium were low in all the experiments. The boron levels were low in three out of the four experiments. Application of either loose or pelletized wood ash, as well as of commercial fertilizers, increased foliar potassium and boron concentrations, and thus successfully remedied the existing nutrient imbalances and deficiencies. Since phosphorus deficiencies are rarely encountered on field afforestation sites, poor-quality wood ash with low phosphorus concentration could be used. Peat ash containing phosphorus, but only small amounts of potassium and boron, was not found to be very suitable for soil amelioration in connection with field afforestation. Coal ash, containing only small amounts of potassium, was a good source of boron for pine even when used in small amounts, and thus it can be used in cases where boron deficiencies alone are encountered. Wood ash significantly increased the height growth of Scots pines in two of the experiments, but peat ash and coal ash had no statistically significant effect. Wood ash increased the number of healthy seedlings. Vegetation control decreased seedling mortality by 24%, increased the growth of pine and decreased the proportion of trees damaged by elk and by deciduous trees.

Hytönen, Finnish Forest Research Institute, Kannus Research Station, P.O. Box 44, FIN-69101 Kannus, Finland E-mail: jyrki.hytonen@metla.fi

article id 502, category Research article

Janne Levula, Hannu Ilvesniemi, Carl Johan Westman. (2003). Relation between soil properties and tree species composition in a Scots pine–Norway spruce stand in southern Finland. Silva Fennica vol. 37 no. 2 article id 502. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.502

Keywords: Norway spruce; Scots pine; tree species composition; soil texture; soil-water retention; spatial variability

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It is commonly known in Finland that Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) is a tree of dry soils and Norway spruce (Picea abies (L) Karst.) is a tree of fresh soils. However, the concepts of dry and fresh soils still lack a precise definition. Consequently, the discussion on which soil/site is a pine or spruce habitat has continued over several decades. Moreover, in forest regeneration, the practice of tree species selection between the pine and the spruce has varied. We investigated the relationship between soil properties and pine–spruce species composition in a mature, naturally regenerated stand in southern Finland. We applied spatial analysis to divide the stand area up into 3–7 classes based on selected soil properties and then investigated the variations in species composition among those classes. The pine–spruce basal area ratio (BA of pines / BA of spruces) increased along with increasing mean particle size and proportion of coarse sand and gravel particle size fraction (0.6–20 mm) of mineral soil, and was lowest in classes, with the highest proportions of fine texture fractions. The results suggest that in southern Finland on sorted soils, pine is more competitive in regeneration and growth than spruce when mean particle size is above 0.44 mm or percentage of coarse sand and gravel is higher than 50%.

Levula, University of Helsinki, Department of Forest Ecology, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland E-mail: janne.levula@helsinki.fi
Ilvesniemi, University of Helsinki, Department of Forest Ecology, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland E-mail: hi@nn.fi
Westman, University of Helsinki, Department of Forest Ecology, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland E-mail: cjw@nn.fi

article id 501, category Research article

Jiaojun Zhu, Yutaka Gonda, Takeshi Matsuzaki, Masashi Yamamoto. (2003). Modeling relative wind speed by optical stratification porosity within the canopy of a coastal protective forest at different stem densities. Silva Fennica vol. 37 no. 2 article id 501. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.501

Keywords: coastal protective forest; optical porosity; Pinus thunbergii; vertical forest structure; wind speed

Abstract | View details | Full text in PDF | Author Info

Wind speed and optical stratification porosity (OSP) were measured at various heights inside a coastal protective forest thinned to different stem densities to assess whether any characteristics of the wind profile in the coastal protective forest could be predicted from OSP. OSP was defined as vertical distribution of the proportion of sky hemisphere not obscured by tree elements inside a forest stand, and was determined for various heights using hemispherical photographic silhouettes on a computer processing system. The distribution of OSP in the coastal forest follows the Lambert-Beer’s law with an extinction coefficient (v). The relative wind speed within the canopy can be described using an exponential form with an attenuation coefficient (a). Variation in relative wind speed was very closely correlated with the distribution of OSP within the canopy. While below the canopy, i.e., in the trunk space, relative wind speed was little correlated with the distribution of OSP because the distribution of OSP was relatively constant there. Therefore, the linear relationships between relative wind speed and OSP and between the two coefficients v and a were established within the canopy. The results suggest that OSP can be used to predict the wind profile in case of the application within the canopy of the coastal forest.

