More wood but less biodiversity in forests in Finland: a historical evaluation

Kirjoittajat

  • Mikko Mönkkönen University of Jyväskylä
  • Tuomas Aakala University of Eastern Finland
  • Clemens Blattert University of Jyväskylä
  • Daniel Burgas University of Jyväskylä
  • Rémi Duflot University of Jyväskylä
  • Kyle Eyvindson Norwegian University of Life Sciences
  • Jari Kouki University of Eastern Finland
  • Toni Laaksonen University of Turku
  • Pekka Punttila Finnish Environment Institute SYKE

Abstrakti

National forest inventories (NFI) in Finland provide empirical evidence for a marked increase in tree growth, total forest area, and total timber volume over the past century. Meanwhile, the assessments of threatened forest species and habitats indicate continuous degradation of biodiversity in Finnish forests. To shed light on this seeming paradox, we summarized the temporal patterns of forest characteristics (indicators) that have major influence on biodiversity, comparing the structure of current Finnish forests with natural and historical references. Using a variety of data sources, we estimated the proportion of area of old-growth forest and of deciduous-dominated forests, the density of large trees, and the amount of dead wood in Finnish forests under natural reference conditions, in the 1750s, 1920s (NFI1), and 2010s (NFI12). Our results show that levels of the forest structures essential to maintain ecologically diverse forests are below those that likely prevailed in Finland under natural reference conditions and in the 1750s. This scarcity is particularly pronounced for dead wood volumes and old forest area. The marked increase in the volume of living trees during the last century did not translate into improved biodiversity indicators and has not been effective for turning the tide of biodiversity loss in Finnish forests. We discuss actions that are necessary to safeguard forest biodiversity in Finland both in terms of protected areas and management in production forest.

Kirjoittajien biografiat

Mikko Mönkkönen, University of Jyväskylä

Department of Biological and Environmental Science & School of Resource Wisdom

Tuomas Aakala, University of Eastern Finland

School of Forest Sciences

Clemens Blattert, University of Jyväskylä

Department of Biological and Environmental Science & School of Resource Wisdom

Daniel Burgas, University of Jyväskylä

Department of Biological and Environmental Science & School of Resource Wisdom

Rémi Duflot, University of Jyväskylä

Department of Biological and Environmental Science & School of Resource Wisdom

Kyle Eyvindson, Norwegian University of Life Sciences

Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management

Jari Kouki, University of Eastern Finland

School of Forest Sciences

Toni Laaksonen, University of Turku

Department of Biology

Pekka Punttila, Finnish Environment Institute SYKE

Biodiversity Centre

Tiedostolataukset

Julkaistu

2022-06-22 — Päivitetty 2022-07-30

Viittaaminen

Mönkkönen, M., Aakala, T., Blattert, C., Burgas, D., Duflot, R., Eyvindson, K., Kouki, J., Laaksonen, T., & Punttila, P. (2022). More wood but less biodiversity in forests in Finland: a historical evaluation. Memoranda Societatis pro Fauna et Flora Fennica, 98(Supplement 2), 1–11. Noudettu osoitteesta https://journal.fi/msff/article/view/120306