Forest tree seedlings may suffer from predicted future winters

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Pintakasvillisuuden vaikutus männyn luontaiseen uudistamiseen Koillis-Lapissa

TutkimusselosteSeloste artikkelista: Hyppönen, M., Hallikainen, V., Niemelä, J. & Rautio, P. 2013. The contradictory role of understory vegetation on the success of Scots pine regeneration. Silva Fennica 47(1), article id 903

The contradictory role of understory vegetation on the success of Scots pine regeneration.

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Seasonal and inter-annual variation in the chlorophyll content of three co-existing Sphagnum species exceeds the effect of solar UV reduction in a subarctic peatland

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Winter in a changing climate affecting the survival of Scots pine seedlings

Poster

Perspectives: Lean forestry-A paradigm shift from economies of scale to precise and sustainable use of ecosystem services in forests

Modern forestry practices are based on the idea of 'big is beautiful'. Especially in the regeneration phase, the operations are often excessive in relation to the profit that one can expect to gain in decades to come. Excessive operations also constrain the use of ecosystem services. Lean forestry is a novel philosophy of forestry practise that aims to direct the idea of "big is beautiful" in modern silviculture more into "do cost effectively only what is needed to fulfil the goals". To succeed Lean forestry requires exact spatial information to be able to carry out forestry measures very precisely only where they are really needed to fulfil goals. This kind of a paradigm shift requires systems with new kinds of abilities to remotely sense the surrounding environment and to make better and faster decisions based on sensed data. Automated unmanned offroad vehicle that is able to sense the environment and to make lean decisions is presented as an example of initiatives that can make forestry more cost-effective and simultaneously improve utilisation of wide range of ecosystem services in forests

Manipulating overstory density and mineral soil exposure for optimal natural regeneration of Scots pine

In northern boreal region the growth of forests is slow, and yield and profit are low, which is why low refor-estation costs are important for profitable forestry. If natural regeneration is successful, expensive artificial forest regeneration (planting or direct seeding) can be avoided. In this study, we look at the impact of overstory density and site preparation on natural regeneration and seedling growth of Scots pine. Study stands were established in different parts of Northern Finland and in each stand following treatments: 50, 150 and 250 trees ha-1 or unthinned control, where the stand density was >= 250 trees ha-1, were randomly allocated to experimental plots. In addition, site preparation (disc trenching, 4000-5000 m ha-1) was carried out on two experimental plots in which tree density was either 50 or 150 trees ha-1. In the experimental stands seedling number, age and growth were monitored for 11 years. Monitoring revealed that the number of seedlings increased with decreasing tree density. Average seedling height growth was very low or even non-existent in the unthinned control and in the densest (250 trees ha-1) treatment, but increased when the density of trees decreased. The highest seedling number and the highest growth were achieved when the tree density was 50 trees ha-1 and the soil was prepared to expose mineral soil. Achieving e.g. 2000 seedlings ha-1, would need about 40% exposition of mineral soil. The required low tree density implies that not only seed supply from seed trees and site preparation is important for regeneration success in northern boreal Scots pine forests but also the reduction of competition by mature trees

Preloop trial : study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

BackgroundA temporary loop ileostomy, which is used to decrease the risk of symptomatic anastamotic leakage after anterior resection and total mesorectal excision (TME), is traditionally closed without any mesh. However, as 44% of incisional site hernias need further repair after stoma closure, attention has increasingly been paid to the use of mesh. Research on the prevention of these hernias is scarce, and no studies comparing different meshes exist.Method/DesignThe Preloop trial (Clinical Trials NCT03445936) is a prospective, randomized, controlled, multicenter trial to compare synthetic mesh (Parietene Macro, Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN, USA) and biological implants (Permacol, Medtronic) at a retromuscular sublay position for the prevention of incisional site hernias after loop-ileostomy closure. The main endpoints in this trial are infections at 30-day follow-up and the incidence of hernias clinically or on CT scan at 10months after closure of the stoma. The secondary endpoints are other complications within 30days of surgery graded with the Clavien-Dindo classification, reoperation rate, operating time, length of stay, quality of life measured with RAND-36, and incidence of hernia over a 5-year follow-up period. A total of 100 patients will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio.DiscussionThis is a pilot trial that will be undertaken to provide some novel evidence on the safety profile and efficiency of both synthetic mesh and biological implants for the prevention of incisional hernias after closure by temporary loop ileostomy. The hypothesis is that synthetic mesh is economical but equally safe and at least as effective as biological implants in hernia prevention and in contaminated surgical sites.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03445936. Registered on 7 February 2018.Peer reviewe

Made-to-Measure: In and Out of Touch with the Old-Growth Forest

The condition of forests is a major issue when it comes to climate change and biodiversity. One way to define the quality of a forest is by its age. In the cross pressure of socio-economic and ecological guidelines, what qualifies as an old-growth forest is not determined by a mere number but the co-constitution of various measurements, indicators, political ambitions, and the performance of the measured biological ‘units’ themselves. This transdisciplinary chapter studies how old-growth forests are made-to-measure, moving from close proximity encounters with an indicator organism, being-with-beard lichen, to the internationally defined level and timescale of economic activity and (un)management in categorising forest ecology, wherein various compromises in decision-making may also compromise local ecosystems and the vastness of scale in the biosphere. The study heads off to the ‘roots’ of science—definitions, conceptualisations, onto-epistemology, and methodologies—considering how they as active processes are performing the entity of the ‘old-growth forest’ by cutting-together-apart on multiple scales

Effects of reindeer grazing and forestry on ground lichens in Finnish Lapland.

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