Storsjögångan, Naturreservat

In the Storsjögångan nature reserve you can head out into the big forest and look at a giant migratory block that is said to be one of the largest in Scandinavia! You might also see a beaver lodge or hear a bee hawk, but make sure to wear your boots, there are plenty of wet and swampy places.

The terrain is quite rocky and hilly, with hollows where the humidity is high. The forest is just over a hundred years old. Spruce dominates, but there are also many pine and deciduous trees. Here and there are piles of dead trees in various stages of decay.

Beavers and old hydropower

In the east, a stream flows into Lake Storsjön. It is surrounded by a swampy forest with spruce and alder. Along the slopes down to the stream there are many large old aspens and the beaver has been there and felled even more. Part of the stream is paved and there is a dam and a dug canal. It is said to be the remains of a gristmill, i.e. a small mill where grain used to be ground.

Clean air

Many mosses and lichens thrive in the high humidity, it is actually one of Örebro County's most species-rich areas. The forest around the large migratory block is unusually rich in hanging beard and thorn lichens. Lung lichen is large and only occurs in old forests. It is very sensitive to air pollution and this is one of the reasons why it has become increasingly rare.

Shy bird

The bee-eater is a long-distance migrant - it spends winters in the rainforests of West Africa - but in summer it regularly nests in the forest of Storsjögångan. It does not catch bees, but its young are reared almost exclusively on the larvae and pupae of various wasp species. If the wasps are scarce in any given year, it has disastrous consequences for the young bees, which starve to death. The number of bees is declining in Sweden. One explanation may be that the availability of insects is poorer in today's forests and agricultural areas than in the past.

Availability

Storsjögångan belongs to level 1 in the county administrative board's leveling of the county's nature reserves, which means that the reserve has a wilderness character and lacks outdoor recreation facilities, except for the Ten Lakes Trail that passes through the reserve.