Browsing by department "Metsätieteiden laitos"

In this master´s thesis it was studied if the harvesting and cultivating of energy wood is ecologically, economically, socially and culturally sustainable if it is done by following Forestry Development Centre Tapio´s guidelines for Best Forestry Practices for Energy Wood harvesting and cultivating. The aim of the study was also to find out how energy wood harvesting and managing practices should be developed according to experts. Best Practice Guidelines for Forest Management and Energy Wood Harvesting and Cultivation is a handbook for forest owners and professional foresters. The handbook describes operations models for energy wood harvesting and cultivation that are based on research and good practices. The guidelines have been compiled as an extensive cooperation process with Forest Development Centre Tapio. The aim of Best Practice Guidelines for Forest Management is to ensure that forest management is ecologically, economically, socially and culturally sustainable. 34 experts and researchers were interviewed for this study. All of these interviewees have participated in the Energy wood harvesting and cultivating guidelines project. The response percentage in these interviews was 81. In the interview, claims based on the guidelines were presented to the interviewees. The answers were evaluated by using 7-step Likert scale. In addition, it was possible for the interviewees to give informal arguments after every claim. The claims were from 21 different topics collected from the guidelines. In every topic, all three dimensions of sustainability were examined. Social and cultural sustainability were combined in the claims, so a total of 63 claims was presented. The results indicate that the majority of the recommendations in the guidelines is sustainable. Only in the claims dealing with stump lifting, low-quality tree removing, whole tree harvesting on VT-sites and foliage and branch collecting, the average calculated from all Likert –answers was negative. In the informal arguments, the most important concerns were nutrient loss from forests and forest owners´ economical benefits in energy wood harvestings. The results indicated that the biggest benefits from social and cultural sustainability are the positive effects on employment in homeland. The results indicated that there is need for Best Practice Guidelines for Forest Management in Finland. The biggest need for the recommendations is among forest harvesting workers, for example harvester drivers and forest workers. In this work it was shown that energy wood harvesting and cultivating in Finland is usually sustainable if the recommendations are followed. In future research it should be studied how energy wood harvesting and cultivating guidelines should be developed in the operations whose sustainability was questioned. It seems that the harvesting of small diameter energy wood is based partly on state subsidies. Therefore, in future research, it should be studied how big an effect the subsidies have on the profitability of energy wood harvesting. It should also be studied how Best Practice Guidelines should be developed so that they could support practical forest workers as effectively as possible. It might also be good to do research on this same area using some other approach.

Due to anoxic conditions and slow decomposition, pristine peatlands are usually considered as sinks of carbon dioxide but sources of methane. After drainage for forestry purposes, carbon dioxide emissions usually start to increase and methane emissions decrease. Nowadays about 830 000 hectares of forestry drained peatlands in Finland are considered as low productive and non-suitable for commercial forestry as they are too nutrientpoor or too wet. Restoration has been seen one way to after-use these areas but its effects on greenhouse gas fluxes, especially on very nutrient-poor bogs, is mainly unknown. The aim of this thesis was to find out the effect of restoration on methane fluxes from low productive nutrient poor raised bogs. Methane fluxes were measured from 14 sites (7 restored, 6 drained, 1 pristine) near Sipoo, Tammela and Parkano during the summers of 2014 and 2015. Also water table level and peat temperature from 5 and 30 cm depth were measured. Vegetation of the gas measurement plots was surveyed using the Braun-Blanquet method in Sipoo and Tammela sites. Restoration (ditch blocking and/or tree removal) was done 4‒22 years before measurements. Restored sites were wetter than drained sites but drier than pristine sites. Peat temperature was higher in the ditches of restored sites and the coverage of cottongrass (Eriophorum vaginatum) increased a little. Both drained and restored sites were methane sources during the growing season. The annual flux of restored sites (4.02 ± 1.21 g m-2 yr-1) was little bit higher than drained sites (2.86 ± 1.57 g m -2 yr-1). The highest flux was measured from pristine sites (8.38 g m-2 yr-1). Methane fluxes from the ditches increased most and they were close to the fluxes from hollows of pristine site. The age of restored site did not affect the methane fluxes although the highest fluxes were measured from the youngest site. The results were not, however, statistically significant due the huge variation within and between the sites. The fluxes of restored sites were closer to the fluxes of pristine peatlands found from literature compared to drained sites, which means that restoration was successful and there was not a big problem for climatic point of view.

