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<P align="justify"> Nature is the en … <P align="justify"> Nature is the entity composed of flora, fauna and micro-organisms together with the landscape ([[Fell|fells]], rivers, etc.), and is also the habitat of man. The northern regions have a unique natural environment. [[Tiedosto:davvin2.jpg|thumb|600px|Sápmi relief]] </p>
<P align="justify"> Administratively, Finnish Lapland consists of the Province of Lapland. It extends from the end of the Gulf of Bothnia to [[Kilpisjärvi (English)|Kilpisjärvi]] and Utsjoki, an area of almost 100,000 square kilometres. The area is the home of about 200,000 persons and [[Reindeer|reindeer]], that is about two creatures per square kilometre. In terms of natural geography, however, Lapland as a whole is more than the Finnish Province of Lapland because outside the borders of Finland it also extends into Sweden in the Province of Norrbotten, into Norway in the Provinces of Tromso and Finnmark and into the Russian Republic in the Kola Peninsula. Lapland and the area of Saami culture extend along the Kolen Mountains as far south as latitude 62º N. </p> <P align="justify"> The network of nature conservation areas consists mainly in national and nature parks. The largest national parks in Finnish Lapland are the Lemmenjoki National Park and the Urho Kekkonen National Park. The large number of protected areas has caused disputes over land use in Lapland. However, over the last few decades people have come to see the value of the protected areas in a new light as they have become the region's biggest tourist attraction. Apart from the national parks, there are also more wildernesses in Lapland than elsewhere in Finland. The wilds are not nature conservation areas as such, although the aim is to conserve their (roadless) nature as wildernesses. They are also important as pasturages for reindeer. </p> [[Tiedosto:Poro.jpg|thumb|600px|Reindeer]]
<P align="justify"> The area today inhabited by Finnish Saami people can be roughly divided into two parts: Forest Lapland and Fell Lapland, with a natural border created by the northern limit of the conifer belt and the forests ([[Flora|flora]]). The pine forest line meanders along the contours of the terrain in Finland from Karesuvanto in the west to north of the River Näätämöjoki in the east. Forest Lapland is part of the taiga, a swampy coniferous belt stretching across Lapland. </p>[[Tiedosto:Pallas.jpg|thumb|600px|Pallas Fell]]
<P align="justify"> A belt of mountain birch stands forms an intervening zone between the taiga and the treeless tundra ([[Fell|Duottar/fell]]). Fell Lapland consists of this belt of mountain birches, which grow to a height of 5-10 metres and the bare slopes of the fells. Almost everywhere else in the world, it is conifers that constitute the tree line. </p>
[[Tiedosto:Pikku-malla2.jpg|thumb|600px|Pikku-Malla Fell]]
<P align="justify"> In western Lapland the mountain birch forest line is about 600 metres above sea level and in eastern Lapland about 400 metres. It is not until an altitude of about 900-1000 metres that forest undergrowth plants like bilberries no longer thrive. In Forest Lapland, too, there are some individual fells (e.g. Ylläs, Levi, Pallas-Ounas, Sokosti, Kiilopää and Värriö Fells) of the type found in Fell Lapland, with exceptionally high peaks rising out of the forests. </p>
<P align="justify"> The nature of Lapland is characterized by great differences in seasonal change. The long, cold, snowy winter begins in October and ends in late March, the short, rushing spring changes at the end of May into a brief, light but cold summer, and by the end of August the signs of autumn are already visible. The average annual temperature determines the length of the growing season in different areas and thus the polymorphism of the flora and its division into zones. Generally conditions become harsher towards the north. For example, in Forest Lapland the average annual temperature is +1 -1ºC, while in Fell Lapland it is -1 -2.5ºC. In Kilpisjärvi the average temperature of the hottest month of the year, July, is below +11ºC. Thanks to the Gulf Stream, however, Lapland is-considerably warmer in winter than interior parts of continental Russia and Canada at the same latitude. Roughly speaking, the population of living organisms in the north is poor in terms of the number of species and sparse in size per unit of land area ([[Fauna|fauna]]). For example, where as in southern Finland there grow about 950 varieties of vascular plants, in both Enontekiö and Inari in Lapland the equivalent number is about 450. </p>
<P align="justify"> There is less of Fell Lapland proper, where conifer trees have disappeared altogether, in Finland than in her neighbouring countries. In western Finnish Lapland, it begins north of the villages of Kuttunen and Leppäjärvi, and in eastern Lapland it starts from the village of Kaamanen. Apart from the areas around Lake Kilpisjärvi and Haltti, in which there are dozens of fells rising over 1000 metres (the highest being Haltti Fell 1328 m), Fell Lapland generally has gently rolling contours.</p> [[Tiedosto:Haltin_maisema.jpg|thumb|600px|View of Halti Fell]]
<P align="justify"> The eastern and northern slopes of the big fells of the 'Arm of Finland' (the northwestern strip of territory projecting into Norway) still have patches of snow on them even at the end of summer, although there are no areas in Finland that are for ever covered with snow and ice. </p>
[[Tiedosto:Saanan_kesalumet.jpg|thumb|600px|Summer snow on Saana Fell]]
<P align="justify"> Even though the bare upland region in Finland is relatively small in area, the communities of living organisms in the fells constitute an important part of the variety of nature in Finland. A particularly large number of beautiful plants grow on the fells, and they are an important tourist attraction as is also the bird life there. </p>
