%0 Article
%T Observations of forest and peatland site types in Norway spruce areas in Kuusamo
%A Kujala, Viljo
%D 1921
%J Acta Forestalia Fennica
%V 18
%N 5
%R doi:10.14214/aff.7057
%U https://silvafennica.fi/article/7057
%X The forest and peatland site types can be identified based on the ground vegetation. Grazing, forest fires, fellings and other interferences, altitude and soil, however, change the species composition. In Kuusamo area, the land is mountaneous, but the moraine layer is mostly continuous. Thus, there is relatively little rocky sites. In addition, the calcareous soil is more fertile than in the most parts of the country. Norway spruce (<em>Picea abies</em> (L.) H. Karst.) is common on Hylocomium-myrtillus site type, where vegetation differs to some extent from the corresponding forest site types in the southern parts of the country. These changes seem to be caused by the thin stands in the north. In the southern parts of the Kuusamo area, the stands are denser which affects the vegetation. In areas that have been burned, the dominant tree species is mostly<em> Betula</em> sp., and Norway spruce may grow in understorey, and the ground vegetation is herb-rich. The forest become thinner, the higher the altitude. This changes also ground vegetation. Norway spruce is also dominant species in the spruce swamps and transition zones between spruce swamps and the open peatland types.