Ensuring the survival of forest tree seedlings in a changing environment

The aim of the project is to ensure successful forest regeneration under changing climatic conditions and shifts in seedling production. Extreme weather events caused by climate change, such as snowless winters and spring drought periods, weaken seedling survival and highlight the importance of quality, handling, and storage. At the same time, reducing the use of peat requires functional alternative growing media for container seedling production.

In the project’s seedling cultivation experiments, fertilization will be optimized for various peat‑free growing media by testing different container sizes and using several tree species. The effects of the growing media on seedling frost and drought tolerance will be tested both experimentally and in the field. The rooting, condition, growth, and carbon sequestration of seedlings grown in alternative substrates will be studied in regeneration areas. Regeneration outcomes will be evaluated over multiple years. The project will use remotely readable, wireless systems to monitor weather conditions in young stands. High‑risk regeneration sites will be identified by combining field measurements of seedlings, stand‑level environmental data, and open datasets. The project will disseminate the latest research‑based knowledge on seedling quality, handling, and storage to practitioners.

The results can be used in the production of container seedlings and growing media, as well as to support decision‑making by practitioners and to improve risk management in forest regeneration.

The project is carried out by the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) in collaboration with participating companies. The investment project "Remotely readable, wireless measurement systems for forest plantation sites" forms a project pair with this development project.