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Forest Planning and Continuous Cover Forestry
Full text linkForest planning requires unbiased and sufficient information on current forest resources, their anticipated dynamics under different management scenarios, and the objectives of the decision maker.
Forest planning systems need to be adapted to improve their potential to deal with continuous cover forestry (CCF).
The current forest planning systems and associated models can be adapted to group systems by treating each group as a separate calculation unit.
In the selection system, currently available growth models may not realistically describe the growth reaction of trees, which causes additional uncertainty in forest-planning calculations. Furthermore, field-data collection based on airborne laser scanning alone is not sufficient for planning of CCF, and additional field measurements are needed.
Tree-level measurements by drones open interesting opportunities for forest planning, which might be especially useful under CCF
Genetic Effects
Full text linkGenetic effects of continuous cover forestry (CCF) are not well known. We need more research, especially on the genetics of spruce-dominated CCF sites. Levels of relatedness are of interest, as are estimates of safe limits for the intensity and duration of CCF practices that secure genetic potential for good growth and quality.
Based on research in other regions, the number of reproducing trees must be kept large to avoid excessive levels of relatedness and inbreeding and to maintain sufficient levels of genetic diversity.
In some well-documented long-term experiments in other regions, intensive high-grading has led to slower growth rates, which could partly be due to genetic degradation of the stand. If contemporary recommendations for selection cutting are followed, negative genetic effects should be unlikely.
With even-aged forestry, genetically improved regeneration material can be used to mitigate climate change-related risks through breeding and deployment recommendations. In CCF, currently based on natural regeneration, we assume that enough seedlings establish, and that sites contain enough genetic variation to enable natural selection and evolutionary processes
Gender equality in Nordic forest research - A literature review
Full text linkThe article reviews and synthetises scientific research in the intersection of gender and the forest sector published during the past 20 years (2004–2023), focusing on the Nordic countries of Finland, Norway and Sweden. The systematic review of 88 scientific articles presents the state of the art of forest and gender-related research and examines how the main issue areas included in the eight key objectives of the European Union Gender Equality Strategy are addressed in the research and the related results. A large share of the reviewed research focused on non-industrial private forest owners, investigating the differences between male and female forest owners with respect to forest ownership, use and management and related objectives and values. A notable gap exists in the research on gender issues in decision making, policies and politics. While policy analyses from gender perspective are important for advancing gender equality and for avoiding unintended consequences, only two studies analysed forest policy from a gender perspective. Furthermore, a better understanding of gendered norms, culture and institutional stickiness that upholds gendered institutions and processes is needed. The politics of gender, i.e., gendered power relations, is a fundamental issue in advancing gender equality but it is not addressed in the reviewed research. The findings from the reviewed studies also emphasise the importance of moving beyond the female/male dichotomy and employing an intersectional approach
Pathways towards Miombo Restoration: A Lesson from Fire and Grazing Exclusion Plots at Kitulangalo Miombo Woodlands, Morogoro Tanzania
Full text linkThe current Tanzanian policy guidelines regarding ecological restoration encourage total protection (enclosure system) against grazing activities, fires and wood extraction to allow regeneration in state-based Miombo woodlands. However, there is little evidence on how such treatments would promote restoration. We fetched the pieces of evidence from studies that evaluated the impact of management treatments on the lightly degraded Miombo woodlands at Kitulangalo Forest Reserve in eastern Tanzania. Plot fencing and fire exclusion constrained woody species regeneration due to competition compared to unfenced plots. Adopting quota grazing policies and controlled burning systems can be the shortest and most eco-friendly pathways towards Miombo restoration. The results pointed out that stand disturbances and silvicultural practices can promote regeneration, which is crucial to promoting ecological restoration in Miombo woodlands
Linalool and 1,8-Cineole as Constitutive Disease-Resistant Factors of Norway Spruce Against Necrotrophic Pathogen Heterobasidion Parviporum
