DENÍK Z EXKURZE V OULANKA NP - přikládám část seminární práce jen jako zajimavost co ještě se v Oulance může vidět (část seminární práce)

1. INTRODUCTION

As a student of the Scandinavia Studies I took part in the Field Course at the Oulanka Research Station situated in the Oulanka NP. We set off on Monday 10^th and returned on Friday 14^th. The purpose of the course was to get familiar with the Scandinavian nature and environment and see everything “face to face”. Our teachers and guides were Erkki and Leo from The University of Oulu. This work is supposed to be a small logbook of our experience and knowledge gained during the course.

2. THE FIRST DAY OF THE FIELD COURSE

2.1. TRIP FROM OULU TO OULANKA NP

The program of the first day was to move from Oulu to Oulanka NP and make several stops at places of interest on the way.

The first stop was made in an old sand quarry which has been mined. The layer of sand is quite thin over there, about 4-6 meters, and lies on bedrock made of stone. This sandy soil is not very favourable for wide diversity of species so we could see only pine trees inhabiting this area. Another disadvantage is the infirm ground which is not very suitable for construct engineering in this area. On the other hand, the sand is a great water deposit. The thickness of the sand layer and its existence itself was caused by rising of Scandinavia which has been elevating since the end of the last Ice Age 10 000 years ago (the highest thickness of an ice shield during the coldest period was about 3000 m). The measurements have proved that it is more than one mm per year and it is more intensive on the west coast than on the east part of Finland. As a result of this movement, rivers running in the east-west direction can not flow out to the Gulf of Botnic as easy as if the rising was everywhere same. Another result is that the major part of Finland had to be under the sea level once while the coast line is still moving as Scandinavia is rising. According to the scientists Scandinavia is going to be lifted by another 200 m.

The next stop was made because of Finnish peat bogs which occupy vast areas of Finland. They are very good for the water storage as well as the above mentioned sand areas. Peat bogs have started to develop when the last ice age was over and since then there is about five meters of peat. A moss which grows on the top of the peat contains about 95% of water and it is an excellent antiseptic. Peat lands also used to be mined, however they are preserved nowadays.

The third stop was due to the forests and forestry in Finland. We went slightly of the road into the pine forest and there we found an uncovered soil horizon. The humus layer is very thin over there, just about 10 cm, and underneath there was a visible layer of ash coming from a fire 50 years ago. The trees were 40 years old since there was a huge clear cutting by that time. Despite the pine forest is very abundant in this area, this species represent a minority in Finland as the majority is covered by spruce forest. Lichens growing on trees are sign of a very clean environment and climate too. On the ground we could see many kinds of berries and forest is sometimes even more precious for the berries than for the wood itself. Berries are also very important for local citizens. Nowadays however, many pickers, originally from Asia, come during the harvest season to pick up the berries and sell them.

We also got to know that one farmer has about 100 – 150 reindeers in his herd on average.

3. THE SECOND DAY OF THE FIELD COURSE

3.1. LECTURE OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMAT IN FINLAND

Today’s lecture was presented by Leo and was dealing with Finnish and Oulanka´s physical geography.

Terms

Bedrock, Landscape, Soils, Waters, Climate

Geology

Scandinavia is mainly formed by Precambrian rocks which were created 550 million years ago and Finland has been eroded since then. There was no more activity which could have raised new mountains such as the Alps or the Himalaya. There is also one more interesting fact about Finland. It does not have any Paleozoic, Mesozoic or Tertiary sediment as there was no sea which could have formed rocks like limestone e.g. Nevertheless, Finland has a rich Quaternary history that started 1,6 million year BP by glacial and interglacial periods. The process of these periods have moved away most of the so-called middle age deposits and have left forms such as moraines (a till-filled oblong hill in front of a glacier), lakes and hills (formed in the direction of movement of the continental glacier), eskers (low oblong hill formed along earlier streams and small rivers running under a glacier), monadnocks (rounded residual hills), Palsa (similar to Pingo) and so on. Oulanka is also atypical due to carbonate-rich rocks at some part of the park. These rocks have high pH (about 9-10) what makes them highly alkalic. From another types of rock we could mention granite and schist which are the exact opposite, deeply acidic.

Waters

There are more than 187 000 lakes bigger than 500 square meters in Finland; however, their capacity doesn’t correspond the size since the lakes are shallow. Due to the rising of Scandinavia, the amount of moors and swamps is increasing too. As I have already mentioned, the rivers can not easily reach the western coast what causes them to hold their waters in moors and swamps. The fluvial activity is also very low.

Unsorted pieces of the lecture

Oulanka´s river corridor is a great access route for the eastern species.

There is also a NP on the Russian side of the border.

Ditching and clear cutting was carried out in 1960´ and 1970´.

