Articles containing the keyword 'metsämaa'

The effect of soil compaction on transpiration and height increment of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) seedlings following planting out were investigated in a small-scale pot experiment. Compacted and loosely-packed fine sand and fine-sand moraine were used as the planting substrates. The compacted soils used corresponded to the normal type of soil to be found in tilled forest soils in Finland. The effect of soil compaction on seedling transpiration during water stress was also studied in a separate experiment.

Seedlings planted in compact soil had a higher rate of transpiration than those in loosely-packed soil. The recovery in transpiration, which started halfway through the growing season, was faster, however, in the seedlings planted in loosely-packed soil. Under conditions of water stress, the seedlings planted in compact fine-sand moraine started to reduce the transpiration rate at higher soil moisture values than those planted in loosely-packed soil. No corresponding difference was observed for fine sand. Compaction was not found to affect the overall height growth, but it did at certain time during the growing season.

The PDF includes a summary in English.

• Smolander, E-mail: hs@mm.unknown
• Kostamo, E-mail: jk@mm.unknown
• Räsänen, E-mail: pr@mm.unknown

The particle size distribution affects several properties of the soil, thus, the ability to define the texture type of the soil as accurately as possible in field conditions is essential. The soil particle size classification devised by Atterberg (1912) is used in Finnish forestry. The study is based on a small laboratory material. The correlation between some characteristics of the soil particle size distribution, field capacity and cation exchange capacity were determined.

The particle size characteristics such as the relative proportion of different particle sizes, average particle size (Md) and parameters depicting the degree of sorting were determined. The relative proportion of soil particles below 0.06 mm correlated best with both field capacity and cation exchange capacity. Similarly, the average particle size and the degree of sorting correlated well with the field capacity and the cation exchange capacity.

The use of sorting characteristics is not well-suited to the type of soil sample material containing a high proportion of particles of varying size as was used in this material. Such characteristics are probably more easily applicable to the fine sand and sand sediments which are predominant in Finnish forest soils. The most useful particle size distribution characteristics in soils having a great variation in particle sizes were the average particle size and the relative proportion of silt and clay. Thus, the nutrient and water status of the soil can be predicted to some extent by examining the percentage of silt and clay, average particle size and the degree of sorting.

The PDF includes a summary in English.

• Sepponen, E-mail: ps@mm.unknown

The use and problems of the sucrose inversion method for the study of forest humus and soil are discussed. The method is based on the temperature dependence of sucrose inversion, changes in rotation angle being determined with a circle polarimeter. Average temperatures and thermal sums for forest humus in different forests in Finland were measured, using this method, for a period of ca. 100 days. The results are not considered definitive but are regarded rather as examples. Average temperatures were somewhat higher in the humus of dry and poor heath forests than in that of moist and herb-rich forests, with exceptions that could be explicable by topographic position.

The PDF includes a summary in English.

• Ohenoja, E-mail: eo@mm.unknown
• Pohjola, E-mail: lp@mm.unknown

The technical term reduced yield stands – sometimes reduced yield soils – is widely used in the Finnish forest literature. However, there is no clear definition of the notion reduced yield and no explanation of how this notion is measured in the classifications. Some committee reports and bill proposals and some laws and statutes use the reduced yield forest soil. No definition can be found. In my opinion the term reduced yield forest soils ought to be completely abolished until forest soil experts can perhaps define what it means, if they consider such a concept useful.

Explanations for the term reduced yield stands can be found in the descriptions of classification systems of stands. According to them, the criterion is partly silvicultural (site, species of tree), partly mensurational (volume, sometimes growth), partly economic. No explanation is found as to how the economic aspect is measured, nor about the limit of a full yield and reduced yield.

In my opinion such a term is confusing. I therefore suggest that the term reduced yield stand ought to be abolished. If something is needed instead, I suggest the term understocked stand, defined as a growing stock under certain percentage of a fully stocked stand. The notion of economic reduced yield cannot be generally tied to certain silvicultural and mensurational characteristics of stands. The economic aspect of certain kinds of stands may differ, depending on the owner of the forest and his economic situation, the location of the forest, the composition of the whole forest ownership unit, etc.

The PDF includes a summary in English.

• Saari, E-mail: es@mm.unknown

Silva Fennica Issue 92 includes presentations held in 1956 in the 8th professional development courses, arranged for forest officers working in the Forest Service. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level. The education was arranged by Forest Service.

This presentation concerns the evaluation of forest land to be surrendered for a settlement farm. According to the Settlement Act, state land surrendered for settlement purposes should fetch the price that any sensible buyer would pay in buying the land. The prices used in evaluation are, however, still the prices of 1944. A new method for calculating the yield in terms of value of forest land has been developed by professor Yrjö Ilvessalo, based on the König-Faustman formula. This method is described in Tapio Forestry Manual.