Zhu, Qingyuan Station of Forest Ecology, Institute of Applied Ecology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 72 Wenhua Road, Shenyang 110016, P.R. China; Faculty of Agriculture, Niigata University, Niigata 950-2181, Japan E-mail: jiaojunzhu@iae.ac.cn
Gonda, Faculty of Agriculture, Niigata University, Niigata 950-2181, Japan E-mail: yg@nn.jp
Matsuzaki, Faculty of Agriculture, Niigata University, Niigata 950-2181, Japan E-mail: tm@nn.jp
Yamamoto, Faculty of Agriculture, Niigata University, Niigata 950-2181, Japan E-mail: my@nn.jp

article id 500, category Research article

Jarkko Hantula, Eeva Vainio. (2003). Specific primers for the differentiation of Heterobasidion annosum (s.str.) and H. parviporum infected stumps in northern Europe. Silva Fennica vol. 37 no. 2 article id 500. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.500

Keywords: IS group S; IS group P; molecular identification; root and butt rot

Abstract | View details | Full text in PDF | Author Info

Two separate amplification products from random amplified microsatellite fingerprints of Heterobasidion annosum (s.str.) and H. parviporum were converted to specific markers. The markers were tested to be species specific and combined to a single PCR-reaction, which allowed the detection and identification of the two fungi directly from wood samples.

Hantula, Finnish Forest Research Institute. Fax +358 9 8570 5531 E-mail: jarkko.hantula@metla.fi
Vainio, Finnish Forest Research Institute. Fax +358 9 8570 5531 E-mail: ev@nn.fi

article id 499, category Research article

Mikhail V. Kozlov, Pekka Niemelä. (2003). Drought is more stressful for northern populations of Scots pine than low summer temperatures. Silva Fennica vol. 37 no. 2 article id 499. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.499

Keywords: Pinus sylvestris; climate change; precipitation; stress; temperature; fluctuating asymmetry; Kola peninsula

Abstract | View details | Full text in PDF | Author Info

Needle fluctuating asymmetry, which is a non-specific stress indicator, was used to evaluate responses of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) to annual climatic variation in the Kola Peninsula, NW Russia, during 1992–1999. Although the 30 trees surveyed for this study demonstrated individualistic responses to the temperature and precipitation of the growth seasons, at the population level we found no effect of temperature and a significant increase in fluctuating asymmetry with a decline in precipitation during the previous August. This finding suggests that the vitality of Scots pine populations at the northern tree limit is controlled by late summer precipitation rather than by temperatures of the growth season.

Kozlov, Section of Ecology, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland E-mail: mikoz@utu.fi
Niemelä, Forestry Faculty, University of Joensuu, P.O. Box 111, 80101 Joensuu, Finland E-mail: pn@nn.fi

article id 498, category Research article

Slobodan B. Mickovski, A. Roland Ennos. (2003). Anchorage and asymmetry in the root system of Pinus peuce. Silva Fennica vol. 37 no. 2 article id 498. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.498

Keywords: Pinus sylvestris; eccentricity; root morphology; anchorage; asymmetry; Pinus peuce; clustering

Abstract | View details | Full text in PDF | Author Info

The relationship between the anchorage mechanics and root architecture of Pinus peuce was investigated by carrying out winching tests and examining excavated root systems of 20 mature trees. The root system was dominated by 6.1±1.3 lateral roots, more than 70% of the lateral root cross sectional area (CSA) being distributed in the uppermost 10 cm of soil. Anchorage strength was related to the size of the tree and CSA. The overturning moment of trees was proportional to the diameter at breast height (DBH) to the power of 1.6. The trees exhibited significant asymmetry in anchorage rigidity, but although there was clustering of lateral roots in a preferred direction the root asymmetry was not significantly correlated with the asymmetry in anchorage rigidity, suggesting that much of the anchorage is provided by tap and sinker roots, rather than the laterals. However, the major laterals showed dorsoventral eccentricity, the more eccentric ones being those that were distributed closer to the soil surface and which pointed perpendicular to the direction of greatest resistance. This suggests that this is a result of thigmomorphogenetic effects. These results are compared with those for the related P. sylvestris and suggest that the assimilation and anchorage characteristics of root systems are controlled independently of each other.

Mickovski, School of Biological Sciences, University of Manchester, 3.614 Stopford Building, Manchester M13 9PT, UK E-mail: sbm@nn.uk
Ennos, School of Biological Sciences, University of Manchester, 3.614 Stopford Building, Manchester M13 9PT, UK E-mail: roland.ennos@man.ac.uk

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