Changing stock of biomass carbon in a boreal forest over 93 years

The growing stock more than doubled from 1.6 to 3.4 million m³ between 1912 and 2005 in forests on an area of 387 km² in southern Finland. The stock expansion continued for 93 years noting interim results, which were available for 1959, 1982, 1994 and 1999. Forested area in the region hardly changed. Carbon sequestration was mainly a result of a long-term recovery from forest degradation, a legacy of land use in the 18th and 19th centuries. Tree demography responded to management change especially of mature stands: Average tree size and stocking density of stands increased. On average the expanding biomass stock sequestered 18 tons C annually per km² (18 g C per m²). In comparison, the emissions of fossil carbon in the region were estimated at 12 tons C per km² (12 g C per m²) on average. However, fossil CO₂ emissions exceeded biomass sequestration in recent decades. The powerful and persistent expansion of the carbon stock was an unintended co-benefit of forestry, which was motivated by the intention to improve timber yield. On the more negative side the change in management introduced clear-cuts, and a loss of diverse elements of the pre-industrial biota.     

Spatial integration of freshwater fish markets in the Northern Baltic Sea area

Freshwater fish species and Baltic salmon (Salmo salar) are important to small-scale fisheries in Finland and Sweden. The formerly local markets for these species have expanded as trade has been opened up to international competition. In this study we use cointegration analysis to test the spatial integration of freshwater fish markets in Finland and between Finland and Sweden. The analysed fish species are salmon, perch (Perca fluviatilis), pikeperch (Sander lucioperca), European whitefish (Goregonus lavaretus) and pike (Exos lucius), and the data covers ex-vessel prices from 1993 or 1995 to 2004. We found that the regional prices in Finland were cointegrated. This indicates that the prices are determined on a single market in Finland. Moreover, the study suggests that Finnish and Swedish markets in Baltic salmon, whitefish, pikeperch and perch were partially integrated, while integration of pike markets could not be found. The political implication is that an essential part of the local small-scale fisheries’ operational environment is determined outside the national borders.     

Knotwood and bark extracts: strong antioxidants from waste materials

The antioxidant properties of hydrophilic extracts of knotwood of several industrially important tree species were evaluated by lipid-peroxidation inhibition and peroxyl-trapping capacity tests. The results were compared with the antioxidant properties of hydrophilic extracts of bark, and pure lignans and flavonoids isolated from knotwood extracts. The knot extracts from several tree species were stronger antioxidants than the bark extracts, which can, however, also be classified as strong antioxidants. In addition, the antioxidant properties of most of the knotwood extracts are stronger than the pure compounds. It is concluded that knotwood is a rich source of natural antioxidants.     

Biodiversity policies in commercial boreal forests: Optimal design of subsidy and tax combinations

This paper examines the first-best instruments for biodiversity maintenance in commercial boreal forests when landowners behave either in Faustmannian or Hartmanian way. Using an extended Hartman model, we show that biodiversity conservation requires both prolonged rotation age and leaving retention trees. While the former promotes some old growth species, the latter create new structural elements of decaying and dead wood, which can sustain a variety of saprolyxic species. A fully synchronized combination of retention tree subsidy and tax instrument is needed both to lengthen the privately optimal rotation period and to provide an incentive to leave retention trees. Using Finnish data we illustrate empirically the sizes of instruments. When combined with a harvest tax, the retention tree subsidy is 1000 and 750 € in the Faustmann and in the Hartman model, respectively. When used with a timber subsidy or a site value tax, the retention tree subsidy is 1700 €/ha in both models. The harvest tax rate varies over the range 40–65% in the Faustmann model and 20–40% in the Hartman model, while timber subsidy is between 0.5–1.0% and site value tax is about 1.75%.     

Herd diagnosis of low pathogen diarrhoea in growing pigs – a pilot study

Background

The major indication for antibiotic use in Danish pigs is treatment of intestinal diseases post weaning. Clinical decisions on antibiotic batch medication are often based on inspection of diarrhoeic pools on the pen floor. In some of these treated diarrhoea outbreaks, intestinal pathogens can only be demonstrated in a small number of pigs within the treated group (low pathogen diarrhoea). Termination of antibiotic batch medication in herds suffering from such diarrhoea could potentially reduce the consumption of antibiotics in the pig industry. The objective of the present pilot study was to suggest criteria for herd diagnosis of low pathogen diarrhoea in growing pigs.Data previously collected from 20 Danish herds were used to create a case series of clinical diarrhoea outbreaks normally subjected to antibiotic treatment. In the present study, these diarrhoea outbreaks were classified as low pathogen (<15% of the pigs having bacterial intestinal disease) (n =5 outbreaks) or high pathogen (≥15% of the pigs having bacterial intestinal disease) (n =15 outbreaks). Based on the case series, different diagnostic procedures were explored, and criteria for herd diagnosis of low pathogen diarrhoea were suggested. The effect of sampling variation was explored by simulation.

