Vähätalo, A., Tikka, P. & Lehtiniemi, T. 2011: Preface: The global environmental change — messages from birds. Boreal Env. Res. 16 (suppl. B): 1.
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Virkkala, R. & Rajasärkkä, A. 2011: Northward density shift of bird species in boreal protected areas due to climate change. Boreal Env. Res. 16 (suppl. B): 2–13.
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Fox, A. D. 2011: Eco-energy and urbanisation: messages from birds about wind turbine proliferation. Boreal Env. Res. 16 (suppl. B): 14–25.
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Väänänen, V.-M., Nummi, P., Lehtiniemi, T., Luostarinen, V.-M. & Mikkola-Roos, M. 2011: Habitat complementation in urban barnacle geese: from safe nesting islands to productive foraging lawns. Boreal Env. Res. 16 (suppl. B): 26–34.
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Halkka, A., Lehikoinen, A. & Velmala, W. 2011: Do long-distance migrants use temperature variations along the migration route in Europe to adjust the timing of their spring arrival? Boreal Env. Res. 16 (suppl. B): 35–48.
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Lindén, A. 2011: Using first arrival dates to infer bird migration phenology. Boreal Env. Res. 16 (suppl. B): 49–60.
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Lehikoinen, A., Heikinheimo, O. & Lappalainen, A. 2011: Temporal changes in the diet of great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis) on the southern coast of Finland — comparison with available fish data. Boreal Env. Res. 16 (suppl. B): 61–70.
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Suhonen, S., Nummi, P. & Pöysä, H. 2011: Long term stability of boreal lake habitats and use by breeding ducks. Boreal Env. Res. 16 (suppl. B): 71–80.
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Virkkala, R. & Rajasärkkä, A. 2011: Northward density shift of bird species in boreal protected areas due to climate change. Boreal Env. Res. 16 (suppl. B): 2–13.

Species ranges are expected to move latitudinally poleward because of the warming climate. We asked whether northward patterns are observable also in population densities of land birds in Finnish protected areas such that temporal population changes would be most pronounced toward species range boundaries. We compared population changes of northern species, southern species, and species distributed over the whole country from 1981–1999 to 2000–2009 in 96 protected areas. Northern species showed the greatest decrease in southern Finnish protected areas, and southern birds increased most in northern Finnish protected areas. Among species distributed over the whole country, there were population density shifts toward northern Finnish protected areas. Two thirds of the species that decreased most were northern, whereas many of the species showing the greatest increase were southern habitat generalists. The results show that there are already northward density shifts occurring that probably precede future species range shifts.

Fox, A. D. 2011: Eco-energy and urbanisation: messages from birds about wind turbine proliferation. Boreal Env. Res. 16 (suppl. B): 14–25.

By 2010, 51% of humans live in cities, rising to 70% by 2050. Energy consumption increases exponentially with the proportion of the populace living in conurbations. Fossil fuels supply 85% of global human energy, yet many acknowledge the need to switch to renewable sources, especially given recent concerns over nuclear power safety. Finland will consume 14% more electrical energy by 2035, plus another 14% were the country to switch to electric cars. Such increased demand could be met by 2730 x 2.3 MW wind turbines (covering 1050 km² of sea). Wind turbines may cause displacement from bird feeding areas, barriers to movement, modifications to habitats and collision mortality. Effective implementation of Strategic Environmental Assessments and Environmental Impact Assessment should guide sensitive positioning of wind farm development to avoid conflicts with avian populations. Experiences from existing developments, combined with modelling approaches, must ensure attempts generate renewable energy from wind do not impact unacceptably upon local nature.

Väänänen, V.-M., Nummi, P., Lehtiniemi, T., Luostarinen, V.-M. & Mikkola-Roos, M. 2011: Habitat complementation in urban barnacle geese: from safe nesting islands to productive foraging lawns. Boreal Env. Res. 16 (suppl. B): 26–34.

