Lichens and mosses are also sampled without damaging trees favoured by lichens.
Endangered lichens and mosses are mapped in the forests of OstrobothniaRead More »
Endangered lichens and mosses are mapped in the forests of Ostrobothnia Read More »
The drought of the last three weeks in particular has had a critical impact on water levels. A southerly air flow starting today will bring relief.
The water levels of inland and sea water have been surprising and worrying Finns throughout the rest of the summer.
For example, the shoreline of Hamina’s Pitkienhiekki sands has receded several metres, revealing barges and rocks. On Saimaa, on the other hand, residents have speculated that the low level of the lake is not simply the result of artificially lowering the water level.
Niittyniemi says that the last three weeks in particular are the reason why it is so dry now.
– It is normal that towards the end of summer the water levels drop and the fall rains starting in August correct the situation.\n Now we are still waiting for the autumn rains. It was really rainless from August.
An exceptionally low level of sea water has been observed in Etelä Kymenlaakso as well as on other beaches in Finland.
According to Niittyniemi, the total water volume of the Baltic Sea is currently small due to the low runoff. In addition, the north wind pushes the water away from the coast.
– The surface is minus 50 centimeters. According to meteorologists, the reading is relatively rare, only once in 10 years is it this low.
Relief from the drought is expected in a couple of days, when the wind turns to the south. However, it will take a couple of weeks for the sea level to stabilize.
– Rain is the only thing that will fix this situation, but even a small amount of rain will not change the situation. Because the trees still have leaves and the ground is like a dry sponge, runoff does not occur right away, says Niittyniemi.
Rainfall accounts for water level heights. In the southeast, this year’s precipitation was concentrated during the snowy season.
– Few may remember that there was a lot of snow in the winter for a long time, almost a record amount in the southeast corner. Since then, the amount of precipitation has started to decrease here, says Niittyniemi.
Water bodies of different sizes react differently to low rainfall. For example, Saimaa has its own rhythm for when the water rises and when it falls.
– Now in the middle of September, the surface of Saimaa is 10 centimeters lower than normal. People’s knowledge of the exceptional lowness is due to the fact that in the next few years, Saimaa’s water level has been above average. There is still 40 centimeters to go from the current situation to the lower limit of the normal value.
According to Niittyniemi, large inland waters are therefore not exceptionally low at the moment.
In small bodies of water, on the other hand, the drought appears faster. For example, at flow points, the lack of water can be dramatic.\n In rivers and small streams, it may also have an effect on the spawning of migratory fish.
– If the water is warm and scarce at the same time, the situation is bad for the fish.
Niittyniemi reminds us that water level fluctuations are part of nature. In lakes, the exposure of shores has its own effect, for example, on shore vegetation and species.
– On the other hand, if the water gets really low, for example in lush lakes, the risk of lack of oxygen increases.
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The Värriö research station clearly shows signs of northern climate change. The climate at the research station in Salla is similar today to what it was 300 kilometres to the south just over 40 years ago.
Signs of climate change are most evident in the Arctic and the northern coniferous forest belt.
– The pace of change is so rapid here and there is no end in sight at the moment, so there is nothing to do but worry, says Mikko Sipilä at Värriö research station.
The atmospheric scientist bases his concerns on international studies and observations made at Värriö research station over the past 50 years, among other things.
– The temperature has risen here in December by four degrees in about 50 years, and the tree line has been getting higher and higher. The snow-covered period has shortened by three weeks in the last 40 years, Sipilä lists the changes in the climate of the Värriö area.
Finland’s expertise in atmospheric research is of an internationally high standard and has received worldwide recognition. At the Center for Atmospheric Science, very sensitive measuring devices have been developed, and researchers’ research articles have been published in a large number of prestigious scientific journals in the field.
In some places, more sightings have been reported than last year. However, they only give an indication of the number of ticks. Lyme disease and tick-borne encephalomyelitis, on the other hand, have so far been much less frequent than last year.
– I never thought there could be so many.
When he lived in Vaasa, Uhlgren didn’t come across many ticks. During his eight years in Turku, he has been bitten by them in fifteen summers.
The warm late summer kept the ticks active, and the Punkkilive.fi website, run by the University of Turku and pharmaceutical company Pfizer, received almost 3 000 sightings from the Turku region in August alone.
However, overall there are clearly fewer entries from the Turku region and the capital region than last year.
On the other hand, further north in the Vaasa, Kokkola and Oulu regions, more sightings have accumulated than last year.
According to him, it’s because we’ve learned to live with ticks: vaccinations have also been taken outside of Uusimaa, Northern Finland and Åland, and tick checks, tick removal and monitoring of symptoms are familiar.
More than 74,000 tick sightings have been recorded throughout the country so far.
Last year, September was a busy reporting month, and observations were still made in November. Researchers are also interested in how long the ticks’ active season is.
– Inevitably, there is a connection between things, but tick life also correlates with the population, meaning that a lot of observations come from places where there are a lot of people.
Field surveys, however, seem to confirm what the observation map tells. For example, many sightings have been reported in Kumpula, Helsinki, but only a few in Seurasaari. Field surveys have given similar results regarding the number of ticks.
