A 600-year tree-ring fire history from Norra Kvills National Park, southern Sweden: implications for conservation strategies in the hemiboreal zone Original Research Article

The fire history of Norra Kvills National Park in southeastern hemiboreal Sweden was reconstructed for the last 600 years by cross-dating of fire scars in trees, stumps and snags of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris). Between 1401 and 1770 forty different fires were recorded; fire frequency at point scale was 20 years, which is 3–4 times more frequent than in northern Sweden. Since 1770, no large fires have been recorded. This has had considerable consequences for the forest structure and fauna in that it has resulted in a shift from a Scots pine-dominated ecosystem to a fire-sensitive Norway spruce (Picea abies) system over large parts of the park. For rare late-successional species associated with Norway spruce (e.g. Fomitopsis rosea, a polyporous fungus and Ceruchus chrysomelinus, a beetle) this has been advantageous, while fire-, light- and thermophilous species like the saproxylic beetle Tragosoma depsarium may be increasingly threatened if the process of spruce invasion and suppression of fires is allowed to continue. We discuss the importance and problems of incorporating fire in management plans of reserves and in forestry practices, with the aim of preserving the large number of species that are directly or indirectly dependent on fire in southern Sweden.