Buffer strips can pre-empt extinction debt in boreal streamside habitats

Background. Conservation of biological diversity and economical utilization of natural resources form an almost inevitable confrontation between the two. In practice, however, a balance between the two ought to be found, and in managed boreal forests, preservation of woodland key habitats is increasingly used strategy to safeguard biological diversity. According to the Finnish Forests Act, certain Forest Act habitat (FAH) types must be safeguarded, provided they are clearly distinguishable from their surroundings. Furthermore, once the habitat has been identified as a FAH, its special characteristics must not be altered. Both of these aspects contain ambiguities that potentially undermine t…

Anthropogenic disturbance and diversity of species: polypores and polypore-associated beetles in forest, forest edge and clear-cut

In boreal coniferous forests, artificial edges often modify the habitat, increasing the likelihood that the diversity and composition of species changes. This study examined the assemblage of polypores and polypore-associated beetles at the edge of mature managed spruce-dominated forests and clear-cuts. The highest number of polypore occurrences and the greatest diversity of polypore species occurred at the clear-cut. In south-facing edges polypores occurred closer to the edge both in clear-cut and in forest than in the north-facing edges. The number of polypore-associated beetle individuals was greatest in the clear-cut, but there was no effect of edge on species richness of beetles. Orien…

The conservation potential of brook-side key habitats in managed boreal forests

Today, maintaining biodiversity is included in the targets of boreal forest management. A widespread approach in northern Europe is to identify and preserve woodland key habitats within managed forests. Woodland key habitats are expected to be patches that host populations of threatened and declining species, and the preservation of these patches is assumed to enable the persistence of the focal species in the landscape. In Finland, the criteria for selecting woodland key habitats are defined in the Finnish Forest Act, and the selection has been done by forest practitioners. Our objective was to determine whether the surroundings of boreal brooks and rivulets qualified as key habitats are t…

Metsälain erityisen tärkeiden elinympäristöjen kartoituksen laadun ja luotettavuuden analyysi

Suojavyöhykkeen leveyden ja muodostumisajan vaikutus erityisen tärkeiden puroelinympäristöjen monimuotoisuuteen

Metsälain tarkoittamien erityisen tärkeiden puroelinympäristöjen merkitys epifyyttisammal- ja kääpälajistolle

Suojavyöhykkeet, kulotus ja lahopuun tuotto - vaikutukset monimuotoisuuden säilyttämiseen

Metsälain tavoitteena on edistää metsien taloudellista, ekologista ja sosiaalista hoitoa ja käyttöä niin, että metsät antavat kestävästi hyvän tuoton biologista monimuotoisuutta säilyttäen. Kestävän käytön ja luonnon monimuotoisuuden säilymisen yhteensovittamisesta ei kuitenkaan ole riittävästi tutkimustietoa. Tässä tutkimuksessa selvitetään eri metsänkäsittelytapojen vaikutuksia metsälain nojalla suojeltujen purojen ja norojen ominaispiirteiden säilymiseen sekä toimenpiteiden metsätaloudellista kannattavuutta. nonPeerReviewed

Buffer strips can pre-empt extinction debt in boreal streamside habitats

Background Conservation of biological diversity and economical utilization of natural resources form an almost inevitable confrontation between the two. In practice, however, a balance between the two ought to be found, and in managed boreal forests, preservation of woodland key habitats is increasingly used strategy to safeguard biological diversity. According to the Finnish Forests Act, certain Forest Act habitat (FAH) types must be safeguarded, provided they are clearly distinguishable from their surroundings. Furthermore, once the habitat has been identified as a FAH, its special characteristics must not be altered. Both of these aspects contain ambiguities that potentially undermine th…

Forest act habitats : Finnish woodland key habitats amid the intensive forestry

The effect of buffer strip width and selective logging on streamside plant communities

Background Riparian forests surrounding streams host high biodiversity values, but are threatened by clear-cut logging. Narrow buffer strips of about 15 m are commonly left between the stream and the clear-cut, but studies suggest that the buffer width should be at least 30 m to protect riparian plant communities. Moreover, selective logging is often allowed on the buffer strips in order to increase economic gain. We used an experiment of 43 riparian sites where buffer strip width and selective logging within the strip were manipulated and supplemented with unlogged control sites. We report the short-term changes in the community composition of vascular plants and mosses near the stream (0–…