Three most promising protection methods of pine pulp wood stacks against the attacks of Tomicus piniperda L. were compared. The methods were the covering of stacks by fibreglass-strengthened paper or twofold achrylene netting, removing the upper parts of stacks, and enhanced planning of the placement of the timber store using ARC/INFO GIS-software. T. piniperda was observed to strongly prefer the upper parts of the stacks: 90 % of the beetles occurred within 0.5 meters of the top of the stacks. Covering of the stacks decreased the attack density of T. piniperda, and the protection effect of covering was 80 %. Due to long transport distances and fragmentation of forest landscape the relocation of timber store was found to be an unsuitable method in the practical level. Also, taking into account the costs of the method, removing of the upper parts of stacks was considered to be the optimal solution.
Distribution and occurrence of bark beetles and other forest insects in relation to environmental variation were analysed by multivariate methods. Eight different forest edges were studied using 10 x 10 m sample plots that formed 200 m linear transects perpendicular to the forest edge. Forest edge affected the distribution of insect species only in the edges between mature, non-managed spruce stands and clear cuts or young seedling stands, but not in the pine stands. The occurrence of the selected forest insects mainly depended on variables associated with the amount and quality of suitable woody material. The most significant environmental variables were forest site type, crown canopy coverage, tree species, number of stumps, number of dead spruce trunks and amount of logging waste at site. Quantitative classification of species and sample plots showed that some specialized species (Xylechinus pilosus, Cryphalus saltuarius, Polygraphus poligraphus and P. subopacus) adapted to mature spruce forests, tended to withdraw from the forest edge to interior stand sites. By contrast many generalized species (Pityogenes chalcographus, P. quadridens, Pissodes spp., Hylurgops palliatus, Tomicus piniperda, Dryocoetes spp. and Trypodendron lineatum) benefitted from cuttings and spread over stand borders into mature forest.
The effect of three pesticides containing either dimethoate (0.5% a.i.), permitrin (0.5%) or triadimephon (0.5%) on the cone pests and flowering biology of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) was tested in a seed orchard in mid-May or in the beginning of June. The pesticide treatments significantly reduced infestation by Laspeyresia strobiella and Kaltenbachiella strobi only. Variation in the number of cones infested by both insects and cone rusts was high between the spruce clones. Generally, the pesticides did not affect flower viability, seed quality or seed germination, but reduced drastically the germination capacity of pollen in vitro. In practice, sufficient control cannot be achieved with concentrations or methods used in the present study.
The PDF includes an abstract in Finnish.
The effects of forest fertilizers on the intensity of damage caused by two curculionid (Brachyderes incanus L., Brachonyx pineti Paykull) and two chrysomelid (Calomicrus pinicola Duft., Cryptocephalus pini L.) species feeding as adults on Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) needles were investigated in two pine stands growing on dry (Calluna type) sites in South-West Finland. There was much variation in the abundance of the insect species both between the trials and the sample plots. Nitrogen fertilization increased both the height and radial growth of the pines. The curculinids were slightly more abundant on the nitrogen-treated plots. Potassium application seemed to decrease the feeding intensity of the chrysomelids especially. The overall effects were so small that forest fertilization cannot be considered as an effective control method against needle-feeding beetles.
The PDF includes an abstract in Finnish.
Invertebrates of young Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stands were preliminarily studied along a gradient of industrial air pollutants in Harjavalta, south-western Finland. Bark samples and net samples on pine branches and needles were taken in May–June, 1987. The number of aphids on needles was highest near the industrial plants. The number of mites in bark was positively correlated with the increasing distance from the pollutant source. Detrended correspondence analysis ordination calculated according to the bark invertebrates showed that the sampling sites of the zones far from the emission source formed a distinct group while those of the zones near the source were relatively widely dispersed indicating disturbances in faunal structure.
The PDF includes an abstract in Finnish.
Quantitative variation in the elemental composition of living Scots pine needles was studied along an atmospheric pollutant gradient in the surroundings of the industrial town Harjavalta, south-western Finland. Two 9-km-long transects, each with nine sample plots, running to the S and SW from factory complex were delimited in a homogenous Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) forest. Needle samples were taken from 10 trees at each site, and from two separate sites in Tuusula near Helsinki. There was considerable spatial variation in the elemental composition of the needles. Heavy metals (Cu, Fe, Zn) showed a clear pattern of exponentially decreasing concentration with increasing distance from the emission source. Sodium and potassium concentrations, as well as the ash weight and air-dry weight, also decreased. Magnesium, manganese and calcium concentrations increased with increasing distance.
