Flowering biology and phenology of pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.)

The phenology and flowering of the pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) in Southern Finland was monitored during 1999-2006, in the Framnäs and Lenholm oak forests, which are mixed with hazels, birches, aspens, rowans, lindens, junipers, spruces, pines. Both stands are about 20 ha and located by the northern limit of natural distribution of oaks. The distance between the groves is about 60 km. A long-term pasture of about 150 years, on both islands has reduced the oak stands, however in recent decades selective cuttings have been made to help the oaks. In the south-western coastal areas degree days ranged from 1405,7 to 1737,7 d.d. in 1999-2006, indicating higher cumulating heat sums than on average over the normal period for the years 1981-2000. A total of 20 oaks × 3 branches /each tree sits in both stands, which equals 120 branches that were surveyed. The cork oak flowering model was modified to common oaks. Phases: 0-7 in male flowering were specified: from the dormant period (0) to swelling of the buds, from the onset of flowering to withering of the inflorescences (6). During the female flowering similar phases were found - from the rest period of apex buds (0) to the development of auxiliary buds on same year shoots. Further from the onset of first tiny female flowers to the withering of stigmas on the latest ones (6). The common oak flowering model was accurate enough and easy to apply in the survey. Male flowering began in 1999-2006 between 17th May and 6th June. Anthesis followed a few days later, when most of the staminate inflorescences had ripened. The catkins in the full length turned from green to bright yellow just before pollen release. Ripening was equal to phase 5 in the model of staminate flowering. Onset of the first female flowers began when the phase for stamens was about 3-4. Pollen receptivity of the first glossy reddish stigmas began when male flowering was about 5-5,5. The peak for female flowering took place a few days later than the anthesis, indicating protandry in common oak flowering. The period from pollination to fertilization is still a competition sequence for the pollen tubes. The stigmas, the developing female flower organs in gynoecium and the pollen tube cell tissue interact at the cell level. The self-incompatibility system acts on preventing selfing. Hence the loss of female flowers is huge, in some trees and in some years about 50% of the flowers fall down by the time of fertilization. Only 0-7,5% of the female flowers of the peak blossom period developed into acorns, which was less than in many other investigations. The suitable period for the common oak reproduction is very limited in the northernmost parts of its natural distribution. If the onset of the male flowering was delayed to early June, the number of female flowers was consequently low (years 1999, 2003, 2005). The detected linear regression is a topic for further studies. It remains unclear in this current scrutiny how the regulatory process acts on limiting the seed set and preventing extra ecological costs of any failing reproduction. In 2004-2006 a new potential pest, the black-dotted groundling, Stenolechia gemmella L. attacked the common oaks in many parts of Southern Finland. The moth larvae hollowed out new, same year shoots by length of few centimeters. Slightly afterwards shoots with their leaves and flowers turned brown. In July 2005 hundreds of withering shoots appeared in large oak crowns and of the monitored 1500 shoots in Framnäs 249 were infested by the moth larvae. Larvae and pupae are present in shoots in July, the adults emerge later in August or September

#StrongTogether? Qualitative Sentiment Analysis of Social Media Reactions to Disaster Volunteering during a Forest Fire in Finland

The transformation of disaster volunteering has been highlighted in academic literature. This study examined that transformation via a big data approach. The context for the study was provided by a forest fire in Finland, which sparked a debate on volunteering. The data (806 social media messages) were analyzed using qualitative sentiment analysis to (1) identify the sentiments relating to a variety of volunteers and (2) understand the context of and tensions behind those sentiments. The data suggested that the prevailing view of disaster volunteering is a rather traditional one, while the observations on the transformation remain largely latent. The positive sentiments reflected a view of the co-production of extinguishing forest fires as an activity of formal governmental and nonprofit emergency management organizations and volunteers from expanding and extending organizations. Unaffiliated volunteers were seen as extra pairs of hands that could be invited to help in an organized way and with limited tasks, only if required. Sentiments with a more negative tone raised concerns about having sufficient numbers of affiliated volunteers in the future and the rhetorical level of appreciation of them. The data revealed a dichotomous relationship between “professionals” and “amateurs” and the politicization of the debate between different actor groups.© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Häiriötekijä vai resurssi? : Haastattelututkimus neljännen sektorin roolista säteilyvaaratilanteen kontekstissa

