%0 Articles
%T Changes in forest landscape structure in southern Finland in the late 1900’s
%A Löfman, Satu
%D 2006
%J Dissertationes Forestales
%V 2006
%N 32
%R doi:10.14214/df.32
%U http://dissertationesforestales.fi/article/1814
%X Finnish forest landscapes have experienced major changes during recent decades, and currently they are often regarded as fragmented. The assessment of historical landscapes and the quantitative documentation of supposed changes are matters that have largely remained unexplored, even though a thorough understanding of the historical processes and the existing pattern would be urgently needed for scientifically-based and sound management as the history and current landscape patterns may place long-term constraints on both ecological and economic objectives of future management options. The aim of this research was to define and quantify the changes in forest landscape structure caused by logging and road construction in private and state forests in southern Finland from the 1950’s to the 1990’s.

Areas varying between 14 000 and 20 000 ha in different parts of southern Finland were selected for study. Both private and state-owned forest were included, but the proportion varied somewhat between locations. The forest cover was analysed using aerial photographs from successive decades, the forests in each area being classified into no-canopy and closed-canopy forest types. A more detailed analysis and classification employing several development stages was performed in one of the areas.

The results show that the continuous cover of mature forests in the 1950’s has been broken up by extensive logging, and that major changes in the landscape structure had already taken place before the 1970. The continuous closed-canopy forest still forms the matrix, however, and its connectivity has slightly improved since the 1970’s, and mean size of no-canopy patches has slightly decreased. The interior forest areas are currently small, and edge-influenced forests make up a large portion of the landscape. Roads have had a greater impact on forest fragmentation than has harvesting, and increased harvesting can be attributed to road construction to some extent.

Ecological allocation of harvests, the use of alternative harvesting methods, and local restoration of the important structures of natural forests are needed in order to reverse the effects of past management, but even so the current pattern of Finnish forests may be retained as a legacy for decades in the Finnish forests. Forest management and the planning of forest operations should be carried out at the landscape level in order to enhance the maintenance of historical patterns of landscape cover.