Management of wildlife richness in Finnish forests – interplay between game-related actors and actions

In this thesis I explore the prerequisites for the successful management of wildlife richness in Finnish forests. Wildlife richness is a concept describing species richness and species abundance of well-known game species, which have social, cultural and economical value. The management of wildlife richness is described here as a sequence of actions, where 1) monitoring information of populations is collected by carrying out wildlife triangle censuses, 2) analyses are made in order to detect trends in wildlife richness and 3) game-related decisions are implemented in order to sustain or increase wildlife richness. These phases and the uncertainty relating to them are studied and evaluated focusing on the short-term actions of the interplaying actors in the field of game management. Wildlife triangle censuses are largely carried out by groups of voluntary hunters. The resolution and participation on the wildlife triangle scheme (WTS) varies between regions. The resolution of monitoring information may be increased e.g. by motivating participants by improving the utility of monitoring results for them and actively recruiting additional participants especially among large hunting clubs. Wildlife richness indices (WRI) are applications of the wildlife richness concept and WTS data. The WRI can be flexibly used in the detection of spatial and temporal trends in wildlife richness. The performance of estimation and the choice of specification in the WRI are affected by the data, and guided by research or management needs and decisions on acceptable risks. Studying the statistical properties of the census data would improve the estimation of wildlife richness and risk assessment. The density of Capercaillie reflects relatively well the general state of wildlife richness, but great care should be taken in using it or any other species to represent wildlife richness or the welfare of other species. The activities of local hunters can be restricted or supported in order to affect wildlife richness. Besides national or regional hunting regulation carried out by administrators, the information given to hunters may affect their voluntary activities. However, Finnish wildlife experts consider the effect of voluntary activities on wildlife richness and especially on grouse and small predators relatively small. This implicates that more detailed monitoring or further studying of the effect of game management may not be a key-uncertainty for the management of risks regarding wildlife richness.