Climatic and Economic Factors Affecting the Annual Supply of Wild Edible Mushrooms and Berries in Finland

Abstract

Finnish non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are valued on the national and international markets. Yet, the annual marketed quantities vary considerably, causing instability in supply chains. Thus, climatic and economic factors affecting the annually aggregated supply of top-marketed mushrooms (ceps, milk caps, and chanterelle) and berries (bilberry, cowberry, and cloudberry) in Finland were studied. Data on mushroom and berry market prices (€/kg) and quantities (kg) were obtained from the statistics on annual quantities of berries and mushrooms bought by organized trade and industry in Finland (1978–2016). The species-specific supply functions were described as linear regression models, where annually aggregated quantities were predicted as a function of climatic and economic variables. Our results suggested that climatic variables influenced the marketed quantities of NTFPs through the biological yields of berries and mushrooms, and that the market price had a negative effect on the marketed quantities of ceps, milk caps, and berries. The markets for NTFPs have become more international at the second half of the study period (1999–2016), modifying the price-quantity relationships of ceps, milk caps and cloudberries. Additionally, the number of visas issued to Thai pickers increased the marketed quantities of bilberries and cowberries.

Forest land use discontinuity and northern red oak Quercus rubra introduction change biomass allocation and life strategy of lingonberry Vaccinium vitis-idaea

“…Centuries of traditional use of V. vitis-idaea have contributed to the high interest in this species, which is currently enhanced by the growing fascination with ecological lifestyles and nature-based health foods (Šišák et al 2016;Hamunen et al 2019;Tahvanainen et al 2019). Berries and their preserves are sold both in domestic and international markets.…”

Seasonality in Human Interest in Berry Plants Detection by Google Trends

“…Such a keyword with relatively clear associations with specific phenomena enables temporal and spatial variation in RSV to be validated with biological observation (Proulx et al, 2014). However, time series or statistics data usable for a validation source for the seasonal pattern of human interest in berry species were the indirect explanatory factor: for example, supply in the agricultural markets and retail stores, routine observation at botanical gardens or institutes (e.g., Roslin et al, 2021), and climate conditions affecting berry growth (e.g., Krebs et al, 2009;Nestby et al, 2019;Tahvanaian et al, 2019) in the target area. Event dates that cue people to make an internet search for berries (e.g., festivals featuring specific berries and announcement of wild berry harvesting periods from local government in Russia) are considered a regionally specific condition.…”

Lessons learned from assessing the cover and yield of bilberry and lingonberry using the national forest inventories in Finland and Sweden

“…Turtiainen et al (2011) estimated that in Finland approximately 5-6% of the total bilberry yields and almost 10% of lingonberries were collected between 1997 and 1999. Commercial berry picking by foreign seasonal pickers has increased the utilisation rates of wild berries in the Nordic countries (Tahvanainen et al 2019). Official and unofficial numbers show that 5000-8000 such people have been active in recent years, primarily in northern Sweden.…”