Rannikkovesien ekologisen luokittelun perusteita – yhteenveto eurooppalaisista tyypittelyn, luokittelun ja seurannan ohjeistuksista

Raportissa esitellään EU:n vesipuitedirektiivin myötä kehitettävän ekologisen luokittelun taustaa ja perusteita rannikkovesien osalta. Tekstissä tarkastellaan sekä direktiivissä annettuja määritelmiä että EU:n asettamien, yhteistä lähestymistapaa (Common Implementation Startegy, CIS) työstäneiden työryhmien näkemyksiä ja tulkintoja direktiivin tekstistä. Raportissa käydään läpi direktiivissä rannikkovesien luokitteluun sisällytetyt laatutekijät, sekä selitetään vertailuolosuhteet ja ekologinen laatusuhde (ecological quality ratio, EQR). Siinä esitellään myös direktiivissä esitetyt menetelmät vertailuolosuhteiden määrittämiseksi, ja pohditaan niiden käyttökelpoisuutta. Raportissa tarkastellaan sekä direktiivissä lueteltuja että työryhmien ohjeistuksissaan esittämiä kriteereitä luokittelussa käytettävien laatutekijöiden ja muuttujien valitsemiseksi. Lisäksi esitellään lyhyesti vaihtoehtoisia menetelmiä luokkarajojen asettamiseksi. Lopuksi tarkastellaan biologisten tekijöiden ja niitä tukevien fysikaalis-kemiallisten ja hydrologis-morfologisten tekijöiden suhdetta luokittelussa ja annetaan katsaus interkalibrointiprosessista, jonka avulla on tarkoitus varmistaa eri maiden luokittelutulosten vertailukelpoisuus

Evaluation of the Finnish National Biodiversity Action Plan 1997-2005

The results of the evaluation of the Finnish National Biodiversity Action Plan 1997-2005 indicate clear changes towards better consideration of biodiversity in the routines and policies of many sectors of the administration and economy. There are many indications that actors across society have recognized the need to safeguard biodiversity and have begun to adjust their practices accordingly. Several concrete measures have been undertaken in forests, agricultural habitats and in other habitats significantly affected by human activities. Biodiversity research has expanded significantly and the knowledge of Finland´s biological diversity has increased. In general, the Action Plan has supported public discussion of the need to safeguard biodiversity and this discussion has resulted in more positive attitudes towards nature conservation.So far, however, the implemented measures have not been sufficiently numerous or efficient to stop the depletion of original biological diversity. Many habitats remain far from their original state. More species will become endangered in the immediate future unless more effective and far-reaching measuresare taken. The objective of the EU to halt the decline of biodiversity by 2010 will not be achieved given the current development. Although the deterioration in biodiversity may have slowed down in several cases, many economic activities continue to have a negative impact on biodiversity. The scale of these activities is normally greater than that of the measures taken to manage and restore biodiversity.The evaluation focused on detecting changes in the administration of key sectors, analysing the recent development of biodiversity and observing interlinkages between these two. The analysis of administrative measures was based on interviews and on examining policy documents, reports and other relevant literature. The analysis covered changes in the administration of nature conservation, forestry,  agriculture, land use and regional and development cooperation. The analysis of the development of biodiversity was based on employing 75 pressure, state, impact and response indicators. There were 5 to 15 indicators for each of the nine major habitat types of Finland.Three separate case studies were made to provide further insights into some key issues: 1) A GISanalysis was made of the development of land use patterns in North Karelia and south-west Finland between 1990 and 2000, 2) two scenarios on the development of forest structure in North Karelia until 2050 were developed using a special MELA-model and 3) the cost-effectiveness of the agri-environmental support scheme was examined by comparing different land allocation choices and their effects on biodiversity on an average farm in southern Finland. The evaluation also paid special attention to the role of research in safeguarding biodiversity and reflected Finnish experiences against an international background

Morphological variation of northern Baltic Fucus vesiculosus along the exposure gradient

A study of inter-population variation in vegetative morphology of Fucus vesiculosus L. populations from SW Finland has been carried out and the variation is described and quantified. The taxonomic status of an unusual population from Virolahti the eastern part of Gulf of Finland has also been assessed. Five populations of Fucus vesiculosus were sampled at peak fertility time from shores of different wave exposure. Nine vegetative characters were measured and analysed using principle component analysis and stepwise discriminant analysis. The plant width, distance between dichotomies, plant length, midrib and stipe width were the five most important distinguishing characters. The plants were classified with accuracy of 70% into the correct population. The morphology of Fucus vesiculosus appears to vary within a small scale due to the local factor, exposure; shorter plants with narrow fronds are found on exposed shores and plants from more exposed shores lack bladders. Reduced salinity level could partly explain the existence the dwarf morph of Fucus from eastern part of Gulf of Finland. However, it would be difficult to justify taxonomic recognition of any of these populations on morphology