Forests of Sweden

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A forest in Dalarna Korpimacki.JPG
A forest in Dalarna

Sweden is covered by 68% forest. [1] In southern Sweden, human interventions started to have a significant impact on broadleaved forests around 2000 years ago, where the first evidence of extensive agriculture has been found. [2] Recent studies describe a long-term process of borealization in south-central Sweden starting at the beginning of the Holocene where oak ( Quercus spp.) and alder ( Alnus spp.) seemingly started to decline around 2000 years ago due to a decrease in temperature. [3] At the same time the Norway spruce (Picea abies) started to emigrate from the north, and the European beech (Fagus sylvatica) emigrated from the south of Europe. Though, as a primary result of production forest management at the middle of the twentieth century, P. abies and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) covers together around 75% of southern Sweden actual standing tree volume. [3] [4]

Contents

Economic use of forests

Wood from the forest has long been used in the southern part of the country and in early agricultural areas as a source of fuel and as a building material. Wood was essential for Sweden's early mining industry, as it was used to produce charcoal for processing ore. Other important forestry products included wood pitch, tar, and potash, which were produced for export beginning in the Middle Ages. [5]

Forestry work expanded to Norrland beginning in the early 19th century, and the resulting cleared areas became the site of small farms and pastures. Extensive logging resulted in the development of a sawmill industry, which produced lumber for export. This expansion continued until 1905. [5] The Statistical Yearbook of Forestry chronicles the state of the forestry industry since the 1940s and is the responsibility of the Swedish Forest Agency.

List of Swedish forests

Related Research Articles

<i>Picea abies</i> Species of plant

Picea abies, the Norway spruce or European spruce, is a species of spruce native to Northern, Central and Eastern Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kielder Forest</span> Forestry plantation in Northumberland, England

Kielder Forest is a large forestry plantation in Northumberland, England, surrounding Kielder village and the Kielder Water reservoir. It is the largest man-made woodland in England with three-quarters of its 250 square miles (650 km2) covered by forest. The majority of the forest lies within Kielder Water and Forest Park, with the southern tip known as Wark Forest lying within Northumberland National Park. The forest is next to the Anglo-Scottish border.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oak savanna</span> Lightly forested grassland where oak trees are dominant

An oak savanna is a type of savanna—or lightly forested grassland—where oaks are the dominant trees. The terms "oakery" or "woodlands" are also used commonly, though the former is more prevalent when referencing the Mediterranean area. These savannas were maintained historically through wildfires set by lightning, humans, grazing, low precipitation, and/or poor soil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laurel forest</span> Type of subtropical forest

Laurel forest, also called laurisilva or laurissilva, is a type of subtropical forest found in areas with high humidity and relatively stable, mild temperatures. The forest is characterized by broadleaf tree species with evergreen, glossy and elongated leaves, known as "laurophyll" or "lauroid". Plants from the laurel family (Lauraceae) may or may not be present, depending on the location.

<i>Picea rubens</i> Species of plant

Picea rubens, commonly known as red spruce, is a species of spruce native to eastern North America, ranging from eastern Quebec and Nova Scotia, west to the Adirondack Mountains and south through New England along the Appalachians to western North Carolina. This species is also known as yellow spruce, West Virginia spruce, eastern spruce, and he-balsam. Red spruce is the provincial tree of Nova Scotia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ecological restoration</span> Scientific study of renewing and restoring ecosystems

Ecological restoration, or ecosystem restoration, is the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed. It is distinct from conservation in that it attempts to retroactively repair already damaged ecosystems rather than take preventative measures. Ecological restoration can reverse biodiversity loss, combat climate change, and support local economies. Habitat restoration involves the deliberate rehabilitation of a specific area to reestablish a functional ecosystem. To achieve successful habitat restoration, it's essential to understand the life cycles and interactions of species, as well as the essential elements such as food, water, nutrients, space, and shelter needed to support species populations. When it's not feasible to restore habitats to their original size or state, designated areas known as wildlife corridors can be established. These corridors connect different habitats and open spaces, facilitating the survival of species within human-dominated landscapes. For instance, marshes serve as critical stopover sites for migratory birds, wildlife overpasses enable animals to safely cross over highways, and protected riparian zones within urban settings provide necessary refuges for flora and fauna. The United Nations named 2021-2030 the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snag (ecology)</span> Dead tree

In forest ecology, a snag refers to a standing dead or dying tree, often missing a top or most of the smaller branches. In freshwater ecology it refers to trees, branches, and other pieces of naturally occurring wood found sunken in rivers and streams; it is also known as coarse woody debris. Snags provide habitat for a wide variety of wildlife but pose hazards to river navigation. When used in manufacturing, especially in Scandinavia, they are often called dead wood and in Finland, kelo wood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests</span> Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion of the United States

The Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests is an ecoregion of the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund. It consists of mesophytic plants west of the Appalachian Mountains in the Southeastern United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boreal forest of Canada</span> Canadian biome characterized by coniferous forests