Tässä artikkelissa paneudutaan neljännen sektorin (spontaanien vapaaehtoisten ja emergenttien kansalaisryhmien) rooliin kompleksisessa häiriötilanteessa käyttäen esimerkkinä säteilyvaaratilannetta. Artikkelin tavoitteena on analysoida neljännen sektorin roolia sekä sen jännitteitä suhteessa turvallisuusviranomaisten ja valmiusjärjestöjen toimintaan. Empiirinen aineisto muodostuu kahdeksastatoista säteilyvaaratilanteen kannalta relevanteissa asiantuntija- tai johtotehtävissä toimivan viranomais- ja järjestötahon haastattelusta, jotka on analysoitu teorialähtöisen sisällönanalyysin avulla. Tulosten perusteella neljännen sektorin rooli näyttäytyy muuntautuvan kontekstin muutosten ja kriisin vaiheiden mukaisesti, mutta melko usein edelleen pelkistyvän viranomaisten ja järjestöjen ”apukäsiksi”, joiden toimintaa on tarpeellista selkeästi koordinoida ja johtaa. Neljännen sektorin merkitystä ja mahdollisuuksia kriisin eri vaiheissa ei täysin osata tunnistaa, eikä siten toistaiseksi täysin hyödyntää sen potentiaalia.This article investigates the role of the fourth sector (spontaneous volunteers and emergent citizen groups) in a complex crisis using a radiation hazard as an example. The article aims to analyze the role of the fourth sector as well as its tensions in relation to the activities of security authorities and voluntary civil protection organisations. The empirical data consists of interviews with eighteen authorities or NGO actors working in expert or managerial positions relevant to the radiation hazard, analysed using theory-driven content analysis. Based on the results, the role of the fourth sector appears to be changing in line with the changing context and stages of the radiation hazard, but quite often continues to be reduced to “extra hands” for authorities and NGOs, that need to be clearly coordinated and managed. The discussion on enabling the self-organisation and self-management of the fourth sector seems thus to remain more of an academic interest, while the practical interest is in taking control of the fourth sector.©2022 Focus Localis ry.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Could virtual volunteerism enhance information resilience in a nuclear emergency? The potential role of disaster knowledge workers and virtual emergent groups

Informal volunteerism in its various forms is on the rise in the safety and security arena. This study focuses on a new mode of informal volunteerism, virtual volunteerism. The study uses the complex context of a nuclear emergency to explore (1) the extent to which informal volunteerism, in the form of virtual volunteerism, can develop information resilience and (2) the problems and challenges involved. The study relies on interview data gathered from 18 Finnish public authorities and NGO actors working in expert or managerial positions connected to nuclear emergency response. The study results suggest that informal virtual volunteerism could play a role in the development of information resilience in the society. However, as suggested in previous studies, virtual volunteerism could be a double-edged sword. There is a real risk of mis- and disinformation because of the volatile times in which we live. The identified risk sparked a debate on the inclusion and exclusion of unaffiliated disaster knowledge workers and virtual emergent groups in nuclear emergency preparedness, response, and recovery.© 2023 EDP Sciences. The original publication is available at https://doi.org/10.1051/radiopro/2023003fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Effect of canopy structure on the performance of tree mapping methods in urban parks

