What was done
The authors investigated the impact of projected climate change from now to somewhere in the range of AD 2050-2099 on the boreal forests of Finland, over 90% of which "are under regular management, including clear cuts with regeneration by planting and regular thinnings," where management actions are intended to direct the successional process "to produce such ecosystem structures that facilitate the production of the targeted services (e.g. timber production)," which they represent in terms of potential cutting drains that they define as "maximum sustainable removals under a given management."

What was learned
Kellomaki et al. report that in response to the climate changes projected by the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment of 2005 (ACIA, 2005), where "temperature may increase by 1-2°C in summer and by 2-3°C in winter over the next 50 years (Carter et al., 2005)," potential cutting drains are projected to rise by approximately 56% in southern Finland, 168% in northern Finland, and 82% over the country as a whole. In addition, they find that "the total amount of carbon in upland sites may be close to 30% greater than at present."

What it means
The results of this analysis certainly do not spell disaster for Finland. In fact, they portend better-than-ever times for the country's forests, the people who benefit from their wood products, and the wildlife that benefits from the food and habitat they provide.

References
ACIA. 2005. Arctic Climate Impact Assessment. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

Carter, T.R., Jylha, K., Perrels, A., Fronzek, S. and Kankaanpaa, S. 2005. Alternative Futures for Considering Adaptation to Climate Change in Finland. Finnish Environment Institute Mimeograph 332, FINADAPT working paper 2. Joensuu, Finland: Finnish Environment Institute.