Subscribe

Subscribe to our Newsletter and get informed about new publication regulary and special discounts for subscribers!

ILNS > ILNS Volume 32 > Kokemäenjoki River Delta, Western Finland -...
Kokemäenjoki River Delta, Western Finland - Natural Treasury in an Exceptionally Rapidly Changing Aquatic Environment
< Back to Volume

Kokemäenjoki River Delta, Western Finland - Natural Treasury in an Exceptionally Rapidly Changing Aquatic Environment

Full Text PDF

Abstract:

The catchment of the River Kokemäenjoki covers ca. 27 100 square kilometers in western Finland, and the the length of the river is ca 120 km. The river discharges into the Bothnian Bay, the northern section of the Baltic Sea. The delta is changing and prograding towards the sea exceptionally rapidly. The pace of the growth of the deltaic formations,a s well as the major zones of the macrophytivc vegetation is nowadays some 30–40 meters a year. This makes the delta the most rapidly changing aquatic and littoral ecosystem in the Northern Europe. The Kokemäenjoki River delta is often characterized as a biological hotspot, and major sections of the estuary are included in several leading international nature conservation programmes, i.e. The Natura 2000 network of the European Union, the intergovernmental The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, as well as in the IBA, Important Bird Area programme established by the BildLife International organization. The diversities of both flora and fauna are very high – at least as regards of the northern location of the estuary. In the Kokemäenjoki River ca. 420 taxa of flowering plants (Spermatophyta) are permanently found (i.e. about a third of the ca. 1 200 flowering plants permanently growing in Finland). Of the pteridophytes (Pteridophyta), there are 17 out of the 57 species of the Finnish taxa growing at the delta. Of the stoneworts (Chrarophyta) the delta is home of 9 species of the 21 taxa found in Finland. The number of bird species breeding in the area is ca. 110, and the total number of bird taxa living and resting during the migration periods amounts to 220 species (i.e. nearly the whole range of the 248 bird species of the permanent Finnish bird taxa). Of the invertebrates, the species composition of dragonflies (Odonata) is best known. There are 25 species of the 55 dragonfly taxa found in Finland. Of the plant species occupying the delta, 5 species of flowering plants and one species of stoneworts are classified as endangered, fulfilling the red list criteria established by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Of the bird species of the estuary, 31 species are included in the Red List of endangered species. The present paper summarizes the data presented in various reports, mainly in Finnish, and majority of them in hardly accessible depositories.

Info:

Periodical:
International Letters of Natural Sciences (Volume 32)
Pages:
36-53
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18052/www.scipress.com/ILNS.32.36
Citation:
K. Aulio, "Kokemäenjoki River Delta, Western Finland - Natural Treasury in an Exceptionally Rapidly Changing Aquatic Environment", International Letters of Natural Sciences, Vol. 32, pp. 36-53, 2015
Online since:
January 2015
Authors:
Kai Aulio
Keywords:
Biodiversity, Kokemäenjoki River Delta, Nature Conservation, Pihlavanlahti Bay
Export:
RIS, BibTeX, Text
Distribution:
Open Access

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

References:

Southeast Finland ELY Centre. The Kokemäenjoki Estuary. (2014). http: /www. environment. fi/enUS/KokemaenjokiLIFE_2006_2012/Project_areas/The_Kokemaenjoki_Estuary.

Varsinais-Suomen ELY-keskus. Kokemäenjoen suisto. (2013). ttp: /www. ymparisto. fi/fiFI/Luonto/Suojelualueet/Natura_2000_alueet/Kokemaenjoen_suisto (5327).

Aulio K. Publicationes Instituti Geographici Universitatis Turkuensis (1979) 90 1-30.

Aulio K. Research Journal of Biology (2014) 2 7-16.

Kotilainen H, Lehtoranta R, Häkkilä K and Virtanen M. Vesi- ja ympäristöhallituksen monistesarja (1988) 112 1-63 + 39 Appendices.

Cripps C, Peltonen J, Räsänen M, Huhta P and Niinikoski J. Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment for Southwest Finland, Publications (2011) 13/2011 1-61.

Säntti AA. Publicationes Instituti Geographici Universitatis Turkuensis (1954) 29 1-61.

Johansson MM, Kahma KK, Boman H and Launiainen J. Boreal Environment Research (2004) 9(2) 153-166.

Aulio K. Baltic Cities Environmental Bulletin (2010) 2/2010 7.

Lisitzin, E. Merentutkimuslaitoksen Julkaisu (1952) 153 1-20.

Westerling H. Ympäristö ja Terveys (1973) 4 318-323.