Full text linkNorway spruce is an important coniferous species in boreal forests. Root and stem rot diseases caused by the necrotrophic pathogen Heterobasidion parviporum threaten the wood production of Norway spruce which necessitates the search for durable control and management strategies. Breeding for resistant traits is considered a viable long-term strategy. However, identification of potential resistant traits and markers remains a major challenge. In this study, short-term disease resistance screening was conducted using 218 Norway spruce clones from 17 families. Disease resistance was evaluated based on the size of necrosis lesion length following infection with the pathogen. A subset of needles/branches from clones with small (partial resistant) or large (susceptible) lesions were used for terpene analysis and transcriptomic profiling. The results revealed that the content of monoterpene linalool and 1,8-cineole and their respective encoded genes were significantly more abundant and highly expressed in the partial resistant group. Furthermore, linalool and 1,8-cineole were demonstrated to have inhibitory effect on the growth of the pathogen H. parviporum, with morphological distortion of the hyphae. RNAseq analysis revealed that transcript of pathogen genes involved in the regulation of carbohydrate metabolism and stress responses were significantly decreased in presence of the terpenes. The results suggest the relevance of monoterpenes together with jasmonic acid precursor and some genes involved in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, as constitutive tolerance factors for Norway spruce tolerance against necrotrophic pathogen. The high level of necrosis related cell death gene expression might be factors critical for host susceptibility and disease development.202
Value added and employment effects in Finland when wood fibre is substituted for plastic in food packaging : a case study
Full text linkIn the food and beverage industry, the development of new bio-based packaging materials and films is lively nowadays, and in the future, these materials will increasingly replace the current plastic-based packaging solutions. This demand, however, will inevitably have an impact on wood raw material availability. Using cold cuts and chocolate bars as pilot food package product cases and input-output analysis, this study evaluates projected roundwood need, value added, and employment in Finland when certain volumes of packaging materials are converted from traditional plastic to wood fibre-based. The results indicated that the substitution effects both for value added and employment remained rather small. In the cases studied, the substitution effect on consumption of softwood pulpwood was only a few thousand cubic meters over bark, whereas the reduction of plastics was up to 3,000 tonnes. Economic effects, however, would be highly significant if production were scaled to several different food packages, especially from the viewpoint of value added. More research is clearly needed to analyse economic, environmental, and social aspects on a larger scale, as well as pros and cons when plastic is replaced by alternative fibre-based materials in food packaging.202
Boreal forest multifunctionality under varying harvesting intensity and forest management priorities
Full text linkForestry is often directed towards conflicting targets. In Finland, forest policy has aimed to extract as much timber as possible while ensuring continued future harvesting opportunities. Concurrently, there is a social demand for biodiversity and non-timber ecosystem services. To explore the opportunities to combine these interests we simulated forest growth and optimized forestry, for a 100 year period, under two scenarios. The first scenario presents the impact economically oriented forestry (maximizing net present value (NPV)) will have on forest multifunctionality. Whereas the second scenario illustrates forest multifunctionality under environmentally oriented forestry (maximum multifunctionality (MF)). Both scenarios applied three harvest intensities (60%, 80% and 100% of the maximum maintainable yield). To evaluate multifunctionality, we used ecosystem service indicators (bilberry yield and carbon storage) and biodiversity indicators (volume of dead wood and habitat suitability for six vertebrate species). Additionally, we estimated the economic benefit from forestry (NPV). Our results showed enhanced forest multifunctionality due to the use of MF management, which appears to be a cost-efficient tool to promote biodiversity and multifunctionality. This trend could be further enhanced by decreasing harvest intensity. Solutions to this trade-off is very much value based and hence requires identification of priorities and preferences from the society.202
Hylkeiden ja merimetsojen aiheuttamat saalisvahingot 2023
Full text linkSuomen kaupallisen kalastuksen saalis mereltä oli 90 miljoonaa kiloa vuonna 2023. Saaliin tuottaja-arvo oli lähes 38 miljoonaa euroa. Merialueella harjoitti kaupallista kalastusta 975 kalastajaa (luonnollista henkilöä tai yritystä). Kalastajista 199 ilmoitti kärsineensä hylkeiden aiheuttamista saalismenetyksistä. Kalastajat ilmoittivat hylkeiden vaurioittaneen 134 tonnia pyydyksessä ollutta kalaa vuonna 2023. Siitä oli silakkaa 76 tonnia, siikaa 20 tonnia, kuhaa 12 tonnia, ahventa 7 tonnia, lohta 5 tonnia ja muita lajeja 15 tonnia. Kalastajien ilmoittama hylkeiden vahingoittama kalan määrä oli 17 tonnia suurempi kuin edellisenä vuonna. Vahinkoja raportoitiin eniten Selkämeren-Merenkurkun alueelta.
