Seed mass within any plant species is one of the least plastic components of plant structure. The aim of this study was to analyse the variation in the seed mass of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) in relation to three environmental factors: soil fertility, mean temperature and precipitation during seed filling period. Data published earlier on seed mass of these species on different sites and different years was used in the study.
The seed mass of both species was independent of soil fertility (forest type) but did vary between different years. It is hypothesized that if the seed-ripening summer is warmer than average, Scots pine seed mass tends to be smaller. In this study, seed mass varied independently of the amount of precipitation during the ripening summer. However, generalization of the results requires further study.
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Methods involving the use of moving averages, trend surfaces and their combination are compared in deriving local values of monthly mean temperatures and precipitation sums from the observations made by the Finnish Meteorological Office. Correlation between meteorological variables and sea index, lake index and height above sea level were used in the trend surface method and in the combined method. Combined method, with a trend surface calculated from means of a long time period, was the most reliable method to estimate long local time series.
A method to calculate unbiased estimates of effective temperature sums from monthly mean temperatures is presented.
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The study is part of a project designed to elucidate the nutrient budget of a Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stand. Results of variation in the nutrient contents were compared with those obtained for the previous growing season.
The potassium and calcium contents varied the greatest in the humus layer. However, in the bottom and field layer vegetation and needles the variation in the nitrogen content was the greatest. The nutrient contents of the needles were affected by the physiological stage of development, needle age and the position in the crown of the tree. The nutrient content of the rainfall increased in the order: free rainfall, throughfall, and stem flow.
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This study forms part of a project designed to elucidate the total nutrient budget of a Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stand in Central Finland during the 1974 growing period. Precipitation has been divided up into precipitation, throughfall and stemflow.
The acidity of the rainwater was found to increase in the order – Precipitation, throughfall and stemflow. The electrolyte content of the rain water from throughfall and stemflow was higher than that of precipitation. The nutrient contents of precipitation were rather low. Throughfall and stemflow were found to leach some nutrient from the trees. This was most clear in the case of potassium. The total amounts of nutrients reaching the ground in throughfall were found to be smaller than those in precipitation. On the other hand, the amounts of potassium, calcium and magnesium in stemflow were clearly greater than those in precipitation.
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The aim of the paper was to study the amount and distribution of rainfall in a virgin Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) stand. Special attention has been paid to the dependence of throughfall on the characteristics of the precipitation falling on an open area and the stand.
The throughfall was 62% of the precipitation in the open. The best independent variable as regards the throughfall was the amount of precipitation falling in the open. The heaviness of precipitation in the open gave no meaningful correlation. Horizontal layout of the stand was found to have some effect on the throughfall. The throughfall was also influenced by the tree species composition of the stand. Only 52% of the total variance of the amount of water caught by the rain gauges could be predicted with the characteristics of the precipitation in the open and the stand.
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The significance of water budget in June and July for forest and peatland vegetation, and consequent effects on fauna, climate and agriculture has been studied.
In June, the difference between evaporation and precipitation is greater than it is later in the summer. North of the line zero difference of evaporation and precipitation, coinciding with a line of sharp change in forest vegetation, the uppermost part of podsol remains wet throughout the summer. During July, the line of zero difference moves from north to south over the greater part of Finland, run-off being minute and podsol at the driest in this month. This line, indicating the length of the period with evaporation greater than precipitation and causing a sharp change in forest vegetation, in frequency of peatlands, amount of growing stock productive capacity of forests etc. This line is significant also for cultivation: because of the lower evaporation north of this line, night temperature below the freezing point often appear in summer.
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The purpose of the study was to measure the throughfall in a managed Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stand in Southern Finland (61°47’, 24°18’). Totally 20 summer rain gauges (collecting area 100 cm2) were placed randomly in form of a lattice of 100 squares, each 2x2 m. Six rain throughs, 15 cm x 150 cm, were placed in the experimental stand. Auxiliary precipitation measurement was done in an opening, by using four summer rain gauges, two rain throughs and one recording rain gauge. The throughfall was followed in May–September 1967.
In comparison with summer rain gauges, the rain throughs gave too low values when the precipitation was below 3 mm/rain shower. Accordingly, only the results of rain gauges were used. The rate of throughfall was determined by the amount of precipitation and the rate of heaviness of the rain shower. When trying to describe the relative amount of throughfall by using various characteristics of the stand, the equitation proposed by Seppänen (1964) proved the best. When the rate of throughfall was depicted with the distance between the summer gauge and the nearest tree, there was negative correlation between these. The correlation was negative under heavy rains, but positive in small rains.
Various factors of uncertainty are discussed. During long periods the areas under Scots pine canopies reach more rain water than those between the canopies, which may be important when analysing the spatial distribution of ground vegetation.
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