Global sustainability challenges create opportunities for companies providing solutions to these challenges. According literature a strong sustainable brand is attractive for customers, shareholders and future talents. A strong brand is a major competitive advantage for companies in global markets. In brand management communication has a vital role, and therefore developing communication is important in creating and managing brand value. The aim of this study was to find out the current status of the case company’s (Metso Corporation) environmental communication in order to develop it to strengthen company’s image as a sustainable solutions provider. In the theoretical part, the concepts of a brand, communication and environmental communication were studied, as well as the role of a communication in brand building and management. The empirical part of the study consists of interviews in across the case company’s value chain (subcontractor, Metso employees, customers and customer’s customers). Answers were gathered and analyzed under themed entities. Current state of brand awareness and environmental communication were studied, as well as opportunities and challenges of environmental communication in general. Current state analysis gave background information for future development. Results varied depending on the actor of the value chain: case company was seen differently among employees than outside of the company. Final conclusion was that there is a need to develop the environmental communication. Case company has environmental solutions for customer’s needs and a great story to tell, it is just about to communicate it to the target audience.

This study is a part of the research project of uneven-aged forest stands ERIKA by Finnish Institute for Forest Research. The aim of this study was to identify the growth and quality of Norway spruce wood and sawn wood products from uneven-aged forest stands in South Finland. The properties ex-amined were fiber length, wood density, modulus of elasticity and visual grade according to Nordic standards of visual grading. 64 trees were measured for fiber length and sawn wood of 40 trees (355 pc.) was measured for density, modulus of elasticity and visual grading. The variation of fiber length was modeled in respect to distance from pith and ring width using a mixed model. The variation of density, modulus of elasticity and visual grade was analyzed in respect to the within-tree location with two-sided variance analysis. In respect to cambial age and ring width the properties were analyzed by means of regression modeling. According to the results fiber length, density and MOE did not differ significantly from those characteristic to spruce in even-aged stands: most variation was among-tree which gives a reason to think that the changes in within-tree growth rhythm do not affect these proper-ties within an individual tree. Visual grading for sawn wood gave that there was a good amount of class A (~ 20 %) but class C (> 33 %) was more common than class B (> 25 %): Timber was knotty especially near pith and loose knots were dense on lumber boards. Twisting was high near pith in timber boards but did not differ from the usual. There was remarkable amount of compression wood and decay in the material. The within-tree variation of visual grade was equal to the among-tree varia-tion. Due to the small sample size the results are not yet applicable to uneven-aged forests in general, but they give an impression that there might not be any major differences between the quality of even-aged and uneven-aged wood. First of all, the results give light to the characteristics of uneven-aged spruce wood properties that might be of interest for further research.

The objective of this study was to develop a method for estimation of forest stand variables and updating the forest resource data, based on a well known and widely used method among forest sector, aerial photography. The second objective was to produce information of cost-effectiveness and accuracy of digital surface model (DSM) generated from very high resolution aerial images in comparison of methods based on aerial laser scanning (ALS). The study area covering circa 2000 hectares is located in state owned forest in Hämeenlinna, Southern Finland. The study material consisted of 85 digitised and orthorectified colour-infrared (CIR) aerial photographs, LiDAR measurements of the corresponding area and field measurements of 402 concentric circular plots. Both the remote sensing data and the field measurements were acquired in 2009. In this study, the accuracy of DSM generated from very high resolution CIR - aerial images was examined in the estimation of forest stand variables. Estimation of forest stand variables was made using non-parametric k-nearest neighbour method. Sequential forward selection was used for selecting features from remote sensing data and the examination of accuracy was done with cross validation. The variables examined were mean diameter, basal area, mean height, dominant height and mean volume. Relative RMSE -values of DMS estimation were at the best with mean diameter, basal area, mean height, dominant height and mean volume 33,67 %, 36,23 %, 25,33 %, 23,53 % and 40,39 %. For the reference ALS-data, relative RMSE-values were 25,26 %, 27,89 %, 19,94 %, 16,76 % ja 31,26 %. Photogrammetric DSM was best suited for estimating dominant and mean height and produced estimates slightly more inaccurate than those of reference ALS-data. When estimating mean diameter, photogrammetric DSM was slightly better, but at mean volume estimation, ALS-data proved again to be a little more a accurate than photogrammetric DSM. At basal area estimation, ALS-data gave considerably better results than photogrammetric DSM. This research showed that the photogrammetric DSM suits well for updating the forest resource data, and also satisfies the requirements in a more economic way.

