Assessing the incidence of butt rot in Norway spruce in southern Finland

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze the occurrence of butt rot damage to Norway spruce in different parts of southern Finland and to quantify the associated loss of quality. The data used in the study are from the 9th National Forest Inventory and consist of 5998 sample plots and 8007 spruce sample trees of saw-timber size. To predict the probability of damage to stands and trees, logistic regression models were constructed. Separate models were made for the whole study area, for the area where the general risk of Heterobasidion root and butt rot damage is high and for the area where the damage frequency is relatively low. In the highrisk area, the probability of damage decreased with increasing elevation and increased with increasing temperature sum. In addition, damage was more common on fertile sites and less common on peatlands; and thick peat layer decreased the risk of damage. The probability of damage was also higher in stands where special or selective cuttings had been carried out. In the sample tree data, the probability of damage increased slightly with increasing diameter and age of the tree. In the low-risk areas, elevation was the only variable that explained the probability of damage to a spruce tree. Site fertility and previous cuttings (more than ten years ago) explained the probability of damage to stands only weakly. For spruce damaged by butt rot, the saw-timber volume was reduced, on average, by 60% both in the high-risk area and in the low-risk area.

Estimating species-specific diameter distributions and saw log recoveries of boreal forests from airborne laser scanning data and aerial photographs: a distribution-based approach

“…However, the estimation of defects that affect saw log recovery has been found troublesome ). The problem is more severe in spruce dominated stands, where the risk of butt rot (heterobasidion) damage is difficult to predict (Mattila and Nuutinen 2007). These notions do not diminish the fact that the results achieved here are not at a sufficient level, rather they confirm the matter that there is no soft option to predict the quality attributes of forest stands.…”

Climate change impacts, adaptive capacity, and vulnerability of European forest ecosystems

“…For instance, northward expansions of Lymantria dispar and L. monacha (Vanhanen et al, 2007) are expected, as well as range expansion and increased frequencies of mass propagation for Neodiprion sertifer (due to decreased winter egg mortality; Virtanen et al, 1996;Veteli et al, 2005) and Ips typographus (triggered by storm events and warm and dry summers; Okland and Bjornstad, 2003;Wermelinger, 2004). Longer growing seasons and higher temperatures will also benefit fungal diseases, such as Heterobasidion parviporum and H. annosum (Thor et al, 2005;Mattila and Nuutinen, 2007), whereas organisms especially adapted to severe environmental conditions (e.g. Gremmeniella abietina) can be less virulent with higher summer temperatures (Bernhold, 2008).…”

Integrating mechanistic disturbance models and stand dynamics of Norway spruce

“…Ips typographus L, Pityogenes chalcographus L.) are the most important biotic disturbance agents of Norway spruce in Finland (Nevalainen et al, 2015). The Norway spruce dominated stands in southern Finland are especially high-risk areas for root and stem rot damage (Mattila and Nuutinen, 2007). Herbivory and browsing by voles may cause significant local damages in young stands from time to time (Huitu et al, 2009).…”