[[Tiedosto:Halti2.jpg|thumb|600px|Halti Fell]]
<P align="justify"> The bare upland area is varied. There are lush meadows in July and August where there grows a wide range of relatively low-growing plants, while the more barren moors of the fells are covered with lichen and twigs, and in the most desolate parts of all there is nothing but rocks. The meadows are usually situated on the lower slopes of the fells, and they are the first to shed their covering of snow and offer the reindeer some fresh spring vegetation after the winter. Apart from the birch shoots and leaves, the reindeer eat the boletus fungi that grow in a symbiotic relationship with the birches. The Saami have traditionally lived on the border between the mountain birch belt and the open fells, moving each side of this line according to the season. Ecologically, they could be described as a tree line people. </p>
<P align="justify"> In addition to the conifer forests and bare fells, Lapland is characterized by swamps and flowing waters, from big rivers to small streams, which are often covered or fringed by stands of mountain birches or willow thickets ([[Ecology|ecology]]). </p>
[[Tiedosto:Valtijoki.jpg|thumb|600px|Valtijoki River]]
<P align="justify"> There are numerous fast-flowing rivers: Torniojoki, Tenojoki, Ounasjoki, Kemijoki, and so on. Apart from artificial reservoirs, there are few large lakes in Finnish Lapland. The best known are Inarijärviin the east and Kilpisjärvi in the west. The swamps of Lapland are generally broad, open marshy tracts ([[Áhpi, open treeless swamp|<i>Áhpi</i>]]). In addition to these there are also palsa bogs, in which an exceptionally large number of bird species nest, in particular waders. These peat bogs are also abundant in cloudberries. In the palsas, watery hollows alternate with huge turf mounds (often up to seven metres high), which, apart from an unfrozen half-metre deep superficial layer, are in the grip of the permafrost. The oldest palsas in Lapland are about 3000 years old.</p>
[[Tiedosto:Palsasuo.jpg|thumb|600px|Palsa bog]]
<P align="justify"> I Apart from the cores of the palsas, there is no permafrost in the Arctic area of Fennoscandia as there is in Siberia and North America. Nor is there any tundra proper or Arctic belt. The 'tundra' in Finland is the treeless fell region, whose lack of trees is a result rather of its altitude than its northern location. The word 'tundra' is not used in Finnish to describe this region, although the Saami word <i>duottar</i>, and the Finnish <i>tunturi</i>, 'fell' are probably related to it. The tundra can be defined by its [[Flora|flora]]: for example land on which moss campion (<i>Silene acaulis</i>), mountain sorrel (<i>Oxyria digyna</i>) and purple saxifrage (<i>Saxifraga oppositifolia</i>) grow is tundra. </p>
<P align="justify"> The land of the Saami also includes the area north of Fell Lapland, the region of fjords and the sea, where the mighty fells and mountains fall sharply into the Arctic Ocean. The height of the Norwegian mountains is a result of the fact that, because of their young age (approx. 300 millionyears), they have not yet been eroded like the Finnish fells, which are 2,000 million years old. In Finland, only in the Kilpisjärvi region on the eastern side of the Kolen Mountains are there 'young' fells. The valleys between the fells in this area have fairly steep sides (<i>vággi</i>). Despite its northern location, the climate of the coast is distinctly milder than that of the interior, and it provides a more favourable environment for living organisms. Thanks to the Gulf Stream, the Arctic Ocean remains unfrozen throughout the year, and the period of growth is relatively long, because the snow melts on the coast two months earlier than it does 50 kilometres inland. The period of growth, i.e. the time of the year when the average daily temperature is at least +5ºC, in Forest Lapland is about 120 140 days (on the south coast about 180 days) and in Fell Lapland about 100-120 days. In Fell Lapland agriculture is notoriously difficult because of the short growing season. </p>
<P align="justify"> Individuals,the basic units of life, can be considered to have adapted to nature if they live long enough to raise procreative offspring and thus prevent the chain of life from being broken. Apart from identical twins, the individuals of the higher animal species are all different and come into the world differently equipped. Predation, which includes hunting in the broad sense, is part of the stress incurred by nature in the north. The tolerance level of this stress, which varies from one individual and one species to another, is one the major factors of adaptation to the environment. In northern regions, the pressure from predation and other biological stress factors (for example, competition between organisms for territory) are less significant than in the south because both predators and competing individuals of the same species are fewer in number in relation to the land area. More important than biological stress tolerance is the ability to endure the stress caused by the abiotic environment, in particular the climate. </p>
<P align="justify"> In northern climes, both flora and fauna often live at the limits of their ability to survive the cold. One condition of adaptation to the north is the ability of young organisms to endure the cold. For example,adult pines and fowls can survive extremely severe conditions, but their stocks are doomed to extinction if conditions in summer are so harsh that their procreation is imperilled. The further north one goes, the more likely are wintry spells and frosts in summer and the consequent almost total failure of reproduction. The calving of reindeer depends crucially on the availability on new vegetation for food in May and June. In addition to a good ability to withstand frost and to overcome the problems of a short growing season, the adaptation of plants to conditions in the north is conditional upon their ability to tolerate the 'nightless' days of the Lapland summer, the low nutrient content of the earth and the depredations of herbivores. On the other hand, the white nights of summer are useful to some animals, for example nesting birds, in that they lengthen the time when they can be active, and they are able to feed around the clock. The daily rhythm of people who live in Lapland similarly changes according to the season. </p>