• Linnamies, E-mail: ol@mm.unknown

Silva Fennica issue 46 includes presentations held in professional development courses, arranged for foresters working in public administration in 1937. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level. The education was arranged by Forest Service. 

This presentation describes the effect of properties of soil on forest regeneration. 

• Aaltonen, E-mail: va@mm.unknown

Farm forestry in northern Ostrobothnia has met different kinds of obstacles that decrease its profitability, some national, some local. One of the later is partitioning of land. The purpose of this investigation was to survey the division of farm land in the coastal municipalities of northern Ostrobothnia in Finland, where the conditions are among the most unfavourable in the country in this respect. The material used in the investigation was collected in a previous study about the structure of the farms in the area. First part of the paper summarises the history of partitioning of land in Finland.

The results show that division of the woodlots of a farm are in the coastal municipalities of northern Ostrobothnia very disadvantageous for forestry. The average distance of a woodlot to the farmhouse is 8.3 km, but there is a great variation between the municipalities, and the distance varies from 30 to 1.9 km. The form of the lots, as the long ribbon-like woodlots in the municipality of Liminka, complicates often practical forestry. In addition, the number of separate woodlots is high, in average 9.2 per farm.

The great distance of the woodlots from the main farms hinders the use of forests and diminishes the financial result of forestry. Unfavourable form of the woodlots posts similar hindrances to harvesting of timber and forest management as the long distances and high number of separate plots. The problem is heightened by the abundance of peatlands in relation to productive forest lands in the area.

The PDF includes a summary in German.

• Alho, E-mail: pa@mm.unknown

The purpose of this investigation was to obtain a preliminary picture of the composition of the microbial population in some virgin soils on forest land in Finland. Four different forest types were studied, Oxalis-Myrtillus type birch (Betula sp.) stand, Oxalis-Myrtillus type Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) stand, Vaccinium type Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stand, and drained pine bog. In addition, a flood meadow was selected as a comparison.

The methods used captured only part of the fungi growing in the soil. Rapidly growing types, especially Mucor and Penicillium species, were mainly isolated. In addition, fungi showing activity of decomposition, such as Fusarium, Monosporium and Spicaria, as well as an ascomycete of the genius Ascobolus, were isolated. Autochthonous bacteria were most abundant in the soils of Oxalis-Myrtillus type forests and in the flood meadow. In the birch stand 90% of the autochthonous bacterial flora were gram-negative bacteria, in the Oxallis-Myrtillus spruce and Vaccinium type pine stand 60% were gram-negative, while the share was only 25% in the pine bog. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria of the type Clostridium pasteurianum were found in all soils. Actinomycetes were found in all sites. The numbers of protozoa were highest in the soils of Oxalis-Myrtillus type forests.

There were no big differences between the forest soils and the flood meadow. Some groups of micro-organisms seem to be absent from the forest soils, which is probably due to the more favourable pH in the meadow. The occurrence of myxobacteria is interesting since no earlier data exist of this organism in Finnish soils.

The PDF includes a summary in English.

• Gyllenberg, E-mail: hg@mm.unknown
• Hanioja, E-mail: ph@mm.unknown
• Vartiovaara, E-mail: uv@mm.unknown

Forests have been priced by assessing separately the value of the land, small timber and heavy timber, and adding them together. This method of summing up gives a small woodlot the same price per hectare as a large forest area. In real estate sales the actual prices paid per hectare, however, are higher for small woodlots. The summing-up method thus over-values big forest holdings.

The figures obtained by the summing-up method should be corrected by using a reduction percentage. This value should increase with the growth of the forest area and should be higher for fully-stocked areas than those with small growing stock. A table of reduction percentages is presented, where an effort is made to eliminate the effect upon the statistics of the potential value of the land as building site and field. The results clearly indicate that the effect of area upon the price of a woodlot is fairly marked, even with very small parcels.

On the other hand, determination of the reduction percentages has some theoretical weaknesses. The author recommends a method of price evaluation which takes the factor of area directly into account, excluding arbitrary correction percentages. In this method the marketable part of the growing stock is evaluated at its felling value and its relative role decreases with the growth of the area. The rest of the growing stock together with the ground is priced as rental value. This method of professor Eino Saari does justice both to the area and to the fact that forest land and the growing tied to it form an inseparable whole.

The Acta Forestalia Fennica issue 61 was published in honour of professor Eino Saari’s 60th birthday.

The PDF includes a summary in English.

• Keltikangas, E-mail: vk@mm.unknown

In Finland a large land reform has been accomplished which has increased the number of small farms and forest holdings by over 100,000. It is estimated that 4-5 million ha of forest land has been transferred to these smallholdings. The aim of this investigation was to study the areas of the wood lots of the farms established in connection to settlement activities during the time Finland has been independent.