Urban forests consist of patches of recreational areas, parks, and single trees on roadsides and other forested urban areas. Large number of tree species and heterogeneous growing conditions result in diverse canopy structure. High variation can be found both at level of single tree crowns and in canopy characteristics of larger areas. As urban forests are typically managed with small-scale, even tree-level operations, there is a need for detailed forest information. In this study, the effect of varying canopy conditions was tested on nine individual tree detection (ITD) methods. All methods utilized airborne laser scanning (ALS)-derived canopy height models (CHM) and different modifications of watershed segmentation (WS). The performance of mapping methods was compared in three strata with varying mean height and canopy cover. The results showed considerable variation between the methods when tested in varying canopy conditions. Especially, presence of large broadleaved trees affected the accuracy of detecting individual trees. The best performing methods for the three strata were G0.7, F2 and Gadapt. The areas with low canopy cover turned out problematic for all ITD methods tested as co-occurrence of small trees and large deciduous trees affected the accuracy significantly. Overall, The results show that stratification can be used to enhance the quality of ITD in urban park areas. However, heterogeneous canopy structure and varying growth patterns typical for urban parks lower the accuracy of tree detection. Also, according to our results we suggest that canopy height and canopy cover alone are insufficient attributes for stratifying urban canopy conditions.Peer reviewe

Variation in height and survival among northern populations of pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.): results of a 13-year field study

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Yhteistyön kääntöpuoli – kun itseorganisoituminen epäonnistuu ja ilmaantuminen yllättää

The hidden side of co-operation: Whenself-organisation fails and emergenceovertakesAs a practice, co-operation is seen in an affirmative light. It is identified with the progressand improvement of the state of affairs withoutmuch questioning. Apart from the potentialbenefits of co-operation this paper claims thatwith co-operation comes something unintendedand unexpected that should be examined closely.Like Janus, co-operation has two faces. In addition to improving the means of providing publicservices, co-operation introduces new political,ethical, economic, and cultural dilemmas.Using the complexity lens, this exploratorypaper focuses on dilemmas introduced by the“bottom-up organising” of co-operation – particularly on self-organisation processes, whichproduce emergent patterns that no-one choosesor wants. The objective of the paper is to theoretically explore the meaning of self-organisation and emergence in complex co-operationsettings and to seek potential new theoreticalframes to address the phenomenon

3D-tiedosta lisäarvoa kaupunkien vihersuunnitteluun sekä katu- ja puistopuiden hoitoon

Tieteen tori: Yksityiskohtainen metsävaratiet

Teaching public administrators and leaders to handle complexity

Understanding and working under complexity has become ‘the new normal’ in public administration. Hence complexity must also be integrated into teaching and training of public administrators, not only in higher education but also in in-service training and educating wider society. This can be done by combining the ongoing research agenda into courses and teaching methods. This article describes the integration of complexity thinking and teaching in one university, both by giving examples on the courses and methods applied, student feedback received and by anticipating future developments. Finally, practical advice for teachers of complexity is given

Häiriötekijä vai resurssi? : Haastattelututkimus neljännen sektorin roolista säteilyvaaratilanteen kontekstissa

Tässä artikkelissa paneudutaan neljännen sektorin (spontaanien vapaaehtoisten ja emergenttien kansalaisryhmien) rooliin kompleksisessa häiriötilanteessa käyttäen esimerkkinä säteilyvaaratilannetta. Artikkelin tavoitteena on analysoida neljännen sektorin roolia sekä sen jännitteitä suhteessa turvallisuusviranomaisten ja valmiusjärjestöjen toimintaan. Empiirinen aineisto muodostuu kahdeksastatoista säteilyvaaratilanteen kannalta relevanteissa asiantuntija- tai johtotehtävissä toimivan viranomais- ja järjestötahon haastattelusta, jotka on analysoitu teorialähtöisen sisällönanalyysin avulla. Tulosten perusteella neljännen sektorin rooli näyttäytyy muuntautuvan kontekstin muutosten ja kriisin vaiheiden mukaisesti, mutta melko usein edelleen pelkistyvän viranomaisten ja järjestöjen ”apukäsiksi”, joiden toimintaa on tarpeellista selkeästi koordinoida ja johtaa. Neljännen sektorin merkitystä ja mahdollisuuksia kriisin eri vaiheissa ei täysin osata tunnistaa, eikä siten toistaiseksi täysin hyödyntää sen potentiaalia