Silva Fennica : regular issues : 43(5) : sa435783.htm
The transformation of a Norway spruce dominated landscape since pre-industrial times in northern Sweden: the influence of modern forest management on forest structure
Silva Fennica 43(5): 783–797
Logging history and the study of reference conditions in Scandinavian boreal forests has tended to focus on Scots pine dominated ecosystems. This paper presents a regional study of pre-industrial forest conditions and examines the effects of the industrial exploitation of ecosystems dominated by Norway spruce in northern Sweden. Historical records covering a period which preceded industrial logging in the study area (1917–1927) were used to obtain quantitative data on forest structure and influence of forest fires. These data were compared with a modern data set (2003) to analyse changes due to the industrial transformation of the forest. The early 20th century landscape was dominated by old, multi-cohorted spruce forests and mixed coniferous forests. It was found that fire affected both the structure and composition of the landscape. In post-burnt areas, even-aged forests dominated by deciduous species were the principal forest type. Between the early and modern data sets, profound changes in tree-species composition and age structure were documented. While the total volume of deciduous species increased substantially, the coverage of forests dominated by deciduous species decreased. There was also a significant increase in pine-dominated forests and in the total volume of pine. The industrial transformation of the studied landscapes has had profound effects on the structure of spruce forests, but much less so on deciduous forests. The study concludes that the present forest structure is a function of past management regimes, and that future transformations of the landscape will continue, thus affecting the natural variability and biodiversity of the forests.
Keywords
forest history, disturbance dynamics, deciduous forest, fire, birch
Addresses
Hellberg, Tunstigen 10, SE-831 43 Östersund, Sweden; Josefsson and Östlund, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Forest Ecology and Management, SE-901 83 Umeå, Sweden. E-mail torbjorn.josefsson@svek.slu.se
Received 23 March 2009 Revised 18 July 2009 Accepted 27 October 2009
ISSN 0037-5330