Previous project The Researchers Organizations International contacts

Previous project

The results from one earlier project dealing with 'the Condition of Norway Spruce along the Gulf of Bothnia' have been published. You can also take a look at the summaries from that report on the previous page. The summaries are available in English, Finnish and Swedish. You will also find additional researchers with knowledge of coastal areas and forest health as authors in this report. Hannu Raitio was the co-ordinator of that project, as well as editor of the report.

Researchers

Here is a list of researchers who in some way are involved in our project. Use the syntax firstname.surname@metla.fi to send e-mail to these persons.

Some of us also have personal homepages. The homepages are linked to the names below. The descriptions of expertise are my own, see their homepages for more detailed (and accurate) information. Or contact them personally!

Hannu Raitio John Derome Antti-Jussi Lindroos Päivi Merilä Aino Smolander	Hannu Raitio is a major authority on forest health and nutrition. John Derome and Antti-Jussi Lindroos work with soils and air pollution; Päivi Merilä with all subjects mentioned and with microbiology as well. Aino Smolander is assisting her with questions concerning nitrogen.
Kristian Karlsson Hans-Gustav Gustavsen Jyrki Hytönen Eira-Maija Savonen	Kristian Karlsson is specializing in coastal area forest management. He is studying growth and yield in this project with the assistant of Hans Gustavsen (growth models), Jyrki Hytönen (nitrogen deposition & fur farms) and Eira-Maija Savonen (alder).
Eero Kubin	Jyrki Hytönen is also studying regeneration together with Eero Kubin, ecologist and head of Muhos Research Station.
Leila Korpela Antti Reinikainen Juha-Pekka Hotanen	Leila Korpela has planned vegetation and biodiversity studies together with Antti Reinikainen and J-P Hotanen. Unfortunately scarse fundings have prevented them to start their research to date.
Jyrki Kangas Ron Store	Jyrki Kangas is an expert on multi-objective forest planning and Ron Store a GIS researcher. They will hopefully assist in conducting case studies on forest management planning in coastal areas later on.

Organizations

The research stations have their own homepages, which can be reached through the main page of the Finnish Forest Research Institute or directly from this list of Research Stations.

Our regional research project is a multidisciplinary one, which means that we have a close relation to many projects working with similar topics, but on a national or international level. You will find these connections on our list of research projects.

We co-operate closely with the Forestry Centre for Coastal Areas, which is the organization providing guidelines for forestry in private owned forest (almost all forests in this region). Unfortunately they are not yet available on the web.

A co-operation partner, which you will find on the web, is the Environmental Centre in Western Finland.

Both organizations mentioned have their main offices in Vasa, the central city in western Finland.

International contacts

Our project is dealing with regional features, which do not occure exactly the same anywhere else. That makes it a bit difficult to make professional connections to other regions in the world even if there are wast areas of coastal forests in other places.

One clear exeption is of course Sweden, since we share the Gulf of Bothnia between us. Swedish researchers have examined rapid land uplift and plant succession earlier. Johan Svensson is continuing this work at the present. Read this short outline for a research project of his. Or visit the Department of Forest Ecology at the Univerity of Agricultural Sciences in Umeå, Sweden.

I know that canadian researchers are working with land uplift and plant succession in the Hudson Bay area in Canada, but I have not established any connection yet.

Mats Gustafsson has a web-page presenting research into marine aerosols and forests in southern Sweden. This page includes links to "salty" sites in several other countries.

Andreas Kirchhefer informed me of his studies of past climatic conditions using dendrochronological methods at the northern coast of Norway. He is working at the Institute of Biology and Geology at the University of Tromso. Check out the current weather at the University in Tromso. This University is way up north (see the picture on the weather page).

The effects of wind on trees is a common feature of interest in most coastal areas. An European project, STORMS, has focused on wind as well as fire and snow. These pages include lots of potential connections for a coastal area forest researcher. There are additional STORMS-pages at Joensuu University in Finland. Impact of Wind on Forests is also a subject in IUFRO.

Updated 4.3.1999