Consequences of pre-planting treatments of potato seed tubers on leaf area index formation

Abstract

In field trials conducted in 2000–2002, we examined the influence of pre-planting treatments of seed tubers on the formation of leaf area index. The potato varieties used were Agrie Dzeltenie (early), Piret (middle-maturing) and Ants (late). The following treatments were used: untreated control, thermal shock and pre-sprouting. Pre-sprouting treatments of all varieties and thermal shock treatment of the variety Agrie Dzeltenie had a significant effect on the leaf area index. The value and timing of maximum leaf area index were: variety specific, 4.0 units of the early variety Agrie Dzeltenie, 3.7 units of the middle-maturing variety Piret and 3.9 units of the late variety Ants. The weight of the haulms of the plants developed from physiologically older seed tubers formed faster and remained smaller. Pre-planting treatment of seed tubers provided quicker field emergence. The slower the potato plants developed the haulms, the greater the maximum weight achieved. Pre-planting treatments influence the leaf area index. The importance of this influence lies in potato varieties with different maturity times since increases in quality and yield depend on the size of the photosynthetic area.     

The effects of pure and undersowing green manures on yields of succeeding spring cereals

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted in 2004–2006 to investigate the effect of green manure treatments on the yield of oats and spring barley. In the experiment, different green manure crops with undersowing and pure sowing were compared for amounts of N, C, and organic matter driven into soil and their effect on cereal yield. The spring barley field had a total of 41.7–62.4 kg N ha^?1 and 1.75–2.81 Mg C ha^?1 added to the soil with straw, weed, and roots, depending on the level of fertilisation; with red clover, and both common and hybrid lucerne undersowing, with barley straw and roots, the values were 3.45–3.96 Mg C ha^?1 and 139.9–184.9 kg N ha^?1. Pure sowings of these three leguminous green manure crops had total applications of 3.37–4.14 Mg C ha^?1 and 219.7–236.8 kg N ha^?1. The mixed and pure sowing of bird's-foot trefoil provided considerably less nitrogen and carbon to the soil with the biomass than with the other leguminous crops. Application of biomass with a high C/N ratio reduced the yield of the succeeding spring cereals. Of the green manures, the most effective were red clover and both common and hybrid lucerne, either as undersowing or as pure sowing. Undersowings with barley significantly increased the N supply for the succeeding crop without yield loss of the main crop compared with the unfertilised variant. Compared with ploughing-in of green manure in autumn, spring ploughing gave a 0.2–0.57 Mg ha^?1 larger grain yield.     

Soil compaction effects on soil bulk density and penetration resistance and growth of spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.)

Abstract

The weight of the tractor is not the only factor affecting soil compaction. Soil-management practices, such as the use of fertilizers and pesticides, also affect soil properties through an increased number of overriding. The aim of the current study was to investigate compaction effects on soil physical properties, such as dry bulk density and penetration resistance, and the growth of spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) as a monoculture. The five-year experiment was conducted on the Estonian University of Life Sciences’ research field at Eerika, near Tartu in 2001–2005. The soil of the experimental site is sandy loam Stagnic Luvisol. The treatments included were no compaction, one pass, three passes, and six passes. All passes were track-by-track. Measurements of soil and plant were made in the earing phase of barley and measurements of yield in the maturity phase of barley. The compaction treatment was conducted using an MTZ-82 tractor (total weight 4.84 Mg). Neither fertilizers nor herbicides were used. 5 years after compaction distinguishable subsoil and topsoil compaction was detected. Soil deformation increases with the number of passes; in the case of six passes soil bulk density increased by 0.15 Mg m^?3 and penetration resistance by 3 MPa. However, there were no significant differences in the soil bulk density and penetration resistance between treatments compacted with one and three passes. The effect of compaction on soil bulk density was higher when the soil was compacted under wet conditions. Compaction decreased the quantity of barley shoots, their phytomass, and grain yield by more than 80%. In the second year of the experiment the dry weight of above ground biomass decreased by almost three times and shoots’ density by 1.5 times, compared with the first year results. In the third year of the experiment the biomass, plant density, and grain yield of barley were stabilized and no further decreases were detected in the following two experimental years. The results from the experiment revealed that even a low weight tractor can induce subsoil compaction and a high decrease of plant productivity by repeated passes over time.     