Forest carbon offset projects have been growing vigorously in China in the last ten years. It is necessary to form an overall picture of the projects, to analyze the quality of their development processes, and to shed light on the development of upcoming projects. In order to evaluate their development process, a framework of assessment was built up and applied in practical project assessment. In this thesis, firstly, the situation of the global carbon markets and Chinese forest carbon offset projects was introduced. Especially, different international and domestic carbon accounting and other carbon related standards were presented and compared. Secondly, the previous studies about the assessment of sustainable development impacts of the forestry carbon projects were reviewed; the approaches and indicators were compared and summarized. Then, in combination with checklists and multi-criteria approaches, a new assessment framework was established, consisting of a set of indicators and a four-level scoring system. Finally, 16 Chinese forestry projects which have applied different carbon standards were evaluated with this assessment framework. Their performances were compared and analyzed, the characteristics of standards were also compared. According to the results of the assessment, the successfully registered Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects gained higher scores, suggesting their development processes were of higher quality. The projects applying Climate, Community, and Biodiversity Standards (CCBS) in pair with another carbon accounting standard also tended to get higher scores, indicating the positive effect of CCBS on the consideration of sustainable co-benefits. The international standards are stricter than domestic standards, which can be seen from the comprehensiveness and meticulousness of the Project Design Documents (PDDs). The result of the assessment corresponds to the previous understanding about the projects and standards, which supports the validity of the assessment framework.

Purpose of this thesis is to estimate the carbon sequestration potential in eucalyptus plantations in Uruguay. This study also aims to show how beneficial these plantations are for carbon sinks. The aim of this research is calculate total carbon balance in eucalyptus plantations and compare the results to degraded lands. This study is first-of-its-kind study in Uruguay, but not unique globally. The objective was to use a modeling approach to formulate the results. The methodology of this study is based to the dynamic growth model (CO2fix V3.1). Model is developed to calculate and estimate forest carbon fluxes and stocks. In this study the model was utilized for estimating how much carbon is sequestered in eucalyptus plantations and soils. In this thesis the model was used to simulate eucalyptus forest plantations that stem from numerous studies and different data. Ad hoc Excel model was generated to form calculated results from the simulated data. A separate sensitivity analysis is also formulated to reveal a possible different outcome. The framework is based on a stand-level inventory data of forestry plantations provided by the Ministry of Uruguay (MGAP) and companies. Also multiple scientific reports and previous studies were used as guidelines for simulations and results. The forest stand, yield, soil and weather data used for this study are from three different departments. There are over 700 000 hectares of different species of eucalyptus plantations in Uruguay. The theoretical framework was tested computationally with eleven simulations. CO2fix was parameterized for fast-growing eucalyptus species used in different parts of Uruguay. The model gave outputs per hectare and then this result was scaled up to the national level. This study will also estimate how much grassland (Pampa) and former pasture land could sequester carbon. Situation prior to plantation is a baseline scenario and it is compared to the expected carbon sequestration of plantations. The model is also used to calculate the effect of changing rotation length on carbon stocks of forest ecosystem (forest vegetation and soil) and wood products. The results of this study show that currently the 707,674 hectares of eucalyptus plantations in Uruguay have the potential to sequester 65 million tonnes of carbon and reduce 238 million tonnes of CO2. The calculated carbon storage is 38 and simulated 25 million tonnes of C, products are deducted from the equation. During 22 years (1990–2012) the annual carbon sequestration benefit (afforestation-baseline) without products is 1 757 847 Mg C. The results suggest that it is reasonable to establish eucalyptus plantations on degraded, grassland (Pampa) and abandoned pasture land. The implications of the results are that eucalyptus plantations in Uruguay actually enhance carbon sequestration, are carbon sinks and store more carbon than grassland and abandoned pasture land. Plantations have a vast sequestration potential and are important in mitigating of CO2 emission and effects of the climate change. The findings endorse the significance of plantations to increase carbon sinks and this role will broaden in the future. The most relevant findings of this study are that afforestation increases the soil carbon in 10-year rotation plantations by 34% (101.1>75.6) and in 12-year rotation 38% (104.4>75.6 Mg Cha-1) in a 60-year simulation. The net (afforestation-baseline) average carbon stock benefit in the soil is 25.5 Mg C ha?1 in a 60-year simulation. The (CO2Fix) model indicate that the total average carbon sequestration for eucalyptus plantations is 92.3 Mg Cha?1. The average total carbon storage ranges from 25.8–138.5 Mg Cha?1 during a 60-year simulation. The simulations show that the net annual carbon storage in the living biomass is 29.1, 25.5 (soil) and 37.6 Mg C (products) on the average scenario. There is some fluctuation in the sequestration results in other 10 simulations. Previous studies have showed that the average carbon stock for eucalyptus plantations varies from 30–60 Mg C ha-1, when soil and products are deducted. The capacity of forest ecosystems to sequester carbon in the long run could be even more strengthened if a rotation length increases. Extending rotation from 10 to 12 years increased the average soil carbon stock from 25.5 to 28.8 Mg C (by 13%) in 60 year simulation. The results also indicate that mean annual precipitation (MAP) alters the carbon sinks of the forest ecosystem. There are some limitations in this study and they are clearly explained and analyzed. Hence, most of the results are estimations. Ministry and companies need to prolong planting of trees and even intensify annual programs in order to achieve carbon sequestration targets. Further research is needed to get an estimate of the total forest ecosystem carbon storages and fluxes.

