%0 Research article
%T Establishment and height development of harvested and naturally regenerated Scots pine near the timberline in North-East Finnish Lapland
%A Hallikainen, Ville
%A Hyppönen, Mikko
%A Hyvönen, Juha
%A Niemelä, Juhani
%D 2007
%J Silva Fennica
%V 41
%N 1
%R doi:10.14214/sf.308
%U https://silvafennica.fi/article/308
%X Researchers and professionals in practical forestry have faced problems  concerning the regeneration success of Scots pine in natural  regeneration near the timberline in North-East Lapland. The aim of the  study was to analyze the seedling establishment and seedling height  development of Scots pine in seed-tree stands in the area. The average  number of living pine seedlings in the study stands was about 1000 ha<sup>–1</sup>,  but there was considerable variation between the stands. The seedling  density was modelled using a multinomial logistic regression with a  random factor. Forest site type and the time since seed-tree cutting  were the most significant explanatory variables in the model. The  probability of reaching the acceptable seedling density was higher on  dry site types than on the more fertile ones. The probability increased  with the time elapsed since the regeneration activities. Effective  temperature sum and the number of intermediate pines also positively  affected the probability, but the presence of residual trees negatively.  On northern and eastern slopes the probability was lower than on  southern and western ones. Seedling height was modelled using a linear  mixed model. The age of a dominant seedling was the most positively  effective explanatory variable in the height development model. Other  positively affecting significant predictors were time since seed-tree  cutting, number of intermediate birches, and distance between a seedling  and the nearest seed tree. Degree of paludification had a negative  effect. The study suggests that the regeneration of Scots pine in  North-East Lapland is a relatively slow process.