Consumer value dimensions for sustainable wood products: results from the Finnish retail sector

Our study focuses on exploring on the dimensionality of sustainability in perceived consumer value regarding wooden products in the Finnish context. Factors affecting consumer value on sustainability were derived from the literature on sustainable consumption and tested on a specific case of wooden terrace products through a developed survey instrument. The dimensions of sustainability-based consumer value were identified using a factor analysis on data consisting of 208 responses collected in the home and building material retail sector in May–June 2013. Four-dimensional structure for consumer value concerning sustainable and responsible wooden products is identified to consist of “Information and product origin,” “Consumer activity,” “Product image,” and “Quality.” The first two, sustainability-related factors were more strongly valued by elderly as well as by female respondents, while “Quality” and “Image” were more preferred by young and middle-aged respondent groups. As for the conclusion, our results suggest that improving the sustainability information content, launching awareness campaigns and environmental education as well as applying greenness as a complementary product attribute would be some of the solutions to attract larger consumer groups.     

Tree-related microhabitats on live Populus tremula and Picea abies in relation to tree age,diameter, and stand factors in Estonia

Production forestry is known to reduce the naturally variable microhabitat pools in live trees and their biodiversity by tree removal and broad indirect effects of silviculture. However, the tree-scale processes are not known well enough for microhabitat management for the future. This study investigates how tree age affects the microhabitat occurrence in live trees, its effect modifiers, and explanatory value compared with tree diameter. We inventoried tree-related microhabitats on 879 live aspens (Populus tremula) and Norway spruces (Picea abies) of known age in 141 forests representing contrasting productive site conditions in Estonia. We analysed microhabitat incidence using logistic mixed models for significant tree-scale and stand-scale factors. Most microhabitat types appeared rare even in old trees, and the age effects had various patterns. Only 2% of trees bore five or more microhabitat types. Aspens and spruces had a similar microhabitat diversity before 80 years of age. Stand-level effects varied among microhabitat types but were less significant than tree-level effects; interactions were even rarer. Most effects found could be interpreted through known ecological processes; for example, humidity-dependent epiphytic growth; bark stripping by herbivores; pathogen effects in forests with distinct histories. In contrast, a reliable tree-scale prediction of microhabitat occurrence appears rarely possible; and depending on microhabitat type, either tree age or diameter can be a better predictor. We suggest that managing for tree-related microhabitats in production forests should combine facilitating ecological conditions for microhabitat formation, and early detection and retention of the trees with high microhabitat potential.

     

Forest Owners’ Socio-demographic Characteristics as Predictors of Customer Value: Evidence from Finland

Small-scale Forestry - Ageing, urbanization, and decreasing dependence of non-industrial private forest (NIPF) owners on forestry income have challenged the industrial timber supply of several...     

Bird communities in hemiboreal old-growth forests: The roles of food supply, stand structure, and site type

Key factors causing the difference of wildlife populations in natural and managed forests are an important field of ecosystem and biodiversity research. To explore the factors contributing to bird-community features in the poorly studied European natural hemiboreal forests, we carried out a comparative study in old-growth and mature stands of five site types in Estonia. The mature stands were of clear-cut origin and managed for timber production. Old-growth hosted both more diverse and more abundant bird communities than mature stands, which does not support the putative ‘old-growth syndrome’ (high diversity at a low density) described previously in temperate Europe. Site-type specificity of bird communities was also more pronounced in old-growth, indicating a timber-harvesting induced process of biotic homogenization. In particular, natural swamp forests had characteristic bird species and those communities may be additionally sensitive to artificial drainage. In terms of invertebrate food supply, the availability of snails, rather than of insects, was related to bird-community characteristics; however, the influence of snails was due to one snail-poor forest type (Vaccinium type pine stands), not management. The abundance of coarse woody debris was the main structural feature affecting bird communities; tree-size variation was additionally important for species richness. A significant unexplained ‘old-growth’ effect remained even after the variables describing food supply and stand structure were taken into account. Our results imply the distinct importance of old-growth of different site types for hemiboreal bird communities. However, we did not obtain any evidence of different key factors structuring the bird communities in old-growth and mature stands.     

