Sweden is covered by 69%

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

. 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 An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ...

'' spp.) and alder (''

Alnus Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...

'' 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'', the European beech or common beech is a deciduous tree belonging to the beech family Fagaceae. Description ''Fagus sylvatica'' is a large tree, capable of reaching heights of up to tall and trunk diameter, though more ...

(''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'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US) or Baltic pine, is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly short, blue-green leaves and orang ...

(''Pinus sylvestris'') covers together around 75% of southern Sweden actual standing tree volume.

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. Forestry work expanded to

Norrland Norrland (, "Northland", originally ''Norrlanden'' or "the Northlands") is the northernmost, largest and least populated of the three traditional lands of Sweden, consisting of nine provinces. Although Norrland does not serve any administ ...

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.

List of Swedish forests

* Kolmården *

Tiveden Tiveden is a long and wide densely forested rocky ridge in Sweden, throughout history notorious for its wilderness and dangers; historically a hiding place for outlaws. In historic times it, along with Tylöskog and Kolmården, formed the bord ...

* Tylöskog * Kilsbergen * Ed Forest

References

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