There live 90 000 mooses in whole Finland.

Tar was a very precious export article in 18 and 19 century.

Climate is already more continental than oceanic.

3.2. HIIDENLAMPI NATURE TRAIL

Our first walk took place nearby the station at the Hiidenlampi Nature Trail. The loop has about 5 kilometers long and we made several stops in order to see how nature has been formed to its today’s shape and condition.

The Oulankajarvi River took after its name due to floods that took place relatively often and our first steps lead along it. The floods are caused by an absence of a dam or a lake upstream which could eventually hold the water coming from the upper parts of the Oulankajarvi’s river-basin. After a while, we came across rapids with the elevation of 25 meters, partly caused by the different bedrock on both sides. Then we walked up the hill and arrived to an area which used to be a seafloor of the White Sea. After having climbed the side of the river’s bank, we stopped by an old trunk cut a meter above the ground. It was done on purpose in order for deer having enough feed before the winter is over. We were also told about one “dispute” which was between two groups of scientist in 1960´-1970´. One side supported a theory that a wide decrease of moss and lichens is caused by high pollution coming from the Kola Peninsula in those days. Another theory was based on a very cold, long-lasting winter and frozen soil. The second one was proved to be the correct one at the end. At one moment we crossed a small meadow used for the production of hay that is afterwards stored in a hayloft, while deer is fattened by it in the winter time when snow covers all plants. At one moist place we passed by brackens that were actually introduced from the south. The entire excursion lasted around two and half hours and for me was very educational.

4. THE THIRD DAY OF THE FIELD COURSE

4.1. LECTURE OF FORESTRY AND THE ARTIC NATURE

Today’s lecture was presented by Erkki and was about Finnish forestry, adaptation of plants and animals, and local and global environmental´s issues.

Forest and Forestry

Several types of stress which are the local forests exposed to:

· The north (cold climate) – the biggest factor

· The man whit his axe (forestry)

· The reindeer activity

· The autumn moth

· The aerial pollutants from the Kola Peninsula

Some basic data:

· Annual growth of forest: 80 mil. hectares

· Annual cut: 50 mil. Hectares

· Total protected area in Finland: 10%

As we can se, the total amount of forests is growing and the situation is getting better since ca. 1980´.

Adaptation of plants to the artic environment

As far north as we were, the Northern Boreal Forest occurs. It has been developing over the decades and plants and animals always had to adapt to the new conditions (unless the conditions changed too enormously). It led, for an instance, to a creation of plant floors which can be divided into the following degrees: a floor of lichens, then mosses, herbs, bushes and last but not least a floor of trees. In the other words: a ground, middle and upper layer. The next “idea” how to survive in such conditions is an ability to keep green needles all over the year. It is the so-called “evergreenes” and it has an ecological significance as it helps to store nutrients effectively due to the longer lifetime. They are able to start photosynthesis immediately after snow melts.

To the other features of adaptation belong also these:

· life forms

· cold and dry resistances

· winter dormancy

· pollinating (by insect)

· flowering (fast planed)

· growth (quite rapid)

· snow itself helps by protecting ground and underground vegetation from the winter stresses such as cold and desiccation

Adaptation of animals to the artic environment

Animals are under pressure as well because of such hard conditions and they have also developed several methods how to survive in here:

· behavioral adaptations

· migration (such species as birds, caribous etc.)

· white well-insolated coat (artic fox etc.)

· decreased heat production

· lowered metabolic rate

· reduced body surface in comparison to the size (proportion)

· hibernation – dormancy

Threats for local environment

As in every country and in every environment there is always a certain amount of endangered species and this phenomenon is also present in Finland. In addition, the local environment has to deal with problems such as erosion, ditching (summit in 1970´), chemicals, urbanization and forestry, which has been the most crucial problems for many decades. From the global point of view we should mention Global Warming and the CO² accrual.

4.2. BRIEF REPORT OF OULANKA RESEARCH STATION

After Erkki had finished we had a chance to get familiar with the fundamental matters that are carried out at the station.

The idea for establishing the station in 1966 was based on a rare position of the Oulanka NP and a will to possess some “base camp” for new researches close to such unique conditions as are found here in the Oulanka NP. Namely it is the Oulankajoki River and its valley which is a certain kind of corridor running in a parallel direction that has already helped many species to migrate from the East. Another advantage is its location in the Taiga, the biggest biome on Earth. We can not forget to mention the unique biodiversity (hotspot area), many microclimates spread all over the park, rich mires, moors and peat bogs, variable topography, sediment formed after last Ice Age and finally a low human activity which is due to the remoteness from more populated areas.

4.3. HALF-DAY EXCURSION TO THE RUSSIAN BORDER

In the afternoon we set off on a small trip to the Russian border and old village at the frontier.