<P align="justify"> The tree line is a sign of an area of particularly strong stress, in which a particular natural element (e.g.the spruce, the pine or the birch) has reached the limit of its adaptability and no longer thrives above or north of that line. For example, the pine needs 2 3 warm summers in succession for seeding and germination to succeed. Because forest regeneration is uncertain in extreme conditions, felling and other forms of commercial exploitation must be carried out with discretion. For example, in western Lapland the border between commercial forests and so-called protected forests lies about 300 metres below the actual tree line. If there are several hard years in succession, the trees suffer a loss of energy and are unable to defend themselves against insect pests, such as the autumnal moth, and they suffer great devastation. At their worst, the larvae of the [[Autumnal moth|autumnal moth]] have destroyed thousands of square kilometres of mountain birch. One of the only ways the tree has of recovering from the depredations of the autumnal moth is to grow strong. </p>
<P align="justify"> When the conditions for the survival of trees disappear, then the animals that are protected by them or otherwise exploit them also reach the limits of their ability to survive and either die out or migrate. The Saami and the reindeer have exploited the tree line belt, moving above or north of it in the favourable summer season and escaping the stress of winter in the forests. Climatic changes, including the increase in the temperature of the atmosphere resulting from the so-called greenhouse effect, are quickly evident in the northern 'stress zones' in the increase of southern species (e.g. foxes) which are adapted to warmer conditions and the decline in species (like the [[Arctic fox|Arctic fox]]) which are adapted to cold conditions but which do not survive competition from other species well. Before the advent of fossil fuels the tree line was also often the limit of fixed human settlement, beyond which it was impossible to live all year round. (Likewise, the culture of the Eskimos, or Inuit, was based the fat energy obtained from sea mammals.) </p>
<P align="justify"> Organisms can adapt to extremely cold conditions in many ways. Like the reindeer and their herders, most birds migrate to more clement areas for the winter. By sensibly using the resources afforded by the seasons and moving accordingly, the maximum benefit is obtained from the unproductive nature of the north, and it is allowed time to regenerate. The ending of the migration between summer and winter grazing grounds and instead remaining in a fairly limited area all year round has led to a deterioration of the winter pastures in particular and the need for 'emergency feeding' in winter. Because the fodder comes mainly from outside the reindeer husbandry region, reindeer herding is no longer an ecological economic activity whose development is dependent on the ability of the environment to support it. Particularly in the northernmost reindeer grazing associations, the scarcity of lichen has become an inhibiting factor in reindeer husbandry. Changes in the culture of reindeer herding are inevitably reflected in Saami culture. </p> <P align="justify"> Snow ([[Snow|<i>muohta</i>]]) is one of the characteristic features of Lapland. It is both beneficial and detrimental to nature. For example, it breaks tree branches and trunks and impedes the movement and feeding of animals. Among the very few vertebrate species living on the snow on the open fells all year round are the ptarmigan, the gyrfalcon, the raven and the [[Arctic fox|Arctic fox]].Apart from the ptarmigan they are all carnivores. Smaller animals survive the winter only by obtaining warmth and protection from the wind under the snow.With the snow several metres deep, the temperature at ground level remains around freezing point even in the coldest of air temperatures, which permits small rodents to reproduce in winter too. Gallinaceous birds and even small birds spend the depth of winter enveloped in the snow. The body temperature of titmice may drop by as much as ten degrees Centigrade during the night, which is a most effective way of conserving energy. Just as in buildings, dropping the temperature of the body saves heating costs. Another way of saving energy is to increase insulation. For example, the winter coat of the mountain hare has 700 hairs per square centimetre as compared with 200 300 in the summer coat. Naturally, insulation alone is not enough; fuel is also needed. Many animals ensure their supplies of fuel by hoarding food for the winter. </p>
<P align="justify"> In the immediate vicinity of the tree line there is more life in winter too, and the range of species hardly differs from that of the adjoining forests. There we can find birds such as the willow grouse, the willow tit and the Siberian tit; and animals like the hare, the stoat and the weasel. It is not so much the cold as the lack of food that is an obstacle to animals' survival in the Arctic winter. If there is a good harvest of mountain birch seeds, flocks of hundreds of mealy redpoll, which normally migrate at least to southern Finland, may spend the winter as far north as the tree line. </p> [[Tiedosto:suk600_302.jpg|thumb|600px|{{{2}}}]] <P>00_302.jpg|thumb|600px|{{{2}}}]] <P> +
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