Forests of Sweden

Sweden is covered by 69% forest. 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. 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. 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.