We surveyed the quantity and quality of dead Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) trees and wood-inhabiting cryptogams in a managed boreal forest landscape in northern Sweden. Size and decay of dead trees was related to substrate utilization by wood-inhabiting species. Coarse woody debris (CWD) was surveyed along 34 strip transects. CWD and wood-inhabiting cryptogams were surveyed in eight circular plots at each site. A total of 6195 spruce CWD units occurred along strip transects and 809 spruce CWD units in circular plots. On average 2.2 m3/ha spruce CWD was found on the plots. The majority (63%) of the transect CWD units were <10 cm diameter and in early to intermediate decay stages. Sixty-eight wood-specific species of fungi, lichens, mosses, and hepatics occurred on the plots. Of these, 13 occurred on [Formula: see text]5% of the 809 CWD units surveyed for wood-inhabiting species. Eight species occur on the Swedish red lists, indicating that such species are indeed uncommon in managed forests. Red-listed species showed strong preferences for large diameter CWD and CWD in late decay stages, i.e., substrates that are poorly represented in managed forests. Frequently occurring species, however, showed utilization patterns that correspond with the distribution of the substrate types.

Abstract:Half of the productive forest area in Sweden is owned by small-scale private forest owners. However, there is a lack of comprehensive information that would allow categorizing small-scale private forest owners according to their management strategy. In this study, we surveyed small-scale private forest owners in Sweden to determine the proportions who applied various management strategies. We analyzed the results using chi-square tests to identify the most relevant factors affecting the management strategy choices of individual forest owners. We found that -soft‖ factors, such as the importance of income from the forest, membership in a forest owners' association, certification and an interest in and knowledge of forestry issues, had a stronger impact on the choice of management strategy than most -hard‖ factors related to the owner or the property, such as gender and distance between the owner's residence and the property. However, property size was the most important factor and was associated with the importance of income derived from the forest and several other soft factors.

The greenhouse effect is one of our most severe current environmental problems. Forests make up large ecosystems and can play an important role in mitigating the emissions of CO 2 , the most important greenhouse gas. Different management regimes affect the ability of forests to sequester carbon. It is important to investigate in what way we best can use forests to mitigate the greenhouse effect. It is also important to study what effect different actions, done to increase carbon sequestration, have on other offsets from forestry, such as the harvest level, the availability of forest biofuel and economic factors.In this study, we present an optimization model for analysis of carbon sequestration in forest biomass and forest products at a local or regional scale. The model consists of an optimizing stand-level simulator, and the solution is found using linear programming. Carbon sequestration was accounted for in terms of carbon price and its value computed as a function of carbon price and the net carbon storage in the forest. The same price was used as a cost for carbon emission originating from deterioration of wood products.We carried out a case study for a 3.2 million hectare boreal forest region in northern Sweden. The result showed that 1.48-2.05 million tonnes of carbon per year was sequestered in the area, depending on what carbon price was used. We conclude that assigning carbon storage a monetary value and removal of carbon in forest products as a cost, increases carbon sequestration in the forest and decreases harvest levels. The effect was largest in areas with low site-quality classes.

The multi-scale approach to conserving forest biodiversity has been used in Sweden since the 1980s, a period defined by increased reserve area and conservation actions within production forests. However, two thousand forest-associated species remain on Sweden's red-list, and Sweden's 2020 goals for sustainable forests are not being met. We argue that ongoing changes in the production forest matrix require more consideration, and that multiscale conservation must be adapted to, and integrated with, production forest development. To make this case, we summarize trends in habitat provision by Sweden's protected and production forests, and the variety of ways silviculture can affect biodiversity. We discuss how different forestry trajectories affect the type and extent of conservation approaches needed to secure biodiversity, and suggest leverage points for aiding the adoption of diversified silviculture. Sweden's long-term experience with multi-scale conservation and intensive forestry provides insights for other countries trying to conserve species within production landscapes.

The extensive spatial and temporal coverage of many citizen science datasets (CSD) makes them appealing for use in species distribution modeling and forecasting. However, a frequent limitation is the inability to validate results. Here, we aim to assess the reliability of CSD for forecasting species occurrence in response to national forest management projections (representing 160,366 km2) by comparison against forecasts from a model based on systematically collected colonization–extinction data. We fitted species distribution models using citizen science observations of an old‐forest indicator fungus Phellinus ferrugineofuscus. We applied five modeling approaches (generalized linear model, Poisson process model, Bayesian occupancy model, and two MaxEnt models). Models were used to forecast changes in occurrence in response to national forest management for 2020‐2110. Forecasts of species occurrence from models based on CSD were congruent with forecasts made using the colonization–extinction model based on systematically collected data, although different modeling methods indicated different levels of change. All models projected increased occurrence in set‐aside forest from 2020 to 2110: the projected increase varied between 125% and 195% among models based on CSD, in comparison with an increase of 129% according to the colonization–extinction model. All but one model based on CSD projected a decline in production forest, which varied between 11% and 49%, compared to a decline of 41% using the colonization–extinction model. All models thus highlighted the importance of protected old forest for P. ferrugineofuscus persistence. We conclude that models based on CSD can reproduce forecasts from models based on systematically collected colonization–extinction data and so lead to the same forest management conclusions. Our results show that the use of a suite of models allows CSD to be reliably applied to land management and conservation decision making, demonstrating that widely available CSD can be a valuable forecasting resource.