Articles containing the keyword 'Åland'

The purpose of this study is to clarify the forest types in pure coniferous stands in Åland in Finland, to study them in a biological light and account for the production of the stands on respective sites. The flora of the forest types in Åland has been described in an earlier study, but as the plant associations have not been described it has often been difficult to determine the correct types in field work. Sample plots were chosen in coniferous forests with maximum 20% of other species. The vegetation analysis was limited to determine composition of species, projected coverage and the frequency of species. In addition, cubic volume and growth of the growing stock was calculated for the stands.

The results of the study showed that site type and fertility correspond to each other nearly without exception only on normal moraines, if only the ground vegetation is used as a criterion for the type. The general occurense of soils of different qualities makes it necessary to determine, besides forest type, other characteristics in the stands, preferably the dominant height. The total production of coniferous forests with great probability is smaller in Åland than in mainland Finland. The results can be applied also to Åboland’s archipelago, where the milieu of the coniferous forests is similar.

The PDF includes a summary in English.

• Högnäs, E-mail: bh@mm.unknown

The paper presents preliminary results of paleobotanical studies on vegetation in Åland, south-west Finland. The investigations concentrated on studying arrival of tree species and stratigraphy of peatlands. According to the studies, some plant fossils found in the peat (Ceratophyllum submersum, Sparagnium neglectum, Najas flexilis) indicate that climate of the region has earlier been warmer than at the present. The present forests in Åland are dominated by coniferous species, but the pollen analysis of the peat indicate that Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) became a common species in the region about by the time of Christ’s birth. The species has reached its present distribution in Åland relatively late. The pollen analyses give relatively little information about the arrival of birch (Betula sp.) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), but it seems obvious that occurrence of birch reached its culmination just before spruce. During the warm period common alder (Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertn.) was the most important species, and also pollen of oak (Quercus robur L.), kinden (Tilia cordata L.) and elm (Ulmus sp.) was relatively common in the peat of some of the studied peatlands. An interesting finding was the pollen of Carpinus betulus in many sites in Åland.

The PDF includes a Finnish and German summary.

• Backman, E-mail: ab@mm.unknown

The paper deals with the ground vegetation of the barren coniferous forests of Åland Islands and seeks to describe its special vegetation characters with general features. The study is based on data collected during summers from 1918-1922 on Åland Islands.  Work presents the forest types of Åland Islands classified according Cajander (1909) with their typical species.

The Ålandian coniferous forests seem to have a low number of species. This is because they are mostly old and closed, and have been developing for a long time without human induced disturbances from outside. Some changes have occurred due to forest fires. There is very few traces of non-native species in the forests. If some are found, they have not been able to regenerate or distribute widely.   

• Palmgren, E-mail: ap@mm.unknown

The article describes the Ålandian vegetation of most typical habitats with greatest detail. The primary goal of the paper is to find out which deciduous species are native in the Åland Islands and hence can be seen as indicator plants for the living conditions. In addition to determining the native species of the Åland Islands, the study seeks to determine the human influence to the vegetation systems: which species are original, which have been introduced by agricultural activities, and how has the human activity influenced the abundance of the species.

• Palmgren, E-mail: ap@mm.unknown

A sensitive framework has been developed for modelling young radiata pine (Pinus radiata D. Don) survival, its growth and size class distribution, from time of planting to age 5 or 6 years. The data and analysis refer to the Central North Island region of New Zealand. The survival function is derived from a Weibull probability density function, to reflect diminishing mortality with the passage of time in young stands. An anamorphic family of trends was used, as very little between-tree competition can be expected in young stands. An exponential height function was found to fit best the lower portion of its sigmoid form. The most appropriate basal area/ha exponential function included an allometric adjustment which resulted in compatible mean height and basal area/ha models. Each of these equations successfully represented the effects of several establishment practices by making coefficients linear functions of site factors, management activities and their interactions. Height and diameter distribution modelling techniques that ensured compatibility with stand values were employed to represent the effects of management practices on crop variation. Model parameters for this research were estimated using data from site preparation experiments in the region and were tested with some independent data sets.

• Mason, E-mail: em@mm.unknown
• Whyte, E-mail: aw@mm.unknown

This paper is a report of the authors visits to over 80 forestry nurseries in 20 countries mostly in the tropics or subtropics. The article aim is to describe the methods used in the various countries and compares them to the conventional methods of cool and temperate countries. The article introduces nurseries of Africa south of the Sahara, Mediterranean area, Australian and New Zealand and Latin America.

A complete revolution has taken place in the Finnish nursery practice, which used to raise the seedlings in natural field soil in open-air nurseries. The seedlings were usually transplanted into transplant beds at the age of two years. Now the use of plastic greenhouses of light construction and an artificial soil substrate (fertilized peat) are essential. The new technique has some similarities to the practises of the tropical and subtropical nurseries. In Finland cultivation in greenhouses has hastened the development of the seedlings and shortened the nursery rotation from four to two years, and provided better control of watering and fertilization.

Peat beds in greenhouses are used also in Swaziland. The advantage of peat is that it is free of weed seeds, which eliminates weeding. Peat substrate gives also better yield of seedlings, which decreases the need of seeds, which is important in Finland. Another technique common with tropical silviculture is the production of potted seedlings, which are easy to handle and transport. In tropics, peat pots (jiffy pots) have made it possible to grow plantable seedlings in one season without transplanting. The present Finnish technique means a decreased degree of mechanization compared to the conventional technique of modern European and American nurseries.

• Mikola, E-mail: pm@mm.unknown

• Samarasinghe, Centre for Advanced Computational Solutions (C-fACS), Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand E-mail: sandhya.samarasinghe@lincoln.ac.nz

• Samarasinghe, Centre for Advanced Computational Solutions (C-fACS), Lincoln University, New Zealand E-mail: ss@nn.nz
• Kulasiri, Centre for Advanced Computational Solutions (C-fACS), Lincoln University, New Zealand E-mail: dk@nn.nz
• Jamieson, Centre for Advanced Computational Solutions (C-fACS), Lincoln University, New Zealand E-mail: tj@nn.nz