Effect of repeated fertilizer application on the nutrient status and biomass production of salix 'Aquatica' plantations on cut-away peatland areas

Summary

Pest status and incidence of the honey bee tracheal mite in Finland

Selostus: Mehiläisen sisuspunkin aiheuttamat tuhot ja esiintyminen Suomessa

Effect of drainage maintenance on the nutrient status on drained Scots pine mires

Tiivistelmä: Kunnostusojituksen vaikutus rämeiden ravinnetilaan

Nutritional status in commercial currant fields

Selostus: Herukkaviljelmien ravinnetila

Phosphorus status of diverse soils in Finland as influenced by long-term P fertilisation 1

Selostus: Pitkäaikaisen fosforilannoituksen vaikutus Suomen peltojen fosforitilaan. 1. Maan luontainen ja aikaisemmin kertynyt fosfori 24 koepaikalla

Intra-specific variation in cell wall constituents of needle age classes of Pinus sylvestris in relation to soil fertility status in Southwest England

Abstract

Local and Regional Scale Determinants of Biodiversity Patterns in Boreal Agricultural Landscapes

This thesis examines the local and regional scale determinants of biodiversity patterns using existing species and environmental data. The research focuses on agricultural environments that have experienced rapid declines of biodiversity during past decades. Existing digital databases provide vast opportunities for habitat mapping, predictive mapping of species occurrences and richness and understanding the speciesenvironment relationships. The applicability of these databases depends on the required accuracy and quality of the data needed to answer the landscape ecological and biogeographical questions in hand. Patterns of biodiversity arise from confounded effects of different factors, such as climate, land cover and geographical location. Complementary statistical approaches that can show the relative effects of different factors are needed in biodiversity analyses in addition to classical multivariate models. Better understanding of the key factors underlying the variation in diversity requires the analyses of multiple taxonomic groups from different perspectives, such as richness, occurrence, threat status and population trends. The geographical coincidence of species richness of different taxonomic groups can be rather limited. This implies that multiple geographical regions should be taken into account in order to preserve various groups of species. Boreal agricultural biodiversity and in particular, distribution and richness of threatened species is strongly associated with various grasslands. Further, heterogeneous agricultural landscapes characterized by moderate field size, forest patches and non-crop agricultural habitats enhance the biodiversity of rural environments. From the landscape ecological perspective, the major threats to Finnish agricultural biodiversity are the decline of connected grassland habitat networks, and general homogenization of landscape structure resulting from both intensification and marginalization of agriculture. The maintenance of key habitats, such as meadows and pastures is an essential task in conservation of agricultural biodiversity. Furthermore, a larger landscape context should be incorporated in conservation planning and decision making processes in order to respond to the needs of different species and to maintain heterogeneous rural landscapes and viable agricultural diversity in the future.

Phosphorus status of diverse soils in Finland as influenced by long-term P fertilisation 2

Selostus: Pitkäaikaisen fosforilannoituksen vaikutus Suomen peltojen fosforitilaan. 2. Kemiallisten testien muutokset suhteessa fosforitaseeseen sekä aikaisemmin ja koevuosina lisätyn fosforin multaussyvyyteen

Status of biomass gasification

Kaasutuksen kannattavuus ja toteutustapa on ollut tarkea ja useiden tutkimuksien kohde. Biomassan kaasutuksen ja siina kaytettavien laitteiden nykytila on epavarma. Niinpa lisatutkimukselle ja tarkasteluille on edelleen tarvetta. Tama tyo keskittyy nykyisin kaytettavien kaasutusprosessien ja laitteiden tarkasteluun. Tyossa kaydaan lapi useita uusimpia kaasutusprojekteja ja esitetaan niista tutkimustarpeita. Lisaksi kaasutusprosessissa pitaa saada hallintaan niille tyypillisia ongelmia kuten kaasun puhdistus, kaasun kasittely, biomassan kasittely ja kaasuttimen muuraus, joista esitetaan lisatietoa. Edelleen esitetaan kaasutusprosessien taydellinen luokittelu. On huomattava etta biomassan kaasutusta tarvitaan jotta saadaan toteutettua EUn hahmotteleman ja saataman energiapolitiikan vaatima kasvu ja kehitys.