%0 Research article
%T Tree mortality in a Pinus sylvestris dominated boreal forest landscape in Vienansalo wilderness, eastern Fennoscandia
%A Rouvinen, Seppo
%A Kuuluvainen, Timo
%A Siitonen, Juha
%D 2002
%J Silva Fennica
%V 36
%N 1
%R doi:10.14214/sf.554
%U https://silvafennica.fi/article/554
%X Tree mortality and its causes and spatial pattern were examined along  four transects (width 40 m, length 2550–3960 m), with a total length of  12 190 m and area of 48.8 ha, in a Pinus sylvestris L. dominated, boreal  forest landscape. Tree mortality was determined within a time window of  3 years by identifying those trees (dbh ≥ 10 cm) along the transects  that fitted into one of the three categories: 1) current mortality:  trees that had died during the year of survey (1998), 2) recent  mortality: trees that had died during the year (1997) before the survey  year, and 3) predicted mortality: trees that were expected to die during  the year (1999) following the survey year. Long-term tree mortality was  studied on 10 plots (20 m x 100 m) by dating 87 dead trees using  dendrochronological methods. The mean current mortality was 1.4 m3 ha–1  (3.7 trees ha–1). Both the recent and predicted mortalities were also  1.4 m3 ha–1. Mortality was, on the average, higher on peatlands than on  mineral soils. The highest mortality was found within an area recently  flooded by beavers. Over half of the examined trees (52%) were judged to  die without any visible signs of an external abiotic cause. At the  landscape scale, tree mortality was continuous although somewhat  aggregated in space. Of the 66 dated standing dead Pinus trees, 23 (35%)  had died during the 19th century and two during the 18th century,  demonstrating that dead Pinus can remain standing for long periods of  time before falling. Our results show that autogenic mortality of  individual trees or small groups of trees was the predominant mode of  disturbance in this Pinus dominated landscape.