Wildlife of Sweden

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Located in the

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.

Geography

Sweden is an elongated country east of Norway and west of the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Bothnia. It extends from a latitude of 55°N (similar to Newcastle or Moscow) to more than 70°N, which is north of the Arctic Circle. To the southwest lie the Skagerrak and the Kattegat seas. To the northeast is the land border with Finland, marked by the Torne River. The coastline along the Baltic Sea is indented with many small islands and two larger ones, Gotland and Öland. Lakes are numerous, ranging in size from small ponds to Vänern, the third largest lake in Europe.[1]

Most of northern and central Sweden, roughly north of the large river

Scandinavian mountains (or Scandes) in the west. These mountains, which form the border with Norway in the north, are mostly around 1000 meters in height, but Kebnekaise reaches 2097 meters,[2]
making it the tallest mountain in Sweden and northern Scandinavia.

The geology of the Scandes is quite diverse; often reflected in differences in the flora. South of Dalälven is a low-lying area surrounding the large lakes Mälaren and Hjälmaren. The soils in this area are clayey and fertile, having originated from marine deposits during the latest glaciation. Due to the rich soils, this area became one of the main agricultural regions in Sweden.

To the south, there are some minor hilly and barren areas, such as Tiveden. East and west of Lake Vättern are intensively cultivated plains on sedimentary rock. To the south of this region, the land rises again to the South Swedish highlands, a terrain of mostly barren hills reaching 377 meters. The southernmost province of Scania differs from the rest of Sweden in consisting almost entirely of mostly flat, arable land, and also in its complex geology, which includes Mesozoic rocks and abrasion coasts. The rest of Sweden mostly consists of gneiss and granite, sometimes forming archipelagos of fairly small, bare, rounded rocks (Sw. "skärgård") in the northern part of the west coast and around Stockholm. The Baltic islands Öland and Gotland consist almost entirely of Ordovician and Silurian limestone, respectively.[3]

Climate

Main article: Climate of Sweden

Despite its northerly latitude, most parts of Sweden have a temperate climate with few temperature extremes.[4] Climatically, the country can be divided into three regions; the northernmost part has a subarctic climate, the central part a humid continental climate and the southernmost part an oceanic climate. The country is much warmer and drier than other places at a similar latitude, mainly because of the combination of the Gulf Stream[5] and the general westerly direction of the wind. The northern half of the country gets less rainfall than Norway because of the rain shadow effect caused by the Scandinavian Mountains.[6]

Biodiversity

There are an estimated 55,000

lichens.[8]

Sweden had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 5.35/10, ranking it 103rd globally out of 172 countries.[9]

Flora and vegetation

Mountain birch near the treeline.
Scots pine
is common in the boreal forest.

Beech (

Skåne and along a narrow strip of the west coast.[10] This is called the nemoral zone. Forest herbs in this zone typically vegetate and flower in spring, as the crown of beech is very dense, and little light reaches the ground once the leaves appear. Examples are Anemone spp. and Corydalis
spp.

Oak (Quercus robur and Quercus petraea) forests occur on poor soils. Forests of alder (Alnus glutinosa), ash (Fraxinus excelsior), and elm (Ulmus glabra) grow in nutrient-rich, often wet soil, but most of these areas have long since been drained and converted to arable fields.

Most of Sweden below the mountains is covered by

Epilobium angustifolium), raspberry (Rubus idaeus), and Geranium bohemicum
are among the first plants to germinate in the ashes.

In the mountains, the conifers are replaced by birch (Betula pubescens ssp. tortuosa), which forms the tree line in most areas. The undergrowth in these forests is quite variable. Under wet and nutrient-rich conditions, luxuriant vegetation may develop, consisting of tall herbs such as

Aconitum septentrionale, Angelica archangelica, and Cicerbita alpina. Above the birch forest, starting at 300–1000 meters, depending on latitude, there are usually willow-thickets, and above these can be found alpine heath or meadows, the former dominated by dwarf shrubs of the family Ericaceae, the latter by sedges, rushes and various herbs such as Saxifraga spp., Dryas octopetala and Draba
spp.

Ranunculus glacialis reaches the highest altitude of all plants in Sweden, often growing near the ever-shrinking glaciers.

Wetlands cover large areas in Sweden. In the south,

mire complexes with both fen- and bog-like parts. The largest is found in Sjaunja
, a nature reserve in Lapland.

Sweden has as many as 90,000 lakes larger than one

Hornborgasjön
.

