Image 11. There are many esker islands in the Suur-Saimaa area. Image: Sanna Poutamo
3 NATURE AND WILDLIFE IN THE AREA The largest lake basins in the Saimaa Geopark area are Luonteri, Lietvesi, Yövesi, and Suur-Saimaa. The deepest part of Saimaa (82 m) is in the southeastern corner of Yövesi. The quality of the water is mostly excellent. The waters are low in nutrients and humus. The scenery of the waterways is dominated by rocky islands and cliffs in the north and sandy ridges and beaches in the south. The bedrock and Quaternary deposits are heavily directional due to the directions of the fault and fracture zones and the movement of the ice sheet during the Ice Age. The shores are mostly barren, and sheltered bays may have abundant reed fields. The clearness and barrenness of the water is indicated in the presence of benthic plants, such as quillwort (Isoëtes), water lobelia (Lobelia dortmanna), and shoreweed (Littorella uniflora).
3.1 FORESTS AND VEGETATION The area’s scenery is dominated by forests. Nearly 90 % of the area is commercial forest land. Some 40 % of the forests are pine-dominated, and about one third are spruce-dominated. The remaining fifth of the forests is dominated by deciduous trees. The area also includes some rare habitat types, such as the sunny environments on ridges, transitional mires and quaking bogs, springs and spring fens, boreal forests, deciduous forests, flood forests, and swamp forests. Saimaa is part of the southern Boreal zone. Its flora has mostly eastern and southern species. Eastern plant species thrive in the continental climate. Slash-and-burn agriculture was used in the area as recently as the 1930s, and because of this plants such as bristled
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bellflower and clustered bellflower (Campanula cervicaria and C. glomerata), field scabious (Knautia arvensis) and burnet saxifrage (Pimpinella saxifraga) can be found in the area. In the islands, the history of slash-and-burn agriculture and grazing can be seen in the abundance of mixed deciduous forests. In the more lush areas, you can also find small-leaved linden (Tilia cordata). The vegetation of ridge islands is scarce, and the forests are mainly peaty pine forests. The flora includes both typical ridge plants and rare species, such as sand pink (Dianthus arenarius, or D. borussicus), mother of thyme (Thymus serpyllum), and spring pasqueflower (Pulsatilla vernalis).
