Mikko Hyppönen, Ville Hallikainen, Urban Bergsten, Hans Winsa, Jari Miina, Sauli Valkonen, Pekka Helenius, Esko Jaskari, Pasi Rautio. (2025). Is it possible to extend the season for direct seeding of Scots pine and lodgepole pine in northern Fennoscandia? Silva Fennica vol. 59 no. 3 article id 24064. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.24064

Keywords: Pinus sylvestris; Pinus contorta; artificial regeneration; autumn direct seeding; generalized linear mixed effects models

Highlights: Scots pine and lodgepole pine were direct seeded during June–November in a six-year experiment in Finnish Lapland; Both early summer and late autumn as well as early winter were appropriate periods for the successful seeding of both species; Seeding in late summer and early autumn (August and September) was much less successful for Scots pine; For lodgepole pine seeding time, site quality or cold-wet treatment of seeds were not critical for the seedling emergence or survival.

Abstract | Full text in HTML | Full text in PDF | Author Info

The aim of this study was to experimentally test the most favourable seeding times for Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), and to compare Scots pine and lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Douglas ex Loudon) in respect to suitable seeding times and site factors. The experimental area was located in Sodankylä, Central Finnish Lapland. Generalized linear mixed effects models with binomial distribution assumption were applied to model the presence or absence of a seedling at a seeding point. The study shows that in addition to spring and early summer, direct seeding of Scots pine can also be carried out during late autumn or even early winter (October and November) in northern Fennoscandia. On the contrary, seeding in late summer and early autumn (August and September) is much less successful and cannot be recommended as such, but can be used if the amount of seeding material is increased to compensate the loss. There is more flexibility for lodgepole pine for which the proper seeding period seems to be from spring through to late autumn. Whether lodgepole pine seeds were stratified or not had no statistically significant effect on regeneration success. Our results clearly indicate that lodgepole pine is less susceptible to unfavourable site and soil factors than Scots pine. Our results give support to extend the period of direct seeding from the present early summer to another period in late autumn and even early winter.

Hyppönen, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Ounasjoentie 6, FI-96200 Rovaniemi, Finland E-mail: mikkokthypponen@gmail.com
Hallikainen, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Ounasjoentie 6, FI-96200 Rovaniemi, Finland https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5384-8265 E-mail: ext.ville.hallikainen@luke.fi
Bergsten, Department of Forest Biomaterials and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Skogsmarksgränd, SE-901 83 Umeå, Sweden E-mail: burskog@gmail.com
Winsa, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Ounasjoentie 6, FI-96200 Rovaniemi, Finland E-mail: hans.winsa@gmail.com
Miina, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Yliopistokatu 6 B, FI-80100 Joensuu, Finland https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8639-4383 E-mail: jari.miina@luke.fi
Valkonen, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Latokartanonkaari 9, FI-00790, Helsinki, Finland https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2879-4821 E-mail: sauli.valkonen@luke.fi
Helenius, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Tietotie 4, FI-31600 Jokioinen, Finland E-mail: psjhelenius@elisanet.fi
Jaskari, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Ounasjoentie 6, FI-96200 Rovaniemi, Finland E-mail: ejaskari@gmail.com
Rautio, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Ounasjoentie 6, FI-96200 Rovaniemi, Finland https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0559-7531 E-mail: pasi.rautio@luke.fi

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