Oulanka study investigates water use by trees in winters with little frost

Two research projects will renew and deepen our understanding of how changes in snow and rainfall affect the water cycle in trees.

The Oulanka research station is investigating how water use by trees reacts to the cold winter.

Meters installed last summer in the pine trees of Oulanka reveal changes in the water cycle in the forest.

Boreal, or northern coniferous forests cover 33% of the world’s forest area, and 66% of the water used by forests passes through trees.

In Finland, 74 % of the land is covered by forest. Understanding the water circulation in forests is important as the relative proportion of snow and rainfall changes rapidly in the north.

With two research projects, Boreal Forest Water Fluxes and Boreal Trees Water Use, the aim is to renew and deepen the understanding of how changes in snow and rain affect the use of trees.

For comparisons, the forest is made by shoveling snow layers of different thicknesses from 25 centimeters to a cinema over a meter high.

Most of the measurements of the Oulanka research station will only begin when the water intake of the trees begins.