Canada's boreal forest is a vast region comprising about one third of the circumpolar boreal forest that rings the Northern Hemisphere, mostly north of the 50th parallel. Other countries with boreal forest include Russia, which contains the majority; the United States in its northernmost state of Alaska; and the Scandinavian or Northern European countries. In Europe, the entire boreal forest is referred to as taiga, not just the northern fringe where it thins out near the tree line. The boreal region in Canada covers almost 60% of the country's land area. The Canadian boreal region spans the landscape from the most easterly part of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador to the border between the far northern Yukon and Alaska. The area is dominated by coniferous forests, particularly spruce, interspersed with vast wetlands, mostly bogs and fens. The boreal region of Canada includes eight ecozones. While the biodiversity of regions varies, each ecozone has a characteristic native flora and fauna.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bedford Purlieus National Nature Reserve</span> Ancient woodland in Cambridgeshire, England

Bedford Purlieus is a 211-hectare (520-acre) ancient woodland in Cambridgeshire, in the United Kingdom. It is a national nature reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest owned and managed by the Forestry Commission. In Thornhaugh civil parish, 10 km (6.2 mi) south of Stamford and 14 km (8.7 mi) west of Peterborough, the wood is within the Peterborough unitary authority area of Cambridgeshire, and borders Northamptonshire. In Roman times it was an iron smelting centre, during the medieval period it was in the Royal Forest of Rockingham, and later it became part of the estates of the Duke of Bedford. Bedford Purlieus appears to have been continuously wooded at least from Roman times, and probably since the ice receded. The woodland may have the richest range of vascular plants of any English lowland wood. It acquired particular significance in the 1970s as an early subject for the historical approach to ecology and woodland management.

The biogeoclimatic zones of British Columbia are units of a classification system used by the British Columbia Ministry of Forests for the Canadian province's fourteen different broad, climatic ecosystems. The classification system, termed Biogeoclimatic Ecosystem Classification, exists independently of other ecoregion systems, one created by the World Wildlife Fund and the other in use by Environment Canada, which is based on one created by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) and also in use by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The system of biogeoclimatic ecosystem classification was partly created for the purpose of managing forestry resources, but is also in use by the British Columbia Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy and other provincial agencies. A biogeoclimatic zone is defined as "a geographic area having similar patterns of energy flow, vegetation and soils as a result of a broadly homogenous macroclimate."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European spruce bark beetle</span> Species of beetle

The European spruce bark beetle, is a species of beetle in the weevil subfamily Scolytinae, the bark beetles, and is found from Europe to Asia Minor and some parts of Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forestry in Estonia</span> Overview of the forestry in Estonia

Forests cover about 50% of the territory of Estonia, or around 2 million hectares, and so make out an important and dominating landscape type in the country. National law and policies recognize that forests are a natural and ecological resource, and the importance of forests is to be considered from an economic, social, ecological and cultural aspect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the forest in Central Europe</span>

The history of the forest in Central Europe is characterised by thousands of years of exploitation by people. Thus a distinction needs to be made between the botanical natural history of the forest in pre- and proto-historical times—which falls mainly into the fields of natural history and Paleobotany—and the onset of the period of sedentary settlement which began at the latest in the Neolithic era in Central Europe - and thus the use of the forest by people, which is covered by the disciplines of history, archaeology, cultural studies and ecology.

The wood industry or timber industry is the industry concerned with forestry, logging, timber trade, and the production of primary forest products and wood products and secondary products like wood pulp for the pulp and paper industry. Some of the largest producers are also among the biggest owners of forest. The wood industry has historically been and continues to be an important sector in many economies.

Located in the Scandinavian Peninsula, Sweden is a mountainous country dominated by lakes and forests. Its habitats include mountain heath, montane forests, tundra, taiga, beech forests, rivers, lakes, bogs, brackish, marine coasts, and cultivated land. The climate of Sweden is mild for a country at this latitude, largely owing to the significant maritime influence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forest in Turkey</span> Woodland and maquis in the Eurasian country

Forest now covers less than a third of Turkey, but ten thousand years ago the land was mostly wooded. The country is reforesting, which is important for the wildlife of Turkey.

References

  1. "Marken i Sverige". scb.se. June 1, 2023. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
  2. Lindbladh, Matts; Brunet, Jörg; Hannon, Gina; Niklasson, Mats; Eliasson, Per; Eriksson, Göran; Ekstrand, Anders (2007-06-01). "Forest History as a Basis for Ecosystem Restoration—A Multidisciplinary Case Study in a South Swedish Temperate Landscape". Restoration Ecology. 15 (2): 284–295. doi:10.1111/j.1526-100X.2007.00211.x. ISSN   1526-100X.
  3. 1 2 Lindbladh, Matts; Axelsson, Anna-Lena; Hultberg, Tove; Brunet, Jörg; Felton, Adam (2014-10-03). "From broadleaves to spruce – the borealization of southern Sweden". Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research. 29 (7): 686–696. doi:10.1080/02827581.2014.960893. ISSN   0282-7581. S2CID   86628170.
  4. Felton, A.; Hedwall, P. O.; Lindbladh, M.; Nyberg, T.; Felton, A. M.; Holmström, E.; Wallin, I.; Löf, M.; Brunet, J. (2016-04-01). "The biodiversity contribution of wood plantations: Contrasting the bird communities of Sweden's protected and production oak forests". Forest Ecology and Management. 365: 51–60. doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2016.01.030.
  5. 1 2 "Boreal Forests of the World – Sweden – Forests and Forestry". www.borealforest.org. Retrieved 8 April 2017.