Markus Melin

Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) · Natural Resources

The adaptation of different species to warming temperatures has been increasingly studied. Moose (Alces alces) is the largest of the ungulate species occupying the northern latitudes across the globe, and in Finland it is the most important game species. It is very well adapted to severe cold temperatures, but has a relatively low tolerance to warm...

Forest-dwelling grouse, and especially their broods, are highly dependent on forest and vegetation structure. In countries with intense forest management, it follows that the quality of their habitats is directly affected by forestry operations. Therefore, we must know which structural features of forests define a good grouse habitat and how the ab...

In agricultural landscapes, small woodland patches can be important wildlife refuges. Their value in maintaining biodiversity may, however, be compromised by isolation, and so knowledge about the role of habitat structure is vital to understand the drivers of diversity. This study examined how avian diversity and abundance were related to habitat s...

Forests are affected by climate change in various ways. This includes abiotic factors such as droughts, but also biotic damage by pest insects. There are numerous examples from cases where pest insects have benefitted from longer growing seasons or from warmer summers. Similarly, new pest insects have been able to expand their range due to climatic...

Climate change has influenced a range of species across the globe. Yet, to state a noted decline in the abundance of a given species as a consequence of a specific environmental change, for instance, spatially explicit long-term data are a prerequisite. This study assessed the extent to which prolonged snow-free periods in autumn and spring have c...

In many species, polymorphic genomic inversions underlie complex phenotypic polymorphisms and facilitate local adaptation in the face of gene flow. Multiple polymorphic inversions can co-occur in a genome, but the prevalence, evolutionary significance, and limits to complexity of genomic inversion landscapes remain poorly understood. Here, we exami...

Remote sensing data capture ecologically important information that can be used to characterize, model and predict bird habitat. This study implements fusion techniques using Random Forests (RF) with spectral Landsat data and structural airborne laser scanning (ALS) data to scale habitat attributes through time and to characterize habitat for four...

Snow is among the most significant natural disturbance agents in Finland. In silviculture, maps of snow disturbance are needed to recognize severely disturbed forests where the risk of subsequential disturbances, such as insect outbreaks, is high. We investigated the potential of unitemporal airborne lidar (light detection and ranging) data and aer...

Background Telemetry studies on terrestrial mammals have been carried out almost exclusively using neck collar-mounted devices. However, collars are not suitable for all species and all age classes and may therefore compromise animal welfare and data quality requirements. Here, we evaluate the use of non-collar tracking devices on wild boars (Sus s...

Climate change causes far‐reaching disruption in nature, where tolerance thresholds already have been exceeded for some plants and animals. In the short term, deer may respond to climate through individual physiological and behavioral responses. Over time, individual responses can aggregate to the population level and ultimately lead to evolutionar...

The characteristic spatial scale at which species respond strongest to forest structure is unclear and species-specific and depends on the degree of landscape heterogeneity. Research often analyzes a pre-defined spatial scale when constructing species distribution models relating forest variables with occupancy patterns. This is a limitation, as fo...

Highlights: - Similar habitat model accuracy among spatial scales. - Models for all grouse species best predict at stand scale. - High canopy predicts forest species, high tree density predicts bog species. - Forest structure is key at stand scale, composition is key at at larger scales.

The frequency and intensity of wildfires, storms and pest outbreaks has been increasing rapidly for several decades, highlighting the vulnerability of the world’s forests and the impact of natural and human threats accelerated and intensified by climate changes. Although disturbance and mortality are inherent to forest ecosystems, and forest distur...

Disturbances caused by the European spruce bark beetle (SBB; Ips typographus L.) on Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.), have increased immensely across Central and Northern Europe, and are expected to increase further as a result of climate change. While this trend has been noted in Finland, so far limited research has been published. To su...

In many species, polymorphic inversions underlie complex phenotypic polymorphisms and appear to facilitate local adaptation in the face of gene flow. Multiple polymorphic inversions can co-occur in a genome, but the prevalence, evolutionary significance, and limits to complexity of genomic inversion landscapes remain poorly understood. Here, we exa...

Conclusions • Soil type, fertility class, development class, mean DBH and mean age are critical for SBB damage. • There is a clear linear relationship between the distance from clear-cuts to the closest SBBD stands and the number of SBBD. • If the number of clear-cuts increases, it is expected that new SBB damage will appear in the nearby area.