The chief administrative physician Heikki Kaukoranta from Vaasa also believes that the number of ticks can vary greatly locally, but remain in the dark on the map.
– Maalahti, with 5,500 inhabitants, may have the same number of ticks as Vaasa, with 66,000 inhabitants, but there are fewer notifiers.
On the other hand, both Sormunen and Uhlgren believe that some people have lost the urge to report their findings.
– How much do the people living in the archipelago even report, because the tick is already like a mosquito – a part of everyday life? ponders Uhlgren.
Arttu Uhlgren does a lot of boating, and woodpeckers are always welcome from the archipelago. He got his first tick in Mariehamn, and then it was still terrible.
– I got a bit of a feeling that this is where it will die now. Now I’m already used to ticks, but such a number (57) is disturbing, says Uhlgren.
An exceptional tick avalanche hit Jungsfruskär, near Åland. There were two friends and a dog on the nature trail; their balance is a couple of ticks per man and five in the dog.
Uhgren has experience over the years that punks don’t seem to care about others.
– I have a strange way of attracting ticks. If you and your spouse are in a mushroom, I also collect ticks.
Only once has Uhlgren had to take a course of antibiotics, when one tick had managed to avoid the daily inspection. The tick situation still does not limit his movement.
There are various types of flying squirrel posts in several places around Finland, but there is no evidence that any flying squirrel has ever used them.
The wood grab of the crane truck grabs a 15-meter high impregnation wood post on Kuitinmäentien in Espoo. However, this is no ordinary electricity pole. At the end of the post there are two cross-beams of just under a meter for flying squirrels.
In Finland and the capital region as well, there are already quite a variety of implementations for flying squirrel poles.
– There are such design versions and some consultants even suggest metal poles. In Espoo’s Laajalahti, there are real pines like that, which have been stuck upright to grow, Lundgren lists.
The poles that are being erected now aim to connect the Finnoo bird wetland from the south and the northern side of the seashore to the Friisinkallio nature reserve and the Espoo Central Park. The area is an official provincial ecological connection, even at the provincial level.
Deer flies can cause purulent sores and long-lasting symptoms. Moose flies, which also thrive on humans, have already spread to the Arctic Circle.
Flies are best found after a trip to the forest, when you can open your hair.
– When they bite that neck, it can be quite a sore for several months, from which the wet drips quite properly, Hakkarainen says.
Hakkarainen is not the only one with symptoms from deer fly stings.
– The deer fly causes itchy skin reactions, some of which are prolonged. People know how to treat them well themselves with cortisone creams and antihistamines, Heino describes.
However, Mirka Hakkarainen has not visited a doctor but has treated the bites herself.
Hakkarainen spends time in the forest picking berries, mushrooms, hunting and training dogs.
– When deer flies start stinging the scalp, they are the easiest to find, sums up Hakkarainen.
According to Juha Heino, there are also people who have prolonged symptoms from deer flies. Some have not been aware of deer flies, and therefore have not known how to protect themselves when going into the forest.
– The skin reactions are itchy, reddening, just like any sting or bite. They can even have lumps. If the reaction is prolonged, stronger cortisone is needed.
At best, Mirka Hakkarainen has dug 34 deer flies from her head at home after the trip. Now the situation is getting easier, as the cool mornings make the deer flies fit, but when the weather warms up, they wake up again.
According to a group of researchers led by the University of Cambridge, human activity is often behind the issues that threaten the seas.
Mining of lithium from the depths of the oceans, overfishing of deep-sea species and the unexpected effects of land-based wildfires on the seas. These are some of the fifteen questions that experts say we should address now.
As a result of the work of a group of researchers led by the University of Cambridge, a list of dangers threatening the diversity of seas and coasts was created. The article has been published in Nature ecology
In the spirit of the annual horizon analysis, which deals with conservation issues, 30 experts from different parts of the world assess what kind of effects different human activities can have on marine and coastal ecosystems in the next decade.
Several of the observed issues are related to the utilization of marine natural resources. For example, deep-sea saltwater basins are unique marine environments with a wide variety of life, but also large salt deposits containing lithium.
Kolar’s Hannukainen iron mine project and its neighboring Kaunisvaara mine in Sweden are in the area affected by an earthquake-sensitive line running from southwest to northeast.
Pebbles will be returned to Sonnanjoki as spawning grounds for lake trout, and the shoreline will be thinned out as a living space for the fry.
More than 80 individuals were caught from Ylöjärvi’s cat population in August, but several dozen cats remained in the wild.
What to do with abused, semi-feral cats? What does it cost?
The volunteers of the Cat Corner association had to think about the issue in Pirkanmaa after a herd of more than a hundred semi-feral cats was found in the countryside of Ylöjärvi at the end of August.
More than 80 cats were lured from the herd at one time. Dozens of cats were still left wandering in nature, and they are going to be lured today, Friday. Such a large herd has never come to Kissankulma (http://www.kissankulma.com/) at one time before.
Rescuing the cats and then food, chipping, vaccinations, sterilization and other care is a multi-thousand-euro expense item for the Kissankulma association.
