Sampling-based inventory of red-listed forest species

The UHARIT+ project carries out a sample-based inventory of red-listed species in commercial forests. The one hectares forest plots are randomly located in different types of commercial forests using stratified random sampling, and they cover various age classes and site types: from mature stands to fresh clear-cuts with retention tree patches and young forests, from barren to fertile site types, geographically spread out across Finland. Survey of this scale and based on random sampling has not been conducted before.

The target species groups of the inventory are species dependent on dead and living wood: polypores, lichens, mosses and saproxylic beetles. In addition to species inventories, the forest structure of the plots will be measured (living trees and dead tree composition) and special attention will be paid to the presence of special habitat-tree features (large aspens, rowans, goat willows, black alders, ashes, oaks, maples or elms) or the presence of remnants of old forest firest (large, burned stumps that are important for various lichens, for instance). In the case when a red-listed species is observed, the location is also recorded along with detailed information on the type of feature the species was found from

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The aim of the project is to produce inventory-based, more comprehensive and accurate information than before on the occurrence of red-listed forest species in different types of commercial forests, from young and mature plantations to forests ready for regeneration. As the project provides precise information on how the occurrence of a particular species depends on forest structural characteristics, the project’s results have direct practical significance for assessing the effectiveness and impact of the currents methods of how biodiversity is managed and conserved in commercial forestry.

The project’s results will be published in the form of peer-reviewed and open-access research articles; in addition, the data collected will be made available for use in the next Finnish Red List assessment (2029). At the end of the project, species records will be stored in the laji.fi database (Finnish Biodiversity Information Facility) of the Finnish Museum of Natural History.

The project runs from 2026 to 2028 and is co-funded by Natural Resources Institute Finland, UPM-Kymmene Oyj, Metsähallitus Forestry Ltd, Metsä Group, Tornator Oy, United Bankers Oy, WWF Finland, The Finnish Association for Nature Conservation, The Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK), Svenska lantbruksproducenternas centralförbund SLC r.f and Finnish Forest Industries.