Decline of the boreal willow grouse (Lagopus lagopus) has been accelerated by more frequent snow-free springs

Climate change has influenced a range of species across the globe. Yet, to state a noted decline in the abundance of a given species as a consequence of a specific environmental change, for instance, spatially explicit long-term data are a prerequisite. This study assessed the extent to which prolonged snow-free periods in autumn and spring have contributed to the decline of the willow grouse, the only forest grouse changing into a white winter plumage. Time-series data of willow grouse numbers from summer surveys across the study area were integrated with local data on weather (snow cover), mammalian predator abundance and hunting intensity. Modelling was conducted with a hierarchical Bayesian Poisson model, acknowledging year-, area- and location-specific variability. The results show that while willow grouse numbers had decreased continuously across the study landscapes, the decrease was accelerated at the sites where, and during the years when the preceding April was the most snow-free. This indicates a mismatch between the change into a white winter plumage and the presence of snow, turning the bird into an ill-camouflaged prey. The results thus also confirm past hypotheses where local declines of the species have been attributed to prolonged snow-free periods. Across our study area, autumns and springs have become more snow-free, and the trend has been predicted to continue. Thus, in addition to conservation actions, the future of a species such as the willow grouse is also dependent on its ability to adapt to the changed environmental conditions.202

From a rare inhabitant into a potential pest – status of the nun moth in Finland based on pheromone trapping

Forests are being hit by climate change in various ways. This includes abiotic factors such as droughts, but also an increased risk of damage caused by biotic agents such as insects. There are numerous examples from cases where a pest insect has benefitted from endured growing season or from warmer summers. Similarly, new pest insects have been able to expand their range due to climatic conditions that have changed from hostile to tolerable. Such seems to be the case with the nun moth (Lymantria monacha), Europe’s most significant defoliator of coniferous trees. For centuries, the species has had massive outbreaks across Central-Europe while it has been only a rare inhabitant in Northern Europe. Recently, the nun moth population in Finland has not only expanded in range, but also grown more abundant. This research note describes the results from the first years (2018-2019) of a monitoring program that is being conducted with pheromone traps across central and southern Finland. So far, the northernmost individuals were trapped near the 64 N degrees. However, there were more southern where no moths were trapped. The species was present in every trapping site below the latitude of 62 N degrees. More importantly, at some sites the abundance of the nun moth suggested that local forest damage may not be a distant scenario. Given the current climatic scenarios for Fennoscandia, it is likely that the nun moth populations will continue to grow, which is why systematic surveys on their abundance and range expansions are vital.202

Bärförmåga vid brand i Br2-byggnader

An aim with this master thesis is to evaluate when, according to Swedish building code, design of structural fire protection can be carried out using a localized fire as the design fire, i.e. to determine when flashover is not likely. Another aim of the thesis is to examine how a structure is globally affected by a local failure due to a localized fire. One of the goals is to develop a method that obtains a probabilistic distribution of the maximum heat release rate in a building. Such a method would be able to provide input to whether flashover is likely or not and therefore would help in determining whether a localized fire can be used for fire design of building structures. The other goal is to evaluate how robustness of a structure can be achieved in the case of a failing structure element. The developed method allows for determining heat release rate that can be used in fire safety design of structural members using localized fires. A localized fire can produce high temperatures, which can decrease the structural elements load bearing capacity. This can result in a local failure that can induce a progressive collapse. Robustness, achieved either by segmentation or alternate load paths, can be countermeasures to prevent progressive collapse due to initial failures caused by localized fires

Traffic mortality of four ungulate species in southern Finland

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Pheromone-based monitoring of invasive alien insects along the border of Finland and Russia – methods and unintentionally caught species