Vieraslajien on todettu olevan uhka erityisesti ympäristölle, mutta niillä on myös merkittäviä yhteiskunnallisia, sosiaalisia ja taloudellisia vaikutuksia. Vieraslajien haitallisten vaikutusten ja torjuntatöihin käytettävien resurssien on ennustettu kasvavan tulevaisuudessa huomattavasti. Tämän vuoksi Euroopan unionissa tarvitaan unionin laajuista säätelyä ja toimintaa haitallisia vieraslajeja koskien. Tässä työssä arvioidaan, kuinka EU:n vieraslajiasetus tulee vaikuttamaan Suomeen yhteiskunnallisesti ja ympäristöllisesti. Arviot on tehty asiantuntijahaastatteluiden perusteella. EU:n vieraslajiasetuksen myötä EU-jäsenmaat alkavat seurata EU:n vieraslajiluettelon lajien levinneisyyttä, estää niiden leviämistä ja hävittää niitä. On odotettavissa, että luetteloon ei tule Suomessa merkittäviä lajeja, mikä merkitsisi vähäisiä vaikutuksia Suomessa nykyiselle ympäristölle tai yhteiskunnallisille toiminnoille ja toimijoille. Luettelon sisällöstä riippuen vaikutukset voivat kuitenkin olla myös erittäin merkittävät, tai ne voivat lisääntyä tulevaisuudessa esimerkiksi uusien invaasioiden myötä. EU:n vieraslajiasetuksen voimaantuloa seuraavina vuosina sen toimeenpano vaatii toimivaltaisilta viranomaisilta lisääntyvää työpanosta liittyen lajien seurantoihin ja selvityksiin. Tämän lisäksi saattaa tulla torjuntaan ja hävittämiseen liittyviä velvoitteita, jotka ovat riippuvaisia siitä, kuinka moni EU:n vieraslajiluettelon lajeista koskettaa Suomea. Toimivaltaisia viranomaisia lukuun ottamatta on todennäköistä, että asetuksella ei ole merkittäviä suoria vaikutuksia seuraavien vuosien aikana Suomessa. Vaikutukset integroituvat muihin tehtäviin ja toimintoihin. On todennäköistä, että joidenkin kasvien kasvatus ja myynti joudutaan lopettamaan, mutta vaikutus on tuottajille, myyjille ja kuluttajille kokonaisuutena pieni ja väliaikainen. Korvaavia lajeja otetaan käyttöön tarvittaessa. Kansalaiset osallistuvat enemmän vieraslajien vapaaehtoiseen torjuntaan ja hävittämiseen. Tiedotus vieraslajiasiasta lisääntyy monella tavoin, sekä virallisten kanavien että esimerkiksi elinkeinoelämän ja järjestöjen kautta. Jos EU:n vieraslajiluettelossa on Suomessa merkittäviä lajeja, vaikutuksia kohdistuu viranomaisten ohella esimerkiksi yrittäjille tai maanomistajille. Kustannuksia voi syntyä muun muassa hävittämisestä ja poikkeuslupakäsittelyistä. Hyödyt taas ovat esimerkiksi ympäristöllisiä ja taloudellisia. Suurin hyöty tulee ennaltaehkäistyjen ja torjuttujen haittojen kautta. Ympäristö (esimerkiksi elinympäristöt ja lajit) on merkittävin hyötyjä asetuksesta: haittojen ennaltaehkäisyllä torjutaan erityisesti monimuotoisuuden heikentymistä. Torjunnan avulla myös ekosysteemipalvelut säilyvät, ja kansalaiset hyötyvät torjutuista haitoista esimerkiksi elinkeinoelämän ja terveyden suhteen. Välillisesti hyödytään siitä, että muissa maissa tehdyt toimenpiteet vähentävät meihin kohdistuvia vieraslajiriskejä. Lisäksi tietoisuus ongelmasta ja valistus Suomessa ja ulkomailla vähentävät leviämisriskejä sekä lisäävät torjuntaa ja hävittämistä. Ajallisesti suurimmat varmat vaikutukset tulevat viiden vuoden sisällä EU:n vieraslajiasetuksen voimaantulosta. Nämä koostuvat valtion organisaatioiden valvonta- ja seurantatoimenpiteistä. Myös kokonaisuutena pieniä ja väliaikaisia haittoja voi kohdistua elinkeinoelämälle, erityisesti puutarha-alalle. Tämän lisäksi voi tulla vähäisiä hävittämis- ja torjuntatoimia. Suurimmat vaikutukset sekä ympäristöllisesti että yhteiskunnallisesti voidaan nähdä torjuttujen haittavaikutusten kautta. Yleensä etukäteen tehty torjunta on halvempaa ja helpompaa, minkä lisäksi lajeja ei välttämättä edes pystytä poistamaan enää leviämisen jälkeen. Näiden syiden vuoksi ennaltaehkäisty on erittäin tärkeää.