The coast of Sweden is long and conditions are quite different at the endpoints. Near the Norwegian border, conditions are typical of the North Atlantic, turning to subarctic near the Finnish border where

Rhodophyta
) and brown (
brackish
waters of the Baltic.

Fauna

Main articles: List of mammals of Sweden, List of birds of Sweden, List of fish in Sweden, and List of amphibians and reptiles of Sweden
Reindeer
Female willow ptarmigan in summer plumage

According to the

harbor seal in the south and west, ringed seal in the Gulf of Bothnia, and grey seal throughout. The porpoise
is the only whale that breeds in Swedish waters.

The

raccoon dog, mink, muskrat brown rat, and house mouse
were unintended introductions. All these introductions, perhaps except the fallow deer, have been "successful," resulting in viable populations.

Sweden's Red List of critically endangered mammals includes

barbastelle, the serotine bat, the pond bat, the lesser noctule, and the wolf. Listed as vulnerable are the Eurasian otter, the wolverine, the harbor seal, the harbour porpoise, and the Natterer's bat.[11]

According to

Phasianus colchicus) have been deliberately introduced.[13]

The only endemic fish in Sweden is the critically endangered freshwater Coregonus trybomi, still surviving in only a single lake.[14] Amphibians found in Sweden include eleven species of frogs and toads and two species of newt, while reptiles include four species of snake and three species of lizard. They are all protected under the law.[15]

Sweden has an estimated 108 species of

beetles
.

Conservation

Some of the major problems facing Swedish wildlife include:

Lack of protection for the few remaining old-growth forests (in the north). Affecting particularly lichens, mosses and insects.

Use of alien species such as the lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) in forestry, potentially outcompeting the native Scots pine and Norway spruce

Invasive species, such as

Carassius gibelio, Colpomenia peregrina, and Dasya baillouviana
.

Introduction of forest trees of foreign provenance of native species may cause genetic pollution

Exploitation of hydroelectric power almost always causes drastic changes in water-level dynamics in watercourses, resulting in the potential loss of several vegetation types, and species, particularly vascular plants

Draining of wet forests (home to most of forest species, in several categories) in connection with timber extraction.

Draining of mires for peat extraction.

Large scale exploitation of mineral resources, some of which are associated with rare and threatened organisms and landscape types (e.g. limestone on Gotland and

ultrabasic rock
in the mountains).

Deciduous trees, which have key role in maintaining biodiversity in boreal forests, are often routinely removed.

Pastures and meadows (wet or dry) are no longer managed and left to be overgrown, or actively planted with trees. This affects a very large number of species of vascular plants, insects and birds.

Dead wood is frequently removed, along with many fungi and insects.[16]

Climate change is likely to affect the country's biodiversity, with the treeline moving further north and to higher altitudes, and forests replacing tundra.[17] The melting of ice will increase runoff, affecting wetlands. With a rise in sea level, the Baltic Sea will receive a greater inflow of saline water.[17]

References

  1. ISBN 0-540-05831-9
    .
  2. ^ Grace, John (2018). "Sweden's highest point set to lose title as glacier melts". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  3. ^ Olsson, Olle G.; Karlsson, Thomas. "Skåne: Växtliv". Nationalencyklopedin (in Swedish). Cydonia Development. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  4. ^ Climate Change Knowledge Portal. "Current Climate > Climatology". Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  5. ^ "BBC Climate and the Gulf Stream". BBC. 24 September 2014. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  6. ISBN 978-0-19-023197-2
    .
  7. ^ "Sweden's National Report under the Convention on Biological Diversity". Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  8. ^ "Sweden's biodiversity at risk" (PDF). European Red List. IUCN. May 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  9. PMID 33293507
    .
  10. ^ Vaníček, Lukáš (2021). Beech provenance trail in Sweden – growth and timber quality evaluation". Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  11. ^ "Däggdjur efter rödlistekategori och landskapstypår 2010" (PDF). Statistisk årsbok 2011 (in Swedish). Miljö. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  12. ^ Lepage, Denis (29 December 2018). "Checklist of birds of Sweden". Bird Checklists of the World. Avibase. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  13. ISBN 978-1-84353-066-4
    .
  14. ^ "Vårsiklöja (Coregonus albula morphotype trybomi)" (in Swedish). Havs- och vattenmyndigheten. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  15. ^ "Förbjudet att döda eller skada" (in Swedish). Lansstyrelsen. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  16. PMID 21141774.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  17. ^ a b "Sweden: Biodiversity Sweden". ClimateChangePost. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
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