Results

The diagnostic procedure with the highest combined herd-level sensitivity and specificity was qPCR testing of a pooled sample containing 20 randomly selected faecal samples. The criteria for a positive test result (high pathogen diarrhoea outbreak) were an average of 1.5 diarrhoeic faecal pools on the floor of each pen in the room under investigation and a pathogenic bacterial load ≥35,000 per gram in the faecal pool tested by qPCR. The bacterial load was the sum of Lawsonia intracellularis, Brachyspira pilosicoli and Escherichia coli F4 and F18 bacteria per gram faeces. The herd-diagnostic performance was (herd-level) diagnostic sensitivity =0.99, diagnostic specificity =0.80, positive predictive value =0.94 and negative predictive value =0.96.

Conclusions

The pilot study suggests criteria for herd diagnosis of low pathogen diarrhoea in growing pigs. The suggested criteria should now be evaluated, and the effect of terminating antibiotic batch medication in herds identified as suffering from low pathogen diarrhoea should be explored.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/2046-0481-67-24) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Regional socio-economic importance of fisheries in Finland

The total value of Finnish fisheries production in 1997 was almost FIM 2 billion. The bulk of this sum was from processing and wholesaling, but in terms of value added, somewhat more than half was contributed by the primary sector, i.e. fishing and fish farming. In economic terms, fisheries accounted for 0.1% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 1997 and the relative job creation capacity was 0.15%. This paper examines the structure of Finnish fisheries in terms of production value and employment. It also considers the level of dependency on fisheries and of value added along the production chain. The focus is on concentration of the industry and on input to the economy at the regional level. The concentration of fisheries and regional dependence on fisheries are assessed in absolute and relative terms. Examining employment and value added in these two ways enables the regional nature of fisheries to be shown in greater detail. The input of fisheries to the regional economy is examined by the share of value added and by location quotients. The location quotient compares an area's share of a particular activity with that area's share of some basic or aggregated phenomenon. The location quotient showed that fisheries have importance not only in the coastal area but also inland.     

Comparison of Straw Mulch,Insecticides, Mineral Oil,and Birch Extract for Control of Transmission of Potato virus Y in Seed Potato Crops

Potato virus Y (PVY) is a major pathogen of potato and transmitted non-persistently by aphids. Aphis fabae is the main vector of PVY in the High Grade Seed Potato Production Area (HG area) in Finland, where the number of aphids and infection pressure with PVY are rather low, but problems with PVY occur in PVY-susceptible cultivars. The aim of the study was to test straw mulch, mineral oil, birch extract, and insecticides for control of PVY in small-scale field experiments and, additionally, at farm level in growers’ fields in the HG area of Finland. The insecticide esfenvalerate reduced the incidence of PVY in the progeny tubers by 29% in one of the 3 years, whereas other chemical treatments or birch extract had no significant effect on PVY incidence. Spraying foliage with mineral oil (Sunoco 11 E/3) reduced the incidence of PVY in 2 years by 43 to 58%, respectively. Straw mulch spread to the field at the time of plant emergence reduced PVY incidence in all 3 years by 50–70%. At farm level, straw mulch reduced the incidence of PVY in the progeny tubers by 25–47%, respectively, in both years tested; however, combining application of straw mulch and mineral oil did not further reduce incidence of PVY. Successful control of PVY in the HG area of Finland using straw mulch may be explained by transmission of PVY early in the growing season at the time of plant emergence and the relatively low number of vector aphids.     

Non-destructive evaluation of checking in thermally modified timber

Non-destructive measurement techniques were used to study the characteristics of thermally modified timber (TMT), especially checking. Two non-destructive measurement techniques were evaluated: air-coupled ultrasound (ACU) and electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). In the studied TMT (N = 38), density and pith location in the cross-section were positively correlated with the number of checks in the cross-section. Several ultrasound signal features correlated with TMT characteristics, most strongly with number of checks. Severely checked samples and other samples were considered as two different classes of checking, and the potential of ultrasound for differentiating between the two classes was tested by using Bayesian classification method. The correct classification rate was 97 %. EIS parameters correlated with density and latewood content of TMT more strongly than the ACU parameters. Thus, for determination of checking and density or earlywood/latewood content, both EIS and ACU measurements are recommended.     

Using a Chlorophyll Meter to Optimize Nitrogen Fertilizer Application for Intensively-Managed Small-Grain Cereals

Most methods used to estimate N status require collection, processing and analysis of soil and/or plant tissue samples. In this study, leaf chlorophyll content of cereals, determined in the field with a portable chlorophyll meter (Minolta SPAD-502), was used to predict N availability of wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.), barley ( Hordeum vulgare L.), oats ( Avena sativa L.) and rye ( Secale cereale L.). The results indicated that accurate nitrogen (N) fertilizer recommendations based on chlorophyll content have both environmental and economic advantages. Determination of leaf chlorophyll content with a chlorophyll meter accurately indicated plant N status allowing N fertilizer requirement to be accurately determined and resulting in increased N uptake efficiency. Applying N fertilizer on this basis improved production economics and improved physical input-output ratio during grain yield formation. Using a chlorophyll meter, responsive and non-responsive categories can be determined at the stage of maximum number of florets per ear primordium (Zadoks' GS 37-41) and at pollination (i.e. pollen grains on well-developed stigmatic hairs, GS 52-58).