The challenge of combining variable retention and prescribed burning in Finland

• Published in: Ecological Processes
• Main Authors: Lindberg, Henrik, Punttila, Pekka, Vanha-Majamaa, Ilkka
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Springer 2021
• Subjects: biodiversity; conservation areas; fire-dependent species; forest certification; red-listed species; restoration burnings; bioyhteisö; suojelualueet; palosta riippuvaiset lajit; metsän tutkimus; uhanalaiset lajit; korjauspalot; Fennoscandia
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10138/334209; https://doi.org/10.1186/s13717-019-0207-3

Historically, wildfires have played an important role in forest dynamics in Fennoscandia. In Finland, the annually burned area has diminished in recent decades. This has led to a decline of fire-adapted habitat types and species, many of which have become red-listed. In Fennoscandia, there is a long tradition of silvicultural burnings to enhance tree regeneration. Recently, prescribed burnings have been modified for biodiversity goals following the recommendations that have emerged from ecological research. Prominent biodiversity gains can be obtained by combining sufficient retention levels with burnings. Consequently, burning and retention have been recommended by recent national red-list assessments, strategies, and forest-management guidelines, and they have been adopted in forest-certification standards in Finland. Contrary to these recommendations, the opposite development has taken place: (1) the ecological efficiency of the criterion concerning prescribed burning in the PEFC forest-certification standard has been impaired, (2) state funding to encourage private forest owners to apply prescribed burning was reduced significantly, and (3) prescribed burnings have been abandoned altogether in commercial state-owned forests. Traditional burnings with variable retention have also been partially replaced with burning of small retention-tree groups. This new method is less risky and cheaper, but its ecological benefits are questionable because small-sized fires produce much smaller areas of burned forest soil with less fire-affected wood than traditional silvicultural burnings. Generally, the widely accepted goal to increase burnings with retention appears difficult to achieve and would require stronger political will and economic support from the government. We identified several actions that could improve the weakened situation of fire-dependent biodiversity and recommend the following: (1) setting a clear goal and ensuring sufficient funding for the burnings—including restoration burnings in conservation ...