0000000000174187
AUTHOR
Pasi Reunanen
Spatial Context of Breeding Ponds and Forest Management Affect the Distribution and Population Dynamics of the Great Crested Newt
Intensive forest management and landscape degradation are threats to amphibian populations. We modelled and compared the extinction and colonization dynamics of the great crested newt in four different spatial contexts that describe landscape change from past to present and future forest landscapes in eastern Finland. In future landscape scenarios, we explored the effects of two forest use intensities with different logging rotation times. The introduction of fish into breeding ponds has been the main cause of local extinctions of the great crested newt. In the future, intensifying land-use and shorter logging rotation will decrease the connectivity between ponds the most. In conservation p…
Building and evaluating predictive occupancy models for the Siberian flying squirrel using forest planning data
Abstract We analyzed the applicability of forest planning data in predicting the occurrence of the Siberian flying squirrel (Pteromys volans) in managed northern boreal forests, in northeast Finland. Forest planning data is a source of information about forest characteristics for forest managers that may be used in estimating the availability of certain habitats for species conservation. Flying squirrel populations have declined in Finland, most probably due to habitat change and loss and maintenance of suitable habitats can be seen as a fundamental task in species conservation. First, we surveyed 715 ha of older spruce-dominated forest consisting of 91 stands, of which 35 were found occupi…
Conservation of forest biodiversity using temporal conservation contracts
Abstract Temporal conservation contracts are used to protect biodiversity in privately owned lands worldwide. We examine how stand characteristics and habitat requirements of target species affect the contract length in a boreal forest context. We develop an integrated optimization model and apply the model with data on endangered species occurring in spruce forests in Finland. The results suggest that a cost-effective conservation policy for protecting privately owned forest land involves both short- and long-term contracts between landowners and environmental agencies. The higher the conservation objective, the more intensively long-term contracts should be assigned. Managed stands should…
The effects of small-scale disturbance on forest birds: a meta-analysis
Small-scale disturbance is a significant process in all major forest biomes. Some silvicultural practices, particularly group selection harvesting, intend to emulate natural small-scale disturbance by harvesting small clearcuts in the continuous forest. We conducted a meta-analysis on the effects of small-scale harvesting on North American breeding forest birds. We extracted species richness and relative abundance of several functional bird groups and guilds from published studies and compared them between gap-dominated and unlogged forest as a function of forest type and the size and age of the gap. The abundance of many bird groups was higher in the gap-dominated than in the continuous f…
Spatially dynamic forest management to sustain biodiversity and economic returns.
Production of marketed commodities and protection of biodiversity in natural systems often conflict and thus the continuously expanding human needs for more goods and benefits from global ecosystems urgently calls for strategies to resolve this conflict. In this paper, we addressed what is the potential of a forest landscape to simultaneously produce habitats for species and economic returns, and how the conflict between habitat availability and timber production varies among taxa. Secondly, we aimed at revealing an optimal combination of management regimes that maximizes habitat availability for given levels of economic returns. We used multi-objective optimization tools to analyze data fr…
Dynamic Animal Populations in Managed Forests: Species Ecological Requirements and Sustainable Harvesting
Forest management has altered forested environments and provoked stress to many natural habitats and biodiversity. The goal of biodiversity management is the long-term persistence of populations in human-modified environments. We demonstrate a spatio-temporal modeling approach to address the relationship between various management objectives and population persistence in the long-term in a commercial forest landscape. We used the flying squirrel (Pteromys volans), the three-toed woodpecker (Picoides tridactylus) and the long-tailed tit (Aegithalos caudatus) as example species. They are all forest species but they have distinctly different habitat requirements. In the model, forest growth, f…
Effects of Canopy Gap Disturbance on Forest Birds in Boreal Forests
We studied the effects of small-scale disturbance on breeding, forest passerine birds in an old-growth and managed boreal forests in northern Finland. Small-scale disturbance (< 2 ha) in an old-growth and managed forests originated from wind falls and small clear cuts. Continuous forest without gaps was used as a control for both management types (old-growth and managed forests). Passerines' response to disturbance was examined by estimating species richness and abundance of different ecological groups. Species richness and the total abundance of birds did not differ between gap and non-gap plots, neither did the abundance of most ecological groups. Management type or study year were the mo…
Managing a boreal forest landscape for providing timber, storing and sequestering carbon
Human well-being highly depends on ecosystem services and this dependence is expected to increase in the future with increasing population and economic growth. Studies that investigate trade-offs between ecosystem services are urgently needed for informing policy-makers. We examine the trade-offs between a provisioning (revenues from timber selling) and regulating (carbon storage and sequestration) ecosystem services among seven alternative forest management regimes in a large boreal forest production landscape. First, we estimate the potential of the landscape to produce harvest revenues and store/sequester carbon across a 50-year time period. Then, we identify conflicts between harvest re…
Managing a boreal forest landscape for providing timber, storing and sequestering carbon
Human well-being highly depends on ecosystem services and this dependence is expected to increase in the future with increasing population and economic growth. Studies that investigate trade-offs between ecosystem services are urgently needed for informing policy-makers. We examine the trade-offs between a provisioning (revenues from timber selling) and regulating (carbon storage and sequestration) ecosystem services among seven alternative forest management regimes in a large boreal forest production landscape. First, we estimate the potential of the landscape to produce harvest revenues and store/sequester carbon across a 50-year time period. Then, we identify conflicts between harvest re…