In Finland, the wild boar (Sus scrofa L.) lives on the northernmost edge of the species' distribution range, and the population mainly originates from individuals immigrating from Russia. Most of the current population lives in the southeastern part of the country, and the wild boar is steadily expanding further. To develop effective risk and popul...

During deep snow conditions, wildlife must balance between minimizing movements to conserve energy while seeking high amounts of browse to gain the energy. Knowledge of how snow begins to hinder their movements is therefore vital when predicting their wintertime behavior. We assessed the phenomenon with moose. Movement data from 122 GPS-collared mo...

Global trade provides pathways for the spread of invasive species. To tackle the threat, many countries have designated surveys that are typically conducted at the probable ports of entry. For Finland, the most north-eastern region of the European Union (EU), such site is the border with Russia and the imports of coniferous roundwood and wood chips...

The European spruce bark beetle, Ips typographus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is the most important forest insect pest in Central and Northern Europe as it causes destructive damage in Norway spruce (Picea abies). As a result of ongoing climate change, its damages have increased and shifted northwards, affecting wood production and other ecosystem...

Climate change affects distributions of forest insects in North Europe. There is relatively good observation record of moths done by Finnish Lepidopterologists. In addition, several good quality distribution maps have been published in Finland. Currently this information is available as open species data on the internet provided by Natural History...

Climate change has assisted the northward range expansion of various forest insect pests, increasing the risk of forest damage in Northern Europe. The pine beauty moth, Panolis flammea, is common in European pine stands with cyclical outbreaks that have damaged thousands of hectares. In the 1970s, its Finnish northern distribution limit was reporte...

Ilmastonmuutos edesauttaa useiden hyönteislajien leviämistä alueille, joiden ympäristöolosuhteet eivät ole aiemmin olleet niille tarpeeksi suotuisat. Tällaisia luontaisesti, omin voimin levinneitä tulokaslajeja tavataan Suomessakin. Suurin osa niistä on harmittomia, mutta osa on haitallisia maa- ja metsätaloudelle. Tulokaslajeja potentiaalisesti va...

Natural succession of vegetation on abandoned farmland provides opportunities for passive rewilding to re-establish native woodlands, but in Western Europe the patterns and outcomes of vegetation colonisation are poorly known. We combine time series of field surveys and remote sensing (lidar and photogrammetry) to study woodland development on two...

Traditional timber production may have negative effects on other ecosystem services. Therefore, new forest management guidelines have been developed in order to enhance a habitat suitable for wildlife. In Finland, a recent example of this is grouse-friendly forest management (GFFM) which emphasises the preservation of grouse species (Tetronidae) ha...

Bark beetles are amongst the most aggressive pest agents of coniferous forests. Due to this, many boreal countries have designated laws aiming to lower the risk of bark beetle epidemics. Finland’s forest legislation has pre-emptive measures targeted against bark beetles, and for Scots pine ( L.), the law concerns pine shoot beetles ( spp.). This...

We describe the methodology applied in the 12th national forest inventory of Finland (NFI12) and describe the state of Finland’s forests as well as the development of some key parameters since 1920s. According to the NFI12, the area of forestry land (consisting of productive and poorly productive forest, unproductive land, and other forestry land...

Grey wolf Canis lupus is often the main predator of moose Alces alces. Therefore it can be expected that moose are able to recognize the presence of wolves and react to them to avoid predation. We examined the effect of predation risk by wolves on movement patterns by moose in eastern Finland where moose and wolves have co-existed for centuries. Th...

Menestyvätkö ja viihtyvätkö kanalinnut parhaiten tasaikäisinä vai eri-ikäisrakenteisina kasvate-tuissa metsissä? Tätä ei yksiselitteisesti tiedetä. Aikuisten kanalintujen havainnot yhtenä vuonna eivät kerro juuri mitään siitä, onko havaintoalue pysyvästi kyseisen lajin asuttama. Sen sijaan tiedetään lukuisia tapauksia, joissa lintulajin tiheydet al...

