Hösätern, Naturreservat

In the Hösätern Nature Reserve, you can experience everything from pristine primeval forest—home to the endangered moss Nordic rock moss—to lands around the Hösätern mountain pasture that have long been shaped by human activity.

The End of a Long Fault

The area forms the northern outpost of a fault more than four kilometers long that plunges toward Smågarnas and its watershed to the east. The fault exhibits clean fault surfaces of varying sizes at numerous locations along its entire length. In its northern part, which includes the Hösätern Nature Reserve, the area features a massive fault scarp with steep slopes facing northeast.

Rich bedrock supports rich vegetation

In the northern part of the plateau, adjacent to the settlement, the forest consists of old mixed coniferous woodland with a large proportion of old, large pines. Below the fault, which is in places heavily strewn with boulders, there is an old spruce forest rich in herbs. There is also a noticeable presence of dead wood here. The vegetation is influenced in places by the bedrock, which is rich in diabase, as well as by the fluctuating groundwater levels. The diabase bedrock is known locally as Öjebasalt.

Biological Values

The steep mountain slopes exhibit high natural values. Among other species, the endangered moss Nordic rock moss (Cynodontium suecicum) is found here. The species is known only from the Nordic countries and northern Russia. Nordic rock moss is endangered, and Sweden must take special responsibility for the species.

The forest is largely natural, with plenty of dead wood. Several natural forest species are found here, such as the wood-decay fungi woolly tinder fungus and bordered tinder fungus. The forest below the fault zone is in places rich in herbaceous vegetation and significantly influenced by moving groundwater. Species such as the common toadflax, the common bugle, and the spiderwort are found here.

Historical and Current Land Use

The Hösätern mountain pasture is partially affected by the western part of the reserve. The pasture plots are gradually becoming overgrown, as there is no livestock to keep the vegetation in check. The current settlement of five cabins is relatively uniform and older, with no new vacation homes mixed in. The mountain pasture environment is considered to have cultural-historical and environmental value well worth preserving. The cultural-historical remains consist of cultivation cairns, a mountain pasture trail, and rock carvings. The mountain pasture trail is today only partially visible.

In Dalarnas ängar och betesmarker (Meadows and Pastures of Dalarna), it states: “Hösätern is a small mountain pasture belonging to Vörderås, located on a west-facing slope southeast of Lake Völsjön. The rocky hay meadow below the cabins is still open and features typical “mountain pasture-type” hay meadow vegetation, though it is somewhat more species-rich than usual, likely due to some influence from diabase. Several large, coarse willows bearing traces of leaf harvesting contribute to the beauty of the mountain pasture. From the traces of past haymaking—such as the remains of hayracks that still stand—one can conclude that the mountain pasture has been used until recent times.” The forest adjacent to the mountain pasture, on the reserve’s plateau, has historically been used for forest grazing.