Since the first breeding in the Helsinki area (60°N, 20°E) in 1989, barnacle geese (Branta leucopsis) have increased drastically. In 2010, the number of nesting geese was estimated at 1440 pairs while the post-breeding population was 8400 individuals. The Helsinki area was clearly an open niche for this arctic species. Geese nested in the relatively natural archipelago and broods used urban lawns for foraging. This behaviour may indicate that by nesting on small islands geese avoid predation by terrestrial mammalian predators and by moving to urban lawns broods decrease predation risk by avian predators. Furthermore, during the autumn, geese foraged on urban lawns and in cultivated fields and roosted in coastal waters. The use of post-breeding habitat is again likely linked with predator avoidance. We suggest that the successful establishment of the barnacle geese is due to a combination of high brood production and low predation rate, and this is possible to achieve by using the landscape in a complementary manner.

Halkka, A., Lehikoinen, A. & Velmala, W. 2011: Do long-distance migrants use temperature variations along the migration route in Europe to adjust the timing of their spring arrival? Boreal Env. Res. 16 (suppl. B): 35–48.

Arrival of long-distance migrants (LDMs) has been frequently linked to temperature by correlating the arrival dates with temperature from one or a few sites along the supposed migration route. We used a site-independent approach, and correlated the arrival dates of LDMs with the temperature gridded over the entire Europe to study the spatial extent of correlations. We found extensive and statistically significant spatial correlation patterns between the arrival dates and the monthly temperature during or a month preceding arrival. These correlations were in most cases strongest 500–2000 km from the sites of arrival. The correlations indicate that most of the LDMs slowed down or speeded up migration according to yearly variations in temperature or linked phenology. This adjustment of migration speed along the migration route may help LDMs match their arrival to the annual variability of phenology in their breeding grounds.

Lindén, A. 2011: Using first arrival dates to infer bird migration phenology. Boreal Env. Res. 16 (suppl. B): 49–60.

Understanding phenological responses to climate change requires explicit quantitative estimation of phenological distributions. First arrival dates (FAD) are frequently used, but biased, noisy and qualitative metrics of migration phenology. Despite critique against the use of FAD, better understanding of the risks and possible usefulness of this readily available data type is needed. I here present a stochastic model for the number of observed migrating birds during a given season. Firstly, I simulate data according to the model to quantify and describe how FAD are affected by population size, observation effort and observability, and provide some guidelines for interpreting earlier results and doing statistical correction. Secondly, I describe principles for how FAD and complementary daily migration data can be combined to fit phenological distribution functions, providing coherent quantitative measures of phenology. Using data on tree pipits (Anthus trivialis) I demonstrate how this can be done using generalized linear models.

Lehikoinen, A., Heikinheimo, O. & Lappalainen, A. 2011: Temporal changes in the diet of great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis) on the southern coast of Finland — comparison with available fish data. Boreal Env. Res. 16 (suppl. B): 61–70.

The population increase of the piscivorous cormorant in the archipelago areas of the Baltic Sea, Finland, has raised discussion about the potential harm to the commercial fisheries. We investigated the diet of the cormorant in the western Gulf of Finland and compared the results with commercial and test fishing catches from nearby waters. The most numerous species in the diet were eelpout, roach, perch and three-spined stickleback, respectively. The annual proportion of perch and roach decreased, while the proportion of sticklebacks in the diet increased significantly during 2002–2010. At the same time, the size of prey eelpout decreased significantly. No decreasing trends were found in gillnet monitoring catches of perch or roach, or in the commercial perch catches in nearby waters during 2005–2010. Thus, based on the available fish data, no impacts of cormorant predation on the local perch and roach populations were detected.

Suhonen, S., Nummi, P. & Pöysä, H. 2011: Long term stability of boreal lake habitats and use by breeding ducks. Boreal Env. Res. 16 (suppl. B): 71–80.

Boreal lake ecosystems are changing due to natural and man-made factors. We studied the long-term stability of the habitat structure in boreal lakes and the habitat use of three duck species: the mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), common teal (Anas crecca) and common goldeneye (Bucephala clangula). The characteristics of the lake habitat were recorded in 1989 and 2009, and duck pairs and broods were surveyed between 1989–1991 and 2007–2009 at 51 lakes in southern Finland. We found some notable lake-specific changes: lakes that had gained more luxuriant vegetation were influenced by humans, while lakes that had lost their luxuriance were small forest lakes. Beaver flooding had caused pronounced alteration to the lakes' habitat structure. Although the habitat features of some lakes had changed, overall, landscape-level lake conditions had not changed. The habitat use of ducks varied between the two time periods in response to regional changes in duck population size and lake-specific habitat changes.