0000000000303394
AUTHOR
Vesa Nivala
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…
The effect of human-modified landscape structure on forest grouse broods in two landscape types
The population sizes and the breeding success of Finnish tetraonids have been decreasing for decades. In this study, the presence of a grouse hen with a brood in a landscape was used to indicate habitat-related breeding success. We combined the locations of 938 black grouse (Tetrao tetrix), 388 capercaillie (T. urogallus), and 917 hazel grouse (Tetrastes bonasia) broods after the breeding season in mid-August with landscape data by employing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and grouse data derived from the Finnish wildlife triangle censuses conducted during 1997–2004. Two large study areas with different landscape structures; northern forest-mire area and southern cultivated area, were …