Perinnebiotoopit

Combining spatial prioritization and expert knowledge facilitates effectiveness of large-scale mire protection process in Finland

Conservation resource allocation involves a complex set of considerations including species, habitats, connectivity, local to global biodiversity objectives, alternative protection and restoration actions, while requiring cost-efficiency and effective implementation. We present a national scale spatial conservation prioritization analysis for complementing the network of protected mires in Finland. We show how spatial prioritization coupled with regional targets and expert knowledge can facilitate structured decision-making. In our application, discussion between experts was structured around the prioritization model enabling integration of quantitative analysis with expert knowledge. The u…

Perinnebiotoopit

Use of Inverse Spatial Conservation Prioritization to Avoid Biological Diversity Loss Outside Protected Areas

Globally expanding human land use sets constantly increasing pressure for maintenance of biological diversity and functioning ecosystems. To fight the decline of biological diversity, conservation science has broken ground with methods such as the operational model of systematic conservation planning (SCP), which focuses on design and on-the-ground implementation of conservation areas. The most commonly used method in SCP is reserve selection that focuses on the spatial design of reserve networks and their expansion. We expanded these methods by introducing another form of spatial allocation of conservation effort relevant for land-use zoning at the landscape scale that avoids negative ecol…

Hydrological disturbances and naturalness of aapa mires in Finland

Peatlands comprise one of the key elements in the boreal landscape. In Finland, almost one third of the land area is covered by different types of peatlands. Half of the Finnish peatland area has been drained, however, and in Southern half of the country, 75 % is drained (1). While drainage has increased forest growth, it has also caused manifold ecological consequences. For example, the state of the remaining undrained peatlands is affected by drainage of surrounding areas and fragmentation. The undrained peatland area in Finland consists of various sizes of peatland patches that often, at least in the southern areas, are not intact peatland ecosystems but only remnant patches of formerly …