As an alternative to complex 3D-modelling of structure, the canopy spectral invariants are a novel concept to describe the average behavior of photons in a vegetated canopy. The probabilities of canopy absorption and scattering can be summarized with only three parameters (?L, p and R): The green leaf single scattering albedo (?L) describes the wavelength-dependent probabilities of absorption for each time a photon interacts with a leaf. In the event of scattering, a photon’s probabilities of reinteraction (photon recollision probability p) and exiting the canopy in a given direction (directional escape factor R) can be described as independent of wavelength; as the size of the scattering elements is considerably larger than wavelengths in the shortwave radiation budget, p and R depend only upon the structural arrangement of the scattering elements. In this work, a recently published (2011) approach to infer remotely sensed (spaceborne) hyperspectral imagery (also referred to as imaging spectroscopy data) based on the canopy spectral invariants was tested in a case study on southern boreal forests at full leaf development. An atmospherically corrected image taken with the Hyperion imaging spectrometer aboard the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) spacecraft was interpreted with a single reference transformed green leaf scattering albedo. Transforming of a traditionally defined leaf albedo means correcting the measurements for the effect of surface reflectance, resulting in probabilities of leaf scattering and absorption given a photon interacts with the leaf internal constituents. Utilizing such transformed albedo as reference results in reference (canopy) spectral invariants describing the relative difference between the reference and the scattering properties of (theoretical) mean leaves at the scale of inference (pixel). The results of the study are parallel to those of previously published and ongoing research: In essence, even while the individual parameters p and R depend on the reference, the ratio R/(1–p) (directional escape factor to total escape probability) was found practically independent of the selection of the reference, thus implicating a possibility to develop a physically-based algorithm to infer hyperspectral imagery in vegetated areas. Moreover, the reference (canopy) spectral invariants were found as highly applicable in retrieval of forest structural properties such as dominant forest type (broadleaved, coniferous, mixed) and a quantitative estimate of the broadleaf fraction of a forest area.

Non-wood forest products (NWFP) refer to wild berries, mushrooms, herbs and other special NWFPs gathered from forests. Finnish forests have been certified with forest certificates (PEFC and FSC) and as organic wild collection areas. The globally largest organic wild collection areas in Finland have provided organic NWFP raw material for the commercial trade. However, NWFPs are not certified in Finland within forest certificates, unlike in some other European countries. The aim of this study was to collect expert perceptions of NWFP certification, its possible benefits and creation of added-value, and qualifications for applying forest- and organic certificates to NWFP certification. This qualitative study was carried out in thematic interviews to Finnish experts in NWFP and forestry fields. The results indicate that both forest and NWFP experts see the importance of NWFP certification to increase in future. Majority of interviewees appreciate the forest origin as a differentiating factor, which is important to verify. Both expert groups were familiar with organic wild collection areas in Finland. According to experts, the organic wild collection areas are possibility in the exports of NWFPs, though in domestic markets, organic labeled NWFPs rarely create added value for the customers. Majority of interviewees viewed the application of forest certificates to certify NWFPs positively. However, opinions towards it were more divided among the group of forest experts.