Effect of sulphur fertilization on grain yield and yield components of winter wheat

Abstract

The effect of sulphur application on winter wheat yield and yield components on two different soils in northern Estonia and southern Estonia during 2004–2009 was investigated. Sulphur was applied with NS-fertilizer Axan or Axan Super at the rate of S 10 or 13.6 kg ha^?1 accompanied with nitrogen background of N 100 kg ha^?1, which effect was compared to effect of ammonium nitrate at the same rate of N. The rates of fertilizers were divided into two portions and applied at the growth stages 21–22 and 25–30. The effect of sulphur fertilization on the formation of wheat yield varied on a quite large scale depending on soil and weather conditions of trial locations. The yield components were closely related: when one component was changed, the other components sometimes compensated for grain yield.

Sulphur deficiency symptoms appeared on the break-stony soil at Saku in a somewhat stronger form than on the pseudopodzolic soil at Auksi. The results of field trials conducted at Saku during the four years can be summarized as follows: the application of sulphur increased the number of ears per unit area by an average of 14.0% and the number of grains per ear by an average of 18.6%. At the same time, sulphur decreased the 1000-grain weight. As a final result, sulphur application on break-stony soil increased the wheat yield by 1.16 t ha^?1 on average, i.e. by 23.0%. Sulphur application in trials conducted on pseudopodzolic soil at Auksi during years with different weather conditions in growing season proved highly effective in three of five trials. As an average of all trials in Auksi, the sulphur application increased the number of ears per unit area and the number of grains per ear by 23.9% and 7.7%, respectively. The grain yield increased under the influence of sulphur on the average of all trials conducted on pseudopodzolic soil by 1.25 t ha^?1, i.e. by 22.4%.     

The content and quality of protein in winter wheat grains depending on sulphur fertilization

Abstract

On soils lacking in water-soluble sulphur, the sulphur fertilization of winter wheat, in general, increases the yields. There are not sufficient investigations about the influence of sulphur on the quality of yield. The objective of this work was to investigate the content and quality of protein in wheat grain depending on sulphur fertilization. The present study relies on field trials conducted on two different soils during 2004–2009. Sulphur was applied with NS-fertilizer Axan or Axan Super at the rate of S 10 or 13.6 kg ha^?1 accompanied by a nitrogen background of N 100 kg ha^?1. The rates of N- and NS-fertilizers were divided and applied at the beginning and at the end of tillering. At harvest, the grain samples from trial variants in four replications were taken, and the contents of crude protein, wet gluten, amino acids (lysine, threonine, cysteine, methionine) and gluten index in wheat grain were determined. Besides, the contents of amino acids were recalculated on their concentrations in protein. The protein and wet gluten contents in grain varied significantly depending on weather conditions of the trial years. On break-stony soil, sulphur increased the yield by 1.16 t ha^?1 on average, i.e. by 21.7%. With increasing yields the protein and wet gluten concentrations in grain decreased. Under the influence of sulphur, the gluten index increased significantly – from 58 to 74, i.e. by 27.6%. In 2004 and 2005, sulphur increased the cysteine and methionine content in wheat grain. Although sulphur application in many cases decreased the protein and wet gluten contents in wheat grain, it improved the biological quality of protein because the concentrations of above-mentioned amino acids recalculated on their concentrations in protein increased significantly. The sulphur application in pseudopodzolic soil had a weaker effect on the grain quality than in break-stony soil.     

Exploring the future use of forests: perceptions from non-industrial private forest owners in Finland

The transformation of the forest sector toward a bioeconomy calls for finding new sources of competitive advantage for the whole sector to retain its future viability. Non-industrial private forest owners are an important group of actors in the Finnish forest-based sector, as they supply 80% of industrial roundwood and control numerous other tangible and intangible forest-based ecosystem services. Our study analyzes forest owner views on the future use of forests in Finland, their perceptions on the evolving sectorial interlinkages and the position of the forest sector now and in the future bioeconomy. The data were collected in two phases: through telephone interviews of forest owners (n?=?278) and four focus group (FG) discussions (n?=?17), and were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The interviews showed that forest owners consider the highest potential for strengthening the sector toward bioeconomy to come from collaboration with energy and construction businesses. During the FG phase, we identified new possibilities founded on forest-based recreational services, cooperation with nature-based tourism and in increasing value-added wood products. In total, forest owners as a high-involvement group emphasized future value creation to be based upon forest ecosystem services and in diversifying the utilization of forests beyond the dominant raw material-driven mindset.