Merimetsojen aiheuttamia saalisvahinkoja ilmoitti 58 kalastajaa. Ilmoitusten mukaan merimetsot turmelivat 23 tonnia kalaa, reilut viisi tonnia enemmän kuin edellisenä vuotena. Siitä oli ahventa 11 tonnia, silakkaa 9 tonnia, kuhaa 1500 kiloa ja siikaa 850 kiloa sekä muita lajeja yhteensä 1300 kiloa. Vahinkoja koettiin eniten, 13 tonnia, Selkämeren-Merenkurkun alueella, Suomenlahdella 4 tonnia, Saaristomeren-Ahvenanmeren alueella 3 tonnia, ja Perämerellä 2 tonnia.
Kalastajien ilmoittamien saalisvahinkojen määrä on vähentynyt tarkastelujaksolla 2010–2023, mutta myös kalastuksen määrä on vähentynyt.
Läheskään kaikki kalastajat eivät pystyneet arvioimaan saalisvahinkojen määrää omissa pyydyksissään. Sanallisesti kuvailtujen saalisvahinkojen määrä arvioitiin olettaen, että ne olivat samansuuruiset kuin samassa pyyntiruudussa ja samalla pyyntimuodolla kalastaneilla vahinkomäärän ilmoittaneilla kalastajilla keskimäärin.
Merialueen kaupalliselle kalastukselle aiheutuneiden saalisvahinkojen todellista määrää ei ole arvioitu. Saaliille aiheutuneiden vahinkojen ilmoittaminen on vapaaehtoista, ja on mahdollista, että kalastajien ilmoitusaktiivisuus on muuttunut, tai siinä on ajallista ja alueellista vaihtelua. Vahingoitetusta kalasta ei aina jää pyydykseen selvästi havaittavia jäännöksiä.
Sen lisäksi, että hylkeet vaurioittavat saalista, ne myös aiheuttavat pyydysvahinkoja ja saattavat aiheuttaa muutakin haittaa kalastukselle, kuten läsnäolollaan karkottaa kaloja. Hylkeet voivat pakottaa kalastajan keskeyttämään tai lopettamaan kalastuksen, jolloin saalisvahinkoja ei aiheudu, vaikka kalastukselle aiheutunut haitta voi olla suuri.
Saalista ja pyydyksiä vahingoittavien eläinten lisäksi kaupallisen kalastuksen kannattavuuteen, saaliisiin ja pyyntiponnistuksen määrään vaikuttavat muutkin tekijät. Niitä ovat esimerkiksi vaihtelut markkinatilanteessa ja kalan tuottajahinnassa, kalakantojen runsaudessa sekä kalastuskustannuksissa.
Tietopohjan kattavuuteen liittyvien ongelmien ja saalisvahinkojen arvioinnin vaikeuden vuoksi tuloksiin liittyy epävarmuuksia, jotka on syytä huomioida tulosten jatkokäytössä
Fine-tuning GBS data with comparison of reference and mock genome approaches for advancing genomic selection in less studied farmed species
Full text linkBackground
Diversifying animal cultivation demands efficient genotyping for enabling genomic selection, but non-model species lack efficient genotyping solutions. The aim of this study was to optimize a genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) double-digest RAD-sequencing (ddRAD) pipeline. Bovine data was used to automate the bioinformatic analysis. The application of the optimization was demonstrated on non-model European whitefish data.
Results
DdRAD data generation was designed for a reliable estimation of relatedness and is scalable to up to 384 samples. The GBS sequencing yielded approximately one million reads for each of the around 100 assessed samples. Optimizing various strategies to create a de-novo reference genome for variant calling (mock reference) showed that using three samples outperformed other building strategies with single or very large number of samples. Adjustments to most pipeline tuning parameters had limited impact on high-quality data, except for the identity criterion for merging mock reference genome clusters. For each species, over 15k GBS variants based on the mock reference were obtained and showed comparable results with the ones called using an existing reference genome. Repeatability analysis showed high concordance over replicates, particularly in bovine while in European whitefish data repeatability did not exceed earlier observations.
Conclusions
The proposed cost-effective ddRAD strategy, coupled with an efficient bioinformatics workflow, enables broad adoption of ddRAD GBS across diverse farmed species. While beneficial, a reference genome is not obligatory. The integration of Snakemake streamlines the pipeline usage on computer clusters and supports customization. This user-friendly solution facilitates genotyping for both model and non-model species
