Current issue: 53(2)
Under compilation: 53(3)
The article includes the minutes of the Finnish Society of Forest Sciences in 1917-1920. In the meetings of the society were held 39 presentations which are included in the article.
The PDF includes a German summary.
The forest site classification system used in Finland is based on ground vegetation rather than the wood production capacity. A. K. Cajander has presented a detailed classification of different forest site classes in different parts of the country. This study focuses on the forest site types of Northern Finland, which are less well defined. The article presents detailed vegetation analysis and lists of plant species in different forest site types in Northern Finland. In contrast to southern parts of Finland, both the natural Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst) stands are uneven-aged in the north. The forests are also relatively thin. There is a marked difference in height of trees between the richest and poorest sites, but the dominant trees of the same site type were of similar height both in the north and south part of the study area. The differences in the height of dominant trees seem to be smaller than in Southern Finland. Also, in windy areas prone to snow damage, climate conditions can affect tree growth more than the forest site type. In more sheltered areas forest site type determines forest growth.
The PDF includes a summary in German.
The frequency of years when Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) produces cones and seeds affects its reproduction in the north. The study area covered most of the pine lands in Northern Finland. Scots pine seems to be able to produce cones relatively often in the north. The amount of seeds produced in one year was, however, not sufficient to produce a dense seedling stand. Thus, the natural pine stands contain usually trees in different ages-classes, which have germinated in different years. The cone production is highest in 150-170 years old trees. Pine also needs warm summers to produce viable seeds. Brush fires avail the growth of seedlings, because they clear of ground vegetation that hinders germination of seeds. The seedlings need also moisture to survive; good regeneration years have often had rainy summers.
The PDF includes a summary in German.
The data has been collected in the dry heathy forests in Harjavalta commune in south-west Finland and in Sodankylä commune in Lapland in summer time 1918 and 1919. The aim to the study was to find out how does the water consumption of the trees affect the moisture conditions of the soil and how they are linked to the regeneration of the forest.
Trees in one age class have a certain spatial distribution: the greater the distance between trees the older the trees and the smaller the distance, the younger the trees. This seem to rather be due to the development of the root system and the nutrition intake of a tree than the competition for light. The moisture content of the upper soil layers is higher in the open areas than in the closed canopy stands. Hence there are more seedlings growing in open areas. However, it is not clear whether the results apply for other forest site types as well, and more research is needed.
The study presents and describes the abundance and distribution of tree roots in specific stands of heathy forest types in Lapland. The data was collected in the Sodankylä commune.
Due to the shortcomings in the data, conclusions can be drawn only regarding pine forests. The result of study states that the root competition plays an important role in the development of the forests, and most of the other observed phenomena are linked with root competition. The more infertile the soil the vertically and horizontally wider and more abundant the root system. It seems that the abundance of the root system is similar in forest of same fertility class and same density and age.