Akujärvi A., Hallikainen V., Hyppönen M., Mattila E., Mikkola K., Rautio P. (2014). Effects of reindeer grazing and forestry on ground lichens in Finnish Lapland. Silva Fennica vol. 48 no. 3 article id 1153. 18 p. Highlights• Both reindeer grazing and forestry affect the cover and biomass of reindeer lichens.• Reindeer grazing has bigger impact than forestry.• The lichen cover was about five-fold and the biomass about fifteen-fold in the ungrazed (fenced) sites than in the grazed ones.• The decrease of not only the biomass, but also the cover of lichens, is alarming. AbstractReindeer husbandry and forestry are practiced in the same areas in northern Fennoscandia. Reindeer pastures have largely deteriorated. We aimed to quantify the separate and combined effects of reindeer grazing and forestry on the amount of ground lichens. To do this, we mapped and inventoried all larger enclosures (49) in Finnish Lapland where forest management practices were similar in both sides of the fence. The average time since fencing was 43 years. We recorded the cover and estimated dry biomass of ground lichens, as well as parameters describing forest stand characteristics. The effect of reindeer grazing on both the cover and estimated dry biomass of lichens was clear: in the ungrazed (fenced) sites, the lichen cover (35.8%) was on average 5.3-fold and the dry biomass (1929 kg ha -1 ) 14.8-fold compared with the corresponding estimates in the grazed sites (6.8% and 130 kg ha -1 ). The effect of forestry on lichens was smaller. In the grazed stands the cover and biomass of lichens were higher in the mature stands compared to the younger stand development classes, whereas in the ungrazed stands there were no significant differences between the development classes. Both reindeer grazing and forestry affect the cover and biomass of ground lichens. The influence of reindeer grazing is, however, much heavier than that of forestry. The decrease of not only the biomass, but also the lichen cover, is alarming. The decrease of lichen cover may hinder the recovery of reindeer pastures, which in the long run endangers the sustainability of reindeer husbandry.

Mattila, E. 1998. Use of satellite and field information in a forest damage survey of Eastern Finnish Lapland in 1993. Silva Fennica 32(2): 141-162.The study area consists of the Finnish part of a Landsat 5 TM image from 1990. Three independent field samples were measured during 1991-93 in the study area. The first sample was used to compile training areas for supervised maximum likelihood classification of the image. Classification accuracy was studied in the second sample. The spectral separability of the forest strata usable in practical forestry was poor. The extent of the damage area was estimated by the principle of stratified sampling. The estimate included considerable bias because the field sample had not been objectively selected from the image classes. The third field sample was measured as part of the National Forest Inventory of Finland. It is wholly objective, and about ten times larger than the two earlier field samples. The poor spectral separability of the forest strata was confirmed by the NFI sample. However, this sample could be used in stratified sampling with little or no bias in the estimation of the damage area estimate. 14 different damage types were separated according to specific damaging agent. A thematic map was produced which presents the spatial distribution of two damage-rich image classes. The study area comprises 18 300 sq.km, of which 38 % were damaged. At first sight it would appear that the proportion of damaged forest has tripled in ten years. However, this is not the case because now special attention was paid to forest health in the field work. Despite this, it is possible that some damage caused by unfavourable climatic phenomena in the '80s was still perceptible in 1993. No damage caused directly by air pollution has yet been verified in the study area.

Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan laidun- ja metsikkötunnusten välistä yhteyttä aineistossa, joka mitattiin 1980-luvun alussa poronhoitoalueen etelä- ja keskiosista. Alueen talvilaitumien pinta-ala on 4,8 milj. ha ja näytteen koko on 6 245 koealaa. Tutkimusalue jaetaan etelä-pohjoissuunnassa kolmeksi osa-alueeksi gradientin saamiseksi esiin. Tarkastelua varten muodostetaan ensin metsäositteita kasvupaikan ja vallitsevan puulajin perusteella. Puustoiset ositteet jaetaan edelleen ikäluokkiin puuston iän perusteella. Laiduntunnusten ja puuston iän välinen yhteys esitetään graafisesti. Tarkastelu koskee lupon, metsälauhan ja poronjäkälien esiintymisrunsautta.