Turunen, Anne

Jukuri

METLA FINNISH FOREST RESEARCH INSTITUTE HALF A CENTURY OF RESEARCH IN FOREST TREE BREEDING LONG-TERM FIELD EXPERIMENTS FINNISH  FOREST RESEARCH INSTITUTE METLA Ruotsinkylä  has been a centre  of forest tree  breeding  and of the associated research  since 1949. At  first  this activity  focused on  the production  of grafts obtained from plus  trees, selected  on the basis  of  their outstanding  growth  and form. Grafting  was  used to  preserve  the genetic  material of these trees in clone collections and seed orchards. Metla was  established in  1917. It is  a reseach institution under the jurisdiction  of the Ministry  of  Agriculture and Forestry.  According  to its  mission  statement, Metla strives  to  solve  forest-related problems  through  research.  Applied  research work is done at the research centres  of Helsinki and Vantaa and at eight regional  research  stations. As  a means of ensuring  the continuity  of long-term research undertakings,  Metla has at its disposal  and management about 150 000 hectares of research forests.  Of these re  search forests, nearly 70 000  hectares are  conservation areas and 4 500  hectares are demonstration forests serv  ing forestry education. The oldest tree  species  and provenance trials in Ruotsin  kylä  were  founded close to  70 years ago. There are  pre  cise measurements  going  back  scores of  years for most  of the trial stands. RUOTSINKYLÄ RESEARCH AREA Data collected  many years  ago are  useful to  the study  of current  phenomena.  For  example,  provenance trials of spruce and pine  established in the  1930s have proved  to  be valuable when  studying  the impact of climate change  on tree  growth.  An  important  sample bank of forest-stand litterfall collected since 1950s has been established and analysed  for their concentrations of heavy  metals and en  vironmental toxins. Grafts  of the  clone collections were  used in producing  crossings  between  the plus  trees.  The seeds  thus obtained were  used to establish plus-tree progeny trials to test their genetic  quality  and to obtain the best possible  cultivation material for practical  forestry.  Cross  breeding  and progeny trials has played  a central role in Ruotsin  kylät  activities from the 19605. The emphasis  was  on coni  fers,  but  many aspen hybrids  were  also  produced  in the 1950 sand 19605. These hybrids  were produced  by  crossing  native aspen  and a North American aspen species.  LOCATION The Ruotsinkylä  Research  Area and Field Station are located about 10 km from the Vantaa Research Centre,  from where it is administered. It is  25 km  from the Helsinki  Research Centre. IMPACTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES ON THE FORESTS Research  focusing  on  examining  the impact  of  the "green  house" effect and air-borne pollution  has  been very  much to the fore in work  done in the greenhouses  at Ruotsinkylä  in the past few years. The trials  have  looked into the ef  fects  of  such  phenomena  as  nitrogen  and heavy  metal depo  sition,  temperature and rainfall variation, nutrient dynam  ics  and cycling,  and the microbial activity  in  forest soils. There  is  on-going  research  into the control mechanisms of  winter dormancy  in relation to changes  in winter tem  peratures, the responses of the undergrowth  to environ  mental changes,  and the effects of tree  species  on  forest biology.  METLA Vantaa Research Centre / Ruotsinkylä  Research Area Jokiniemenkuja  1, FIN-01301 Vantaa Tel. +358 9 857 051, fax  +358 9  8570 5569 Ruotsinkylä  Field Station Maisalantie 230, FIN-01590 Maisala Tel. +358 9 8274  420, fax  +358 9  8274 683 SavionkirjapainoOy1999 Anne Turunen 1998 RUOTSINKYLÄ  -  THE FLAGSHIP OF FINNISH  FOREST RESEARCH Welcome to this research forest! The Ruotsinkylä  Research Area  was established in 1923. Located  in Tuusula, it is  in the immediate vicinity of  the capital  city  area. There are over  500 hectares of diverse research forests in  Ruotsinkylä.  