Vegetation patterns of boreal herb-rich forests in the Koli region, eastern Finland: classification, environmental factors and conservation aspects

The main aims of this thesis were to describe the vegetation patterns of herb-rich forests, herb-rich forest site types and the main underlying environmental factors, and to provide a classification of vegetation and analyse the pattern in species richness. A total of 101 herbrich forest patches were studied in the Koli area, eastern Finland. Two-way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN) and detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) were used for classifying the sites and species, canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) was used for identifying the main environmental gradients, and nestedness calculator and RANDNEST procedure for testing whether the species distribution showed a random occurrence. The main findings were as follows: 1) the vegetation composition of the studied site types corresponded relatively well to the previously described site types in eastern and northern Finland. 2) The multivariate ordination and classification methods used here complemented the classification. 3) An accurate classification was obtained when both vascular plants and bryophytes were used in the classification. 4) The compositional variation in the vegetation was mainly related to soil moisture and fertility. 5) Long-term human impacts had affected the composition of the vegetation and soil properties. 6) The soil of the studied sites was more acidic than those included in the earlier investigations. 7) Bryophytes reacted differently to topography and stand structure than vascular plants. 8) Large patches had more edaphically demanding and red-listed species than small ones, but a set of small patches supported more edaphically demanding species than a few large patches of the same total area. The results show that the flora and vegetation groups had many characteristics specific for the Koli area, and therefore classification could not be generalised to other areas. Bryophytes seemed to play a minor role in the classification of herb-rich forests as compared with vascular plants. Most of the studied herb-rich forests had previously been managed and represented the middle stages of forest succession and recovery. Consequently, it is difficult to predict their future development, i.e. if they will develop into boreal herb-rich forest, herb-rich heath forest or herb-rich spruce mire. It is essential, in order to maintain vital plant populations, to conserve large areas, but small areas, such as woodland key-biotopes, are important to augment protected areas.

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