Isotalo I. Publications of the Water Research Institute (1979) 30 3-20.

Bagge P and Lehmusluoto P. Merentutkimuslaitoksen Julkaisuja (1971) 235 3-18.

Perälä H. Kokemäenjoen vesistön vesiensuojeluyhdistys ry, Julkaisu (2012) 644 1-67 + Appendices.

Putkuri E, Lindholm M and Peltonen A. State of the environment in Finland 2013. SYKE Publications (2013) 1 1-112.

Häkkilä K. Vesi- ja ympäistöhallituksen monistesarja (1987) 53 1-48.

Venho J. Ilmatieteellisen keskuslaitoksen julkaisuja (1963) 3.

Sarkkula J and Virtanen M. Nordic Hydrology (1978) 9 43-56.

Atlas of Finland 1990. Geology, Folio 123-126 (Alalammi P. (Ed. ). (1990) National Board of Survey and Geographical Society of Finland.

Mansikkaniemi H. Fennia (1975) 143 1-38.

Lievonen T. Kokemäenjoki LIFE (LIFE06/NAT/FIN/000129). (2011) Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment.

Häyrén E. Acta Sociatatis pro Fauna et Flora Fennica (1909) 32 1-266.

Ihantola R. Memoranda Societatis pro Fauna et Flora Fennica (1980) 56 1-5.

Ihantola R. Porin kaupungin julkaisuja (1981) 40 1-20 + 26 Appendices.

Kalinainen P. 1983. Porin kaupungin tutkimuksia (1983) 51/(1983).

Lampolahti J. Porin ympäristönsuojelulautakunnan julkaisu (1989) 2/89 2-41 + 17 Appendices.

Lampolahti J. Luonnon Tutkija (1991) 95(1-2) 11-14.

Paakkinen M. Kokemäenjoen vesistön vesiensuojeluyhdistys ry, Julkaisu (2002) 446 116 + Appendices.

Ahlman S. Porin Kokemäenjoen suiston ja Kolpanlahden kasvillisuusselvitys (2008).

Suominen J. Norrlinia (2013) 26 1-783.

Rassi P, Hyvärinen E, Juslén A & Mannerkoski I (Eds. ) The 2010 Red List of Finnish Species. Ministry of the Environment & Finnish Environment Institute. (2010).

Säntti AA. Acta Geographica (1954) 14 359-378.

Aulio K. Research Journal of Biology (2014) 2 53-59, (2014).

Aulio K. Journal of Plant Sciences (2014) 2(4) 120-128.

Aulio K. International Letters of Natural Sciences (2015) 1(2015) 34-46.

Aulio K. Luonnon Tutkija (1981) 85: 61.

Aulio K. Publications of the Water Research Institute, National Board of Waters and Environment, Finland (1986) 68 171-174.

Aulio K and Salin M. Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (1982) 29(3) 320-325.

BirdLife International. Important Bird Areas factsheet: Pori archipelago and wetlands. (2014). Downloaded from http: /www. birdlife. org on 04/12/(2014).

Asanti T, Gustafsson E, Hongell H, Hottola P, Mikkola-Roos M, Osara M, Ylimaunu J and Yrjölä R. The Finnish Environment (2005) 596en 1-58.

Lampolahti J. Kokemäenjoen suiston linnusto [The Avifauna of the Kokemäenjoki River delta. In Finnish]. In: Soikkeli M (Ed. ) Satakunnan linnusto. (1984). Porin Lintutieteellinen Yhdistys, pp.17-45.

Alho P. Kokemäenjoen suiston linnustoselvitys 2008 [Study on the Avifauna of the Kokemäenjoki River delta 2008. In Finnish]. Lounais-Suomen ympäristökeskuksen raportteja (2009) 10/2009 1-94.

Tukonen J. Kokemäenjoen ankeriastutkimus [Study on the lampreys in the Kokemäenjoki River. In Finnish]. (2013). Evon riistan- ja kalantutkimus.

Luoma S. Kokemäenjoen suiston sudenkorentoselvitys 2008. [The Dragonfly fauna of the Kokemäenjoki River delta in 2008. In Finnish]. Lounais-Suomen ympäristökeskuksen raportteja (2009) 4/2009 1-51.

Valkama J. Kokemäenjoen vesistön vesiensuojeluyhdistys ry, Julkaisu (2014) 704 1-43.

Giosan L, Syvitski J, Constantinescu S and Day J. Nature (2014) 516(7529) 31-33. ( Received 04 December 2014; accepted 20 December 2014 ).

Show More Hide
Cited By:
This article has no citations.