The little creatures of the forest

Not too long ago, I posted short videos from the forests of Norrbotten on Naturarvets blog where I showed some exciting species I had found. Here I thought I'd show them up close and tell you a little about them. There are so many exciting things you can find in really old forests so keep your eyes open if you get a chance to visit one! The first species out, one of my favourites is the Roseate Tick. The first photo is the beginning of a rose thistle (Fomitopsis rosea) while the second is a few years old as you can see from the fine whorl.

Rose thistle grows mainly on dead spruce wood, preferably where there is some moisture and the forest has had a continuity in the formation of dead wood. Rose hips' fruiting bodies are perennial and can grow as long as the dead wood remains, requiring a constant replenishment of dead wood! The species is mainly found in northern Sweden and is a good indicator that the forest has high nature values. Often other exciting and red-listed species can be found on the same flame where the rose thistle grows. For example, wrinkled skins as you can see in the picture below

 Wrinkled skin (Phlebia centrifuga) is easily recognised by its lumpiness and is known as a skin fungus and is an annual. This means that a new fruiting body grows each year. The Wrinkleshell also likes to grow in forests rich in spruce and is mainly found on dead spruce wood, just like the Rose Thistle, this species is a good indicator that the forest has high nature values. On the same flame where both the rose thistle and the wrinkled skin were growing, I also found this fine species, the woolly adelgid

 Owl beetle (Phellinus ferrugineofuscus) can usually be found on coarse spruce trees and is mainly found in continuous spruce forests. It acts as a so-called signal species used in the classification of the nature values of older forests. In other words, if you find a woolly adelgid, you know you are in an old-growth forest with high nature values. It is common in old-growth forests in the north of the country, but occurs almost throughout Sweden except in the southernmost parts.

Well, those are some species to look out for when you're hiking in the woods. As you can see, these species do not like bare ground, hence their place on the Red List. As long as we use clearcutting as the only forestry practice in the forest there is little hope for these species to survive in the long run, but with the loud forestry debate we can all hope that in the future that will change!

Have a good time

/ Paulina