The study shows that the farms established on the state-owned lands have been given forest areas big enough to enable them timber sales, provided that the forests were in a moderately good silvicultural condition. Relatively largest forest areas have been given to farms established from tenant farms. The farms established on private lands have got in average forest areas that are smaller than would be required for growing of household timber. In Southern Finland the area has been adequate, but in Northern Finland too small in part of the farms. Also, variation in the size of the farms has been larger. The farms established under the Land Acquisition Act have been given in average more than the principle of according to which half of the forests should be suitable for cultivation of household timber and half for timber sales.

The Acta Forestalia Fennica issue 61 was published in honour of professor Eino Saari’s 60th birthday.

The PDF includes a summary in German.

• Kallio, E-mail: kk@mm.unknown

The article is a report of land purchases of wood manufacturing industry, commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in Finland in 1935. Second World War postponed publishing of the report. The land purchases of wood manufacturing industry, especially farms with agricultural land, was considered a concern in the end of 19th century, because it caused social problems related to landless people. To solve the problem, the government of Finland enacted in 1915 an act that restricted land purchase of the companies. The aim of this report was to collect statistics on the extent of the land purchases.

According to the investigation, forest manufacturing industry and companies operating on timber sales intensified land purchases in 1890s. After 1894 the companies purchased 80,000-100,000 ha land yearly. When the regulations restricting purchases of land came into act in 1915, the companies evaded the regulations by using private people or other companies to buy the land. Still, the annual purchases decreased to in average 21,000 ha in 1915-1936. The companies were still allowed to buy forest land when it did not affect agriculture in the farm. During and after the war the land purchases were interrupted. The report concludes that the regulations have worked as expected, and suggests some improvements in the legislation.

The PDF includes a summary in German.

• Harve, E-mail: ph@mm.unknown

Finnish municipalities can be classed in towns and cities, market town and rural communes. In 1942 there was 27 market towns in Finland. The aim of this study was to investigate the amount and state of forests in market towns. The data was collected mainly by interviewing the authorities of the market towns in 1936-1938. The statistics about forests were often insufficient.

The total land area owned by market towns was 8,963 ha, 71.7% of which was forest land, 12.0% wasteland and 16.3% arable land. A total of 21 of the 27 market towns own forest. Of all the land owned by the market towns about half is situated within borders of the town, however, 57% of the forest land is situated outside the market town itself. The forest areas are small, only four towns own more than 500 ha of forests, and only six has a forest management plan. The silvicultural state of the forests seems, however to be relatively good.

The PDF includes a summary in German.

• Rautvuori, E-mail: er@mm.unknown

According to the 1st national forest inventory of Finland, municipalities owned 178,000 hectares of forests in 1922, about 0.7% of the total forest area of the country. Only 60,000 hectares of these belonged to urban municipalities. The amount had increased to 73,000 hectares by 1938. Although the area was small, forests were important for municipal economy. The aim of this study was to investigate the state and forest management practices of forests in urban municipalities. The data was collected mainly by interviewing the authorities of the municipalities in 1936-1938.

Forests covered 50-80% of the area of the urban municipalities, the total area varying from 111 hectares to 7,791 hectares. Only four municipalities owned more than 5,000 hectares of forests. Annual profit of forestry in all urban municipalities totalled about 4.6 million Finnish marks in 1931-1935. Quality of productive forest lands was relatively good, but the volume and growth of the forests rather low. The silvicultural state of the forests could be improved. The article points out that this requires continuous planning. The basis of this is forest management plan, which has been demanded of municipal forests since 1893. However, some of the urban municipalities still lacked a forest management plan, or it was not fully used in forest management.

The PDF includes a summary in German.

• Linnamies, E-mail: ol@mm.unknown
• Rautvuori, E-mail: er@mm.unknown

The valuation of forest land for financial accounting purposes is usually performed only when using methods that are based on wood resources. In the yield based methods, the book value of forest land and wood resources form one totality. In the first case, forest land in a separate land account usually has same value in the beginning and end of the accounting year. For instance, the costs of forest improvement are considered capital costs. Forest land can be valued either by multiplying the average hectare price of land with the hectares, or using separate unit prices for the different forest site types. Different ways to value forest land are presented, comparing the forest site type classification developed in Finland and the traditional method based on average height of the trees used in Central Europe. The study shows that values of forest land has relative nature.

The PDF includes a summary in German.

• Keltikangas, E-mail: vk@mm.unknown

This methodical study aims at assessing discount value and its nature and function in setting a price for a forest holding. The aim is to study how the subject interested in buying or selling a woodlot could in the most meaningful way use discount value to prepare the sale and aid the decision making, taking account his personal interests. The paper includes a literature review on the determination of value.

It is concluded that woodlots have no «correct and real» values and, therefore, they cannot be calculated. Value is formed for the woodlots only in connection to the subject running the household, and his environment and actions. A discount value can be defined as a discount value of future net incomes. In the study different ways to calculate discount value are analysed.

The PDF includes a summary in German.

• Ahonen, E-mail: la@mm.unknown