The collapse of the Soviet Union caused an increased enthusiasm for free travel on the both sides, Russian and Finish. However, after the several years of partial freedom in crossing borders, the conditions changed again leading to a deep isolation and a low trade between these two countries which actually have been continuing until these days. The second stop was made at a local cafeteria named after a flower - Calypso bulbosa, the symbol of Oulanka NP. The most interesting thing for me was how the population of the settlement is decreasing little by little. A century ago, there were about 70 youths and 400 adults, while there are only two children these days in the village. The weather was getting worse so we made only one more stop by trees which have been hacked off just about 10 cm above the ground. The intension was to cut the trees down and the easiest way how to achieve it was to cut them that way and let them to dry for a while. Then the trees are actually good for building houses and barns. One more appealing debate concerned Kuuasamo and its counterpart on the other side, Russian town Inarijarvi. The simple conclusion was that if there has not been the war, Inarijarvi may have been bigger than Kuuasamo.

5. THE FOURTH DAY OF THE FIELD COURSE

5.1. ALL-DAY TRIP TO JUUMA AREA

On Thursday an all-day trip to Juuma area was planned. Juuma is an astonishing place on the south part of Oulanka NP and consists of several lakes connected by, on local scale deep, canyons. Juuma is also nicknamed as a Paradise for botanists due to its unique microclimates where many rare and atypical species have been surviving. The canyons themselves have an origin in cracks which were, ten thousand years ago, filled in by ice and melting water while the surrounding bedrock was firm and intact. So the cracks were growing and getting bigger, wider and deeper little by little into their today’s shape. Needless to say, the process is still in progress. Having passed a few rope bridges on a very nice narrow path we stopped by a strange-looking tree with its top cut off and branches growing from one spot about two meters above the ground. The intension was to make an emergency “dwelling” for wandering inhabitant or for local ghosts and spirits. During the next stop Erkki had a word about forestry. He stated that forestry used to be a highest income for Finland. Therefore there is well-managed timber industry in this county. However, during 1960´-70´ Finland had to pay back money as reparation for the lost war and the most logical way how to overcome this difficulty was extensive and wide clear cutting that had a huge impact on the entire Finnish environment. Nowadays the situation is far better as the law does not allow such acts and people are for instance obliged to plant new trees after the cutting. They also have to pay attention to which species are being planted since the wider diversity of them can better resist changes, climate factors etc. While walking, we were passing tall trees and were very surprised after hearing that they are 600 years old and in the winter, one tree can carry 2-3 tons of snow loads. However, they looked like 100-year-old Czech trees due to the difficult local climate conditions. For lunch we stopped at a bank of a lake where a fire place was situated and afterwards we set off to rapids which offered beautiful scenery. There was also a little renovated mill at the side of the rapids which was powered by water. Our future steps led to Rukka.

Rukka is a small town with a developed skiing resort which may cause problems to the local environment. For instants, the entire hill which the resort is spread out on has been slowly reshaped in order to improve skiing possibilities and accelerate the transportation of recreants.

The last break we made was in order to see a comparison between an area without reindeer living there and an area populated by them. The difference was very visible as the vegetation within the protected area was far richer.

6. THE FIFTH DAY OF THE FIELD COURSE

6.1. LECTURE OF ASTRONOMY AND NORTHERN LIGHTS

Today’s lecture was related to Space and Northern lights and was presented by Thomas Ulich, a German scientist nowadays working for the University of Oulu. The lesson was well-guided and we again got to know a plenty of fascinating information.

Here are some pieces which were not in the PPT slides

· from the northern hemisphere you look towards the center of Milky Way

· in higher latitude pipelines can not be connected together and have to be divided due to the northern lights which generate radiation and consequently cause rusting

· can affect disorders in measurement by sensitive apparatus (mm)

· radius of long distance transmission can increase during a Sun storm

· during one Sun storm astronauts can be exposed to as high radiation as on the Earth within one year

· in all languages is aura borealis translated as lights or flashes, except one, Finnish. In mythology it is interpreted as Fox fire (REVONTULIA)

6.2. TRIP BACK TO OULU

On the way back we visited a pottery supplemented by a store where you could buy various kinds of offered products, mainly with Finnish or Lapland’s motive. We also stopped on a real mountain what was something curious in such a flat land.

7. CONCLUSION

In one word I could only say that the trip was marvelous. Where else could you go to untouched nature and have such professional guides as we had. In other words, it is a completely different experience when you read information about what you see around on a wooden desk than when someone else tells you everything in real time and face to face. That is where I see the biggest advantage of our trip. In the following we also had a very nice company and having sauna and spending evenings in a kota every day is very pleasant as well. Simply put, I feel very privileged to be a participant of this course.