Articles by Erkki Pulliainen

The winter food of moose (Alces alces L.) was examined in 1967-68 in the Saariselkä fell area in the communes of Inari and Sodankylä, in the northern parts of the communes of Salla and Savukoski, and in the central part of the commune of Salla in eastern Lapland in Finland.

In northern parts of Salla and Savukoski 25 moose were followed during 3.-13.4.1968. This area is typical wintering terrain of moose in north-east Lapland. According to the estimate, 45% food taken by the moose was Scots pine shoots and needles, 28% birch, 17% juniper sprigs and needles, 9% willow, and 1.5% bear moss. According to observations of the researchers in 26.1.-16.5.1968, moose seemed to avoid birch, even if it was available in the area, and eat Scots pine shoots and needles and juniper.

Moose seemed to prefer willow in as a winter feed in the southern part of the area studied, where it accounts according to the present and earlier studies 50-90% of the winter food. In the northern wintering areas of moose, where willow is not as common, willow seemed to account for less than 10% of the winter food. There Scots pine is the most important winter food for moose.

The PDF includes a summary in English.

• Pulliainen, E-mail: ep@mm.unknown
• Loisa, E-mail: kl@mm.unknown
• Pohjalainen, E-mail: tp@mm.unknown

When the seed harvest of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) are low, pine and spruce buds are among the secondary food items of squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris L.) in Finland. In this study, conducted in Nokia in Southern Finland in 1962-1963, eating of pine buds by squirrel is described. The eaten buds in 15-years old Scots pine seedlings were recorded in two seedling stands.

According to the results, the squirrels selected the largest buds of the best seedlings in the studied stands. In over 50% of the cases the squirrels chose only the buds of the leading shoot, especially the terminal bud. In half of the trees, a side bud of the leading shoot continued the growth, which causes form defects in the trees. In 35% of the damaged trees, a lateral branch continued the growth. Well-growing seedling stands may be especially susceptible for damages caused by, for instance, squirrels.

The PDF includes a summary in Finnish.

• Pulliainen, E-mail: ep@mm.unknown
• Salonen, E-mail: ks@mm.unknown