Epiphytic lichen diversity in Estonian and Fennoscandian old coniferous forests

Lichen species richness and species composition were compared between Estonian and Fennoscandian old coniferous forests, with a special emphasis on woodland key habitat indicator species. Altogether 42 Picea abies and 40 Pinus sylvestris sample plots were studied in Estonia, Finland, Sweden and Norway. In every plot lichens were recorded on five randomly selected trees; in addition, tree age and canopy openness by the sampled trees were measured. The results revealed clear differences in lichen species composition; the occurrence of many species differed between Estonia and Fennoscandia. Several indicator species were recorded only in one or two sample plots; the relatively frequent indicators differed between the two studied areas. The number of lichen species per sample plot was significantly higher in Fennoscandia compared to Estonia. Maximum tree age was positively correlated with species richness in Estonian spruce sample plots, and mean canopy openness with species richness in Estonian pine sample plots.

Report of the Regional Co-ordination Meeting for the North Sea and Eastern Arctic (RCM NS&EA) 2013

Report of the Regional Co-ordination Meeting for the North Sea and Eastern Arctic (RCM NS&EA) 2013 final report European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) Vigo, Spain 09/09/2013-13/09/2013The Regional Coordination Meeting for the North Sea & Eastern Arctic (RCM NS&EA) was held in September 2013 in Vigo (Spain). The main task of the RCM’s is to coordinate the National Programmes (NP), which propose the national data collection to be carried out by the Member States (MS) under the EU Data Collection Framework (DCF). It was envisaged that, from 2104 onwards, data collection by the MS would be carried out under a new framework (DC-MAP). However, the legislation for this framework is not ready yet. Therefore the Commission has decided to extend the present DCF for the time being and the most recent NPs have been adopted for 2014. Since these NP have been adopted without any changes, there is no need for major coordinatio