The PDF includes an abstract in Finnish.
Succession of insect attacks on young Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) was studied in heavily, moderately and slightly polluted pine stands within a three-kilometre distance from a prominent emission source in Western Finland. The total number of pest species was highest in the moderately polluted stand, but unlike other herbivores, aphids were also abundant in the heavily polluted stands. A few positive but no negative interactions were detected between herbivores, which suggests that insect species may benefit from a previous occurrence of other species in the same tree.
The PDF includes an abstract in Finnish.
Paratization of Petrova resinella L. in the gall stage was studied in the surrounding of Harjavalta, south-western Finland, in relation to industrial air pollution. Of the studied 283 galls, 28% produced a moth, 52% of the larvae/pupae were paratisized, and 20% were empty or contained a dead larva. The proportion of paratisized galls did not depend on the distance from emission sources of industrial air pollutants.
The PDF includes an abstract in Finnish.
The relationship between industrial air pollutants and the occurrence of galls of Petrova resinella (Lepidoptera, Torticiadae) was studied around the industrialized town of Harjavalta in Western Finland. There were 44 sampling sites set out at logarithmic distances along five transects (NW, W, SW, SE) froma a distive source of emissions. Each site consisted of three circular sample plots (30 m2) in young Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stands. The number of galls, including cankers from several years earlier, was highest in the vicinity of the factory complex on each transect. The highest number of two-year-old galls containing living larvae was usually recorded at the ends of the transects several kilometres from the factories. However, the significance of the differences both between zones and transects was rather low. Correlations between the deposition of heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn), used as an indication of the general level of air pollution, and the total number of galls, were positive and generally highly significant. It is concluded that P. resinella has benefitted from air pollution although perhaps to less extent than some sap-sucking species.
The PDF includes an abstract in Finnish.
The effect of nitrogen fertilization and two insecticides on the occurrence of the plant pine bark bug, Aradus cinnamomeus Panzer, was investigated in a young Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stand in Southern Finland. Three years after the treatment the bug density was lowest in the trees treated with lindane or dimethoate. However, in spite of the increasing height growth of the trees, they did not grow significantly faster than the control trees. Nitrogen fertilization increased both bug density and the height growth of the trees. Thus, the value of nitrogen fertilization against Aradus cinnamomeus remains obscure.
The PDF includes a summary in Finnish.
Relationships between densities of pine bark bug, Aradus cinnamomeus Panzer and the height growth of young Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) were studied in several habitats, including a highly infested area in Southern Finland. The slower the growth of the pines was, the greater was the height up to which bugs were found. On the average, maximum bug density was noted at a height corresponding to a fifth of the height of the tree. In stands restocked by natural generation, the greatest bug densities were noted in pines about three metres high and over twenty years old. Bug densities in trees whose height growth had been decelerating for five years were twice those in trees whose growth was accelerating. A significant negative correlation was found between the bug density and the last-year height increment.
The PDF includes a summary in Finnish.
The presence/absence data of 27 forest insect taxa (Retinia resinella, Formica spp., Pissodes spp., several scolytids) and recorded environmental variation were used to investigate the applicability of modelling insect occurrence based on satellite imagery. The sampling was based on 1,800 sample plots (25 m by 25 m) placed along the sides of 30 equilateral triangles (side 1 km) in a fragmented forest area (approximately 100 km2) in Evo, Southern Finland. The triangles were overlaid on land use maps interpreted from satellite images (Landsat TM 30 m multispectral scanner imagery 1991) and digitized geological maps. Insect occurrence was explained using either environmental variables measured in the field or those interpreted from the land use and geological maps. The fit of logistic regression models carried between species, possibly because some species may be associated with characteristics of single trees while other species with stand characteristics. The occurrence of certain insect species at least, especially those associated with Scots pine, could be relatively accurately assessed indirectly on the basis of satellite imagery and geological maps. Models based on both remotely sensed and geological data better predicted the distribution of forest insects except in the case of Xylechinus pilosus, Dryocetes sp. and Trypodendron lineatum, where the differences were relatively small in favour of the models based on field measurements. The number of species was related to habitat compartment size and distance from the habitat edge calculated from the land use maps, but logistic regressions suggested that other environmental variables in general masked the effect of these variables in species occurrence at the present scale.