Global trade provides pathways for the spread of invasive species. To tackle the threat, many countries have designated surveys that are typically conducted at the probable ports of entry. For Finland, the most north-eastern region of the European Union (EU), such site is the border with Russia and the imports of coniferous roundwood and wood chips. In this paper, we describe the monitoring systems based on pheromone-trapping for three EU-wide quarantine pests: Dendrolimus sibiricus, Polygraphus proximus and Bursaphelenchus xylophilus. We also list the non-target species caught in an exploratory survey using pheromone traps. During the three years of survey, no quarantine pests were detected, but 30 other species of insects were caught. Therefore, the monitoring – despite not detecting the target pests – provided information about the abundance of other species. As insect diversity reflects the status of the surrounding environment, the value of such data should be increased via co-operation among research institutes

Kotiläksyjä kanalinnuista ja metsän rakenteesta – mikään metsä ei yksinään ole riittävä

Menestyvätkö ja viihtyvätkö kanalinnut parhaiten tasaikäisinä vai eri-ikäisrakenteisina kasvatetuissa metsissä? Tätä ei yksiselitteisesti tiedetä. Aikuisten kanalintujen havainnot yhtenä vuonna eivät kerro juuri mitään siitä, onko havaintoalue pysyvästi kyseisen lajin asuttama. Sen sijaan tiedetään lukuisia tapauksia, joissa lintulajin tiheydet alueella eivät ole liittyneet millään tavoin alueen ”hyvyyteen” elinympäristönä. Tällainen ilmiö syntyy, kun vanhat ja vahvemmat yksilöt valtaavat parhaat alueet ja pakottavat nuoret yksilöt ei-optimaalisiin elinympäristöihin. Linnut lisääntyvät, menestyvät ja pitävät huolta populaation menestyksestä parhailla alueilla, vaikka pelkkien lintutiheyksien perusteella nuo alueet eivät parhailta vaikutakaan. Jos näihin kysymyksiin halutaan perehtyä kunnolla, on pitkäaikainen seuranta ehdoton edellytys. Vain tällä tavoin päästään tutkimaan oleellisia muuttujia kuten pesimämenestys, poikastuotto ja kuolleisuus (esim. säästä ja saalistuksesta johtuva) sekä asetelmaa vielä monimutkaistava yhdysvaikutus lintutiheyden kanssa. Pitkäaikaisen seurannan avulla pystytään ottamaan huomioon myös kanalintukantojen luontainen syklisyys. Vertailututkimuksia, jotka ottaisivat kaikki nämä asiat huomioon, ei kahden alussa mainitun metsienkäsittelyn menetelmän välillä ole tehty (eikä tämä helppoa olisikaan ottaen huomioon esimerkiksi Etelä-Suomen pienet kuviokoot ja kanalintujen liikkuvuuden). Suomen tutkimuskirjallisuus kanalintujen osalta on kuitenkin vertaansa vailla, ja sen avulla voimme luoda tarkan kuvan siitä, millaisia metsiä kanalinnut eri elämänsä vaiheessa tarvitsevat. Tätä kautta voidaan pohtia, miten eri tavoin toteutettu metsänhoito kanalintukantojen dynamiikkaan vaikuttaa. Seuraavaksi tätä kirjallisuutta tarkastellaan metsäkanojemme osalta.202

Перераспределение направления трещин гидравлического разрыва пласта с помощью оптимизации системы поддержания пластового давления

В данной статье описывается технология для контроля направления распространения трещин при проведении гидравлического разрыва пласта. С этой целью был проведен анализ уже имеющихся технологий. Представлено собственное решение для перераспределения направления трещины с помощью оптимизации системы поддержания пластового давления

How Will the Emerging Plurality of Lives Change How We Conceive of and Relate to Life?

The project “A Plurality of Lives” was funded and hosted by the Pufendorf Institute for Advanced Studies at Lund University, Sweden. The aim of the project was to better understand how a second origin of life, either in the form of a discovery of extraterrestrial life, life developed in a laboratory, or machines equipped with abilities previously only ascribed to living beings, will change how we understand and relate to life. Because of the inherently interdisciplinary nature of the project aim, the project took an interdisciplinary approach with a research group made up of 12 senior researchers representing 12 different disciplines. The project resulted in a joint volume, an international symposium, several new projects, and a network of researchers in the field, all continuing to communicate about and advance the aim of the project