Seppo Kellomäki, Heikki Wuorenrinne. (1979). Kaupunkimetsien vaurioitumiseen vaikuttavista tekijöistä. Silva Fennica vol. 13 no. 2 article id 5032. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.a14889

English title: Factors affecting deterioration of urban forests.

Original keywords: taajamametsät; kulutuksenkestävyys; metsien pirstoutuminen

English keywords: fragmentation; fertility; trampling tolerance; urban forests; deterioration of forests

Abstract | View details | Full text in PDF | Author Info

The objective of the study was to investigate the factors affecting the deterioration of urban forests based on literature. Regression analysis is applied to the material obtained from unpublished material of the latter author. The size of forest stand, and its fertility proved to exercise the greater effect on the deterioration of urban forests. A model based on these factors has been developed and its area of applying is discussed.

The PDF includes a summary in English.

Kellomäki, E-mail: sk@mm.unknown
Wuorenrinne, E-mail: hw@mm.unknown

Category : Research article

article id 568, category Research article

Minna Malmivaara, Irja Löfström, Ilkka Vanha-Majamaa. (2002). Anthropogenic effects on understorey vegetation in Myrtillus type urban forests in southern Finland. Silva Fennica vol. 36 no. 1 article id 568. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.568

Keywords: fragmentation; GNMDS; trampling; vegetation monitoring; wear

Abstract | View details | Full text in PDF | Author Info

The growth of urban population in Finland has resulted in increased fragmentation of urban forests and consequently increased recreational pressure on these forests. The effects of fragmentation and trampling on the ground and field layer vegetation were studied in mesic Myrtillus type Norway spruce-dominated urban forest stands of varying size in the greater Helsinki area. The number of residents living in the vicinity of the forest stands was an important factor affecting the understorey vegetation in urban forests. The cover of understorey vegetation in urban forests was remarkably lower than in rural areas, especially the ground layer cover, e.g. cover of Pleurozium schreberi, was significantly lower in urban forests than in the reference areas. Thus, the ground layer proved to be most susceptible to trampling. In the field layer, the cover of dwarf shrubs, especially of Vaccinium myrtillus, was lower in deteriorated than in undeteriorated urban forest stands.

Malmivaara, Finnish Forest Research Institute, P.O. Box 18, FIN-01301 Vantaa, Finland E-mail: minna.malmivaara@metla.fi
Löfström, Finnish Forest Research Institute, P.O. Box 18, FIN-01301 Vantaa, Finland E-mail: il@nn.fi
Vanha-Majamaa, Finnish Forest Research Institute, P.O. Box 18, FIN-01301 Vantaa, Finland E-mail: ivm@nn.fi

Category : Research note

article id 10491, category Research note

Atte Komonen, Ilkka Puumala, Gergely Várkonyi, Reijo Penttilä. (2021). Wood-decaying fungi in old-growth boreal forest fragments: extinctions and colonizations over 20 years. Silva Fennica vol. 55 no. 1 article id 10491. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.10491

Keywords: polypores; fragmentation; extinction debt; habitat loss; spruce forest

Highlights: Rare fungi can persist for decades in isolated old-growth forest fragments; The remaining old-growth forest fragments should be urgently protected, even if they are isolated from larger expanses of natural biotopes.

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

According to ecology theory, isolated habitat fragments cannot maintain populations of specialized species. Yet, empirical evidence based on monitoring of the same fragments over time is still limited. We studied the colonization–extinction dynamics of eight wood-decaying fungal species in 16 old-growth forest fragments (<14 ha) over a 20-year period (1997–2017). We observed 19 extinctions and 5 colonizations; yet, the distribution of extinctions and colonizations did not differ from the one expected by chance for any of the species. Twenty-six percent of the extinctions took place in two natural fragments amid large forest–peatland complexes. Phellinus nigrolimitatus (Romell) Bourdot and Galzin decreased and Phellinus ferrugineofuscus (P. Karst.) Bourdot increased in abundance (number of logs occupied). The volume of living spruce trees in the forest fragments correlated positively with the number of logs inhabited in five of the study species. Because fragment characteristics did not affect species turnover, it seems that stochastic processes governed colonizations and extinctions. Although the least abundant species in 1997 had declined, and the most abundant species had become more abundant, it appears that specialized wood-decaying fungi can persist for decades in isolated old-growth forest fragments, if suitable dead wood is continuously available.

Komonen, University of Jyväskylä, Department of Biological and Environmental Science, School of Resource Wisdom, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 University of Jyväskylä, Finland E-mail: atte.komonen@jyu.fi
Puumala, University of Jyväskylä, Department of Biological and Environmental Science, School of Resource Wisdom, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 University of Jyväskylä, Finland E-mail: ilkka.puumala1@outlook.com
Várkonyi, Finnish Environment Institute, Friendship Park Research Centre, Lentiirantie 342 B, FI-88900 Kuhmo, Finland E-mail: gergely.varkonyi@ymparisto.fi
Penttilä, Natural Resources Institute Finland, Natural resources, Latokartanonkaari 9, FI-00790 Helsinki, Finland E-mail: reijo.penttila@luke.fi

article id 136, category Research note

Tomasz D. Mazgajski, Michal Zmihorski, Katarzyna Abramowicz. (2010). Forest habitat loss and fragmentation in Central Poland during the last 100 years. Silva Fennica vol. 44 no. 4 article id 136. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.136

Keywords: afforestation; fragmentation; landscape history; forest continuity; deforestation; ancient forest

Abstract | View details | Full text in PDF | Author Info

The process of habitat fragmentation consists of two components – habitat loss and fragmentation per se. Both are thought to be among the most important threats to biodiversity. However, the biological consequences of this process such as species occurrence, abundance, or genetic structure of population are driven by current, as well as previous, landscape configurations. Therefore, historical analyses of habitat distribution are of great importance in explaining the current species distribution. In our analysis, we describe the forest fragmentation process for an area of 178 km² in the northern part of Mazowsze region of central Poland. Topographical maps from the years 1890, 1957 and 1989 were used. Over the 100-year period, forest coverage in this area changed from 17% to 5.6%, the number of patches increased from 19 to 42, while the area of the forest interior decreased from 1933 ha to 371 ha. The two components of fragmentation were clearly separated in time. Habitat loss occurred mainly during the first period (1890–1957) and fragmentation per se in the second (1957–1989). Moreover, we recorded that only 47.7% of all the currently (in 1989) afforested areas constitute sites where forests previously occurred (in 1890 and 1957). For forest dwelling organisms characterized by low dispersal abilities, the effective forest coverage seems to be a half of the real forest area in the studied landscape. New afforestations should be planned especially to increase those patches which contain ancient forest, where various plants and animals sensitive to fragmentation may have survived.

Mazgajski, Polish Academy of Sciences, Museum & Institute of Zoology, Wilcza 64, PL 00-679 Warsaw, Poland E-mail: mazgaj@miiz.waw.pl
Zmihorski, Polish Academy of Sciences, Museum & Institute of Zoology, Wilcza 64, PL 00-679 Warsaw, Poland E-mail: mz@nn.pl
Abramowicz, Department of Ecology, University of Warsaw, Banacha 2, PL 02-097 Warsaw, Poland E-mail: ka@nn.pl

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