Tutkimusseloste Silva Fennican alkuperäisartikkelista. Tässä kuvataan kotimaan kielellä havununnan elinkaari ja merkitys metsätuholaisena (pääpiirteittäin) sekä vuoden 2019 seurannan menetelmät ja tulokset.

ISBN 978-952-326-897-5 (Online) ISSN 2342-7647 (Print) ISSN 2342-7639 (Online) URN http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-326-897-5

Moose Alces alces is abundant throughout the boreal zone. However, in the landscapes occupied by moose the density of predators and human influence often vary considerably, as do the arrival of spring and phenology of vegetation – all crucial factors for moose, especially during their calving period. During calving, female moose are faced with a di...

Avian diversity has long been used as a surrogate for overall diversity. In forest ecosystems, it has been assumed that vegetation structure, composition and condition have a significant impact on avian diversity. Today, these features can be assessed via remote sensing. This study examined how structure metrics from lidar data and narrowband indic...

In Britain ‘Chalara dieback’ (Hymenoscyphus fraxineus) was first confirmed in native ash in autumn 2012. Within just five years it has become widespread across the country and severe impacts are now evident in some woods. This article describes some of the changes occurring in Bradfield Woods National Nature Reserve (TL933575) as a result of the di...

Viiri H, Melin M, Nevalainen S. 2019. Kirjanpainajan feromoniseurannan tulokset 2018 (Results from the 2018 pheromone- based survey on spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus) abundance in Finland). In: Nuorteva H (ed.) Metsätuhot vuonna 2018 [Forest damage in 2018]. Luonnonvara- ja biotalouden tutkimus 85/2019. http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-326-878-4

In modern landscapes, small habitat patches such as woodlands isolated in an agricultural matrix, can be important refuges for wildlife. However, their value as habitat may be compromised by their size and thus knowledge of how habitat structure influences habitat quality is vital to maximize species diversity. This study examined the factors drivi...

A guide to using LiDAR data for conservation - best practices, data sources, methods and extensive literature collection.

Canopy cover (CC) is a variable used to describe the status of forests and forested habitats, but also the variable used primarily to define what counts as a forest. The estimation of CC has relied heavily on remote sensing with past studies focusing on satellite imagery as well as Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) using light detection and ranging (li...

Climate change, sustainably managed renewable raw materials and energy from biomass are some of the major challenges facing mankind in the 21st century. Globally, wood is the most important locally available renewable energy source for the human population. In Africa, fuelwood and charcoal production is the dominant use of woody biomass. When obtai...

http://www.worldagroforestry.org/downloads/Publications/PDFS/RP17428.pdf

Climate change, sustainably managed renewable raw materials and energy from biomass are some of the major challenges facing mankind in the 21st century. Globally, wood is the most important locally available renewable energy source for the human population. In Africa, fuelwood and charcoal production is the dominant use of woody biomass. When obtai...

Airborne laser scanning (ALS)-based mapping campaigns are expanding in numbers throughout the world. Lands are scanned for the purposes of topography mapping and forestry. Yet, as much of wildlife lives in forests, the data hold accurate information about the structure of wildlife habitats. This is valuable information, because vegetation structure...

Large herbivores can have large impacts on their habitats through extensive browsing. Similarly, human actions can have large impacts both on habitats and on the animals utilizing the habitats. In Finland, the increase in clear-cut areas has been highly positive for moose in particular, because these areas provide an easy and abundant source of win...

Ungulate–vehicle collisions are intensively studied in many countries. However, limited knowledge exists on how many animals struck actually die due to collisions and whether differences in traffic mortality occur between species living in the same area. In this study, we estimated a kill rate (the proportion of individuals killed/struck) and, in r...

In the analysis of forest resources, the use of ALS (airborne laser scanning) enables detailed three dimensional (3D) descriptions of forests and their vegetation. Simultaneously, ecologists have recognized that 3D information on vegetation is highly important in analyzing the habitat suitability of a given site. Recently, animals’ habitat preferen...

Several thousand ungulate–vehicle collisions occur in Finland every year. The annual number of deer accidents has been increasing, while the number of moose–vehicle collisions has been decreasing. In 2012, there were 3,880 reported deer–vehicle collisions and 1,321 crashes with moose. Thus, deer–vehicle collisions are an important traffic safety ri...