Biogeographical patterns of the Scolytidae in Fennoscandia and Denmark, based on species incidence data from the approximately 70 km x 70 km quadrats (n = 221) used by Lekander et al. (1977), were classified to environmental variables using multivariate methods (two-way indicator species analysis, detrended correspondence analysis, canonical correspondence analysis).
The distributional patterns of scolytid species composition showed similar features to earlier presented zonations based on vegetation composition. One major difference, however, was that the region was more clearly divided in an east-west direction. Temperature variables associated with the location of the quadrat had the highest canonical coefficient values on the first axis of the CCA. Although these variables were the most important determinants of the biogeographical variation in the beetle species assemblages, annual precipitation and the distribution of Picea abies also improved the fit of the species data.
Samples with the most deviant rarity and typicality indices for the scolytid species assempblages in each quadrat were concentrated in several southern Scandinavian quadrats, in some quadrats in northern Sweden, and especially on the Swedish islands (Öland, Gotland, Gotska Sandön) in the Baltic Sea. The use of rarity indices which do not take the number of species per quadrat, also resulted high values for areas near Stockholm and Helsinki with well-known faunas. Methodological tests in which the real changes in the distribution of Ips acuminatus and I. amitinus were used as indicators showed that the currently available multivariate methods are sensitive to small faunal shifts even, and thus permit analysis of the fauna in relation to environmental changes. However, this requires more detailed monitoring of the species’ distributions over longer time spans.
Distribution of seven species (Scolytus intricatus, S. laevis, Hylurgops glabratus, Crypturgus cinereus, Pityogenes salasi, Ips typographus, and Cyleborus dispar) were predicted by logistic regression models using climatic variables. In spite of the deficiencies in the data and the environmental variables selected, the models were relatively good for several but not for all species. The potential effects of climate change on bark beetles are discussed.
The PDF includes a summary in Finnish.
The effects of modern forestry on northwest European forest invertebrates are summarized and analysed mainly on the basis of published literature. The direct influence of different practices including clear-cutting, thinning, burning-over, ploughing, changes in tree species composition of stands, fertilization, insecticides, pheromones and biological control are discussed from a forest zoological point of view. Also, the indirect effects of general changes in boreal forest dynamics, loss of primeval forests, cessation of natural fires and the dominance of young stands are described. The direct effects of different silvicultural practices on the species composition and diversity of forest invertebrates are usually considered to be striking but transient. However, when large areas are treated, the species associated with primeval forests, especially with the wood composition system in them, as well as the species associated with fires, seem to have drastically declined. In northwest Europe, efficient forestry has not caused such serious pest problems as is known from tropical countries or North America.
The PDF includes a summary in Finnish.
We modelled the effect of habitat composition and roads on the number and occurrence of moose (Alces alces L.) damage in Ostrobothnia and Lapland using a zero-inflated count model. Models were developed for 1 km2, 25 km2 and 100 km2 landscapes consisting of equilateral rectangular grid cells. Count models predict the number of damage, i.e. the number of plantations and zero models the probability of a landscape being without damage for a given habitat composition. The number of moose damage in neighboring grid cells was a significant predictor in all models. The proportion of mature forest was the most frequent significant variable, and an increasing admixture of mature forests among plantations increased the number and occurrence of damage. The amount of all types of plantations was the second most common significant variable predicting increasing damage along with increasing amount of plantations. An increase in thinning forests as an admixture also increased damage in 1 km2 landscapes in both areas, whereas an increase in pine-dominated thinning forests in Lapland reduced the number of damage in 25 km2 landscapes. An increasing amount of inhabited areas in Ostrobothnia and the length of connecting roads in Lapland reduced the number of damage in 1 and 25 km2 landscapes. Differences in model variables between areas suggest that models of moose damage risk should be adjusted according to characteristics that are specific to the study area.