The aim of the study was to collect the first complete statistics on pastures and grazing of cattle in Finland. The data was collected in connection with an investigation of wood utilization in 1937-1938. Overall trend in grazing is that forest pastures are being replaced with restricted forest pastures and those further with hay meadows. This development is proceeding in the whole country, and it is almost completed in Western Finland. Grazing will probably be transferred completely to cultivated lands in the coming decades. This is important question also for the forestry, because of the damage grazing causes for forest.

Forest pastures are, however, still very important in animal husbandry. They produce over 500 million forage units. It would require 400,000 ha of hay meadows to produce corresponding amount of fodder. To sustain the present number of cattle, a third of all arable land in Finland should be hay meadows. The main goal for development of pastural agriculture is improving the effectivity of grazing and productivity of the pastures.

The PDF includes a summary in German.

Jäntti, E-mail: aj@mm.unknown

article id 7347, category Article

Aarno Kalela. (1939). On meadows and meadow alike vegetation communities on the Rybachy Peninsula in Petsamo, Lapland. Acta Forestalia Fennica vol. 48 no. 2 article id 7347. https://doi.org/10.14214/aff.7347

Keywords: peatland; plant community; vegetation unit; site classification; meadow

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

The article presents the characteristics of different vegetation areas (meadows and peatlands) by their distinctive vegetation. The study area is by the Barents Sea and is the northernmost part of continental European Russia. Different sites are classified by plant communities and/or vegetation units.

The article continues on the second PDF-file.

Kalela, E-mail: ak@mm.unknown

article id 7319, category Article

K. Linkola. (1935). Duration and age class distribution of some meadow grasses in the young age. Acta Forestalia Fennica vol. 42 no. 2 article id 7319. https://doi.org/10.14214/aff.7319

Keywords: ; age class; meadow grass; plant commune; Trollius europaeus; Ranunculus auricomus; R. acer; Potentilla erecta; Alchemilla vulgaris; Geum rivale; Prunella vulgaris; Chrysanthemum leucanthemum; Polygonum viviparum

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

The data has been collected from an old natural meadow in Sortavala, Karelia (on that time it was part of Finland). The vegetation on that meadow was very homogenous. All plants of the selected species (Trollius europaeus; Ranunculus auricomus; R. acer; Potentilla erecta; Alchemilla vulgaris; Geum rivale; Prunella vulgaris; Chrysanthemum leucanthemum; Polygonum viviparum) were collected from the sample plots with their roots. The seedlings were then ordered into age classes, and the shortest possible time before inflorescence was determined. To find out the germination time sowing trials were conducted.

The seedlings are very abundant in the youngest age classes and then the amount of plant individuals sinks quickly. The reasons for dying are e.g. insufficient amount of nutrients available and the lack of winter hardiness.

The PDF contains a summary in Finnish.

Linkola, E-mail: kl@mm.unknown

Category : Research article

article id 307, category Research article

Jacqueline C. Bolli, Andreas Rigling, Harald Bugmann. (2007). The influence of changes in climate and land-use on regeneration dynamics of Norway spruce at the treeline in the Swiss Alps. Silva Fennica vol. 41 no. 1 article id 307. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.307

Keywords: tree growth; dendroecology; microsites; subalpine meadow succession; tree invasion

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

Recent changes of climate and land-use are often regarded to affect the European Alpine region substantially and to trigger an increase in the elevation of the upper treeline. The patterns of tree invasion on a subalpine meadow at 1900 m a.s.l. in Sedrun, Canton Grisons, Switzerland, were studied in order 1) to reconstruct the process of tree establishment and tree–growth dynamics in space and time, and 2) to evaluate the influence of site properties, land-use change and climate on these processes. Dendroecological analysis of 105 Norway spruce combined with an assessment of 48 vegetation plots and 17 soil profiles revealed that the trees were established in one main period (1965–1980s), starting 15 years after the abandonment of the agricultural use of the meadow, and that there is a pronounced environmental gradient along the forest-meadow ecotone. Tree establishment and height growth were favoured close to the former forest edge, but all saplings irrespective of their distance to the forest edge and their age showed increased radial growth since 1990, coinciding with a period of higher summer temperatures in the region. Therefore, we conclude that the observed tree-line dynamics in Sedrun are the result of both land-use and climate change: Tree establishment was triggered by the abandonment of the agricultural use of the meadow, and strongly favoured by particularly good growing conditions in a warm decade, which illustrates the sensitivity of conifers near the alpine tree-line to temperature fluctuations.

Bolli, Swiss Federal Research Institute, Zürcherstrasse 111, CH-8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland E-mail: jacqueline.bolli@wsl.ch
Rigling, Swiss Federal Research Institute, Zürcherstrasse 111, CH-8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland E-mail: ar@nn.ch
Bugmann, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zürich, Universitätstrasse 16, CH-8092 Zürich, Switzerland E-mail: hb@nn.ch

Click this link to register to Silva Fennica.

If you are a registered user, log in to save your selected articles for later access.

Contents alert

Your selected articles

Follow @SilvaFennica