The Ruotsinkylä  Research Area is  also  responsible  for a  further 700 hec  tares  of  land  and  waters located  in eight  municipalities  in the  provinces  of Uusimaa and Häme. The area includes important  conservation areas  serving  the  needs of research; e.g. the Karkali  Strict  Nature Reserve,  the Porkkala  Archi  pelago  Conservation Area,  and several herb-rich  forests under conservation. There is also a forest-research field station with its  own  greenhouses  at  Ruotsinkylä.  DIVERSE COLLECTION OF TREE SPECIES Ruotsinkylät  collection of exotic  tree  species  enables visi  tors  to  acquaint  themselves with tree  species  otherwise rarely  encountered in Finnish  forests.  Most of these stands were established in the 1920s and 19305. There are more than  40 exotic  tree  species  to be seen. Altogether,  the re  search area includes about 60  coniferous and 50  decidu  ous  taxons (species,  subspecies,  varieties and forms). TRAILS THROUGH THE RESEARCH FOREST There are  five trails through the Ruotsinkylä  area: A. Paratiisinmäki (1 km)  B.  Lehtikuusenmäki (6 km)  C.  Lymypirtti  (4  km) D. Suomisensuo (3.5  km)  E.  Pirunkorpi  (6.5  km). An  arboretum is  located  along  the Paratiisinmäki trail and specimen  trees are  marked. Maps  of the other routes  are shown on  the  guiding  placards at the Ruotsinkylä  Field Station. Furthermore,  detailed descriptions  of all points  of  interest along  the trails are  provided  in the book enti  tled Ruotsinkylän  tutkimusalueen kohdeselosteet (Finnish  Forest  Research Report  468),  which may  be purchased  or borrowed  from the Institute. PARATIISINMÄKI  TREE TRAIL Al Norway  spruce  (Picea abies)  A 3 Scots  pine  ( Pinus sylvestris)  A 4  Weeping spruce (Picea abies f. pendula)  A 5 Larch  (Larix sp.) A 6 Jack  pine  ( Pinus banksiana) A 7 Serbian  spruce  ( Picea omorica)  A 8 White spruce  (Picea glauca)  A  9 Yedo  spruce  ( Picea jezoensis)  AlO  Sachalin fir (Abies sachalinensis)  Al2  Plus-tree* grafts of  conifers  Al3 Various deciduous and coniferous trees  Al4  Sachalin fir (Abies sachalinensis) Al5 Abies sachalinensis var.  may  nana A l6 Stone pine  (Pinus  cembra)  Al7  Fraser  fir (Abies  fraseri)  AlB Indigenous  trees, shrubs  and dwarf shrubs Al9 European  larch (Larix  decidua)  A2l Kurilen larch  (Larix gmelinii var.  japonica)  A  22  Kurilen larch  (Larix  gmelinii  var.  japonica)  A  23 Dahurian larch (Larix  gmelinii) A  25 Siberian larch  (Larix  sibirica)  A  26 Plantation of larches  All  Macedonian pine  (Pinus peuce) A  29  Artificial crossings  of pinnate  leaved alder A3O  Curly  birch (Betula  pendula  var.  carelica) Red oak  (Quercus  rubra)  A3l Alder  crossings  (Alnus glutinosa  x  incana)  A  32  Plus-tree grafts of  various forms of spruce A  33 Douglas  fir (Pseudotsuga  menziesii)  A  34  Veitch fir (Abies  veitchii)  A  35 Colorado white fir (Abies  concolor A  36 Plus-tree grafts of  pine A  37 English  oak  (Quercus  robur) A3B Alpine fir  (Abies lasiocarpa)  A  39 English  oak  (Quercus  robur)  Collection of tree  species  A4O  Plus-tree grafts (wych  elm, oak,  ash,  aspen, spruce)  A4 l Plus-tree grafts of  pine  A  42 Plus-tree grafts of  various spruce  species  A  43 Kurilen larch (Larix gmelinii var .japonica)  A  44 Dahurian larch (Larix gmelinii)  A  45 Douglas  fir (Pseudotsuga  menziesii)  A  46 Mountain hemlock ( Tsuga mertensiana) A  47 Japanese  lime (Ulia japonica) Japanese  yew (Taxus cuspidata ) A4B Stone pine  ( Pijius cembra) A  49 Plus-tree grafts (larch,  birch,  spruce,  alder)  A5 l Kurilen larch (Larix gmelinii  var. japonica ) A  52 Plus-tree grafts (aspen,  rowan,  alder) A  53 Willow species  and crossings  *Plus-tree (the  tree  of  outstanding  size and form) INSTRUCTIONS TO VISITORS The best  way  to become acquainted  with the Ruotsinkylä  Research Area is  by  following  the trails on foot and on skis  in winter. Some of the trails are  suitable for  cycling  along. Leave your car  in one  of the marked car  parks.  In the forest you are  free to pick berries and mushrooms. Do not  break off tree  branches or  collect  cones -  they  are needed for research  purposes. Remember that there  may be on-going  measurements  requiring  a  high degree  of  pre  cision;  for example,  the development  of the  ground veg  etation  is  followed regularly  through  repeated  assessments. Please leave all equipment  untouched! 

Ruotsinkylä research area

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