Gullrosas berg, Naturreservat

The reserve is very hilly, and the ridges make hiking in the area laborious, but also rewarding in terms of views.

The whole area is hilly and consists of north-south oriented rift valleys with intervening pine-covered ridges. The eastern and western borders are at 180 m a.s.l., while the highest ridge reaches up to 250 m a.s.l.

The pine forests are two-tiered and relatively well managed, with sparse small dead trees and scattered burnt stumps. In the rift valleys, there are occasional coarse-stemmed spruce forests, birch or alder swamps or small open bogs, depending on local moisture conditions. In some rift valleys, the spruce forest has begun to develop a natural forest character with the presence of threatened species. The rift valleys also contain a large number of heathlands with rich cryptogamic vegetation (lichens, mosses and fungi). For example, the northern rock tussock has been noted on one lodyta. On slopes and precipices, there is a significant deciduous element, mainly aspen and birch. The deciduous trees occur in all life forms: young saplings, rough or late-grown adult trees, dying trees, standing dry trees with nest holes and flames in various stages of decomposition. The large number of deciduous trees, with a rich flora of lichens, mosses and wood fungi, can be interpreted as a late successional stage after a fire that was prolonged by forest grazing until the 1960s.

The reserve was established to preserve a varied rift valley landscape with deciduous vegetation, pine rocklands, high quality spruce forests and various types of wetlands. The aim is also to preserve habitats for capercaillie, wolverine and the moss Nordic rock thrush, and to preserve rare species.

Animals and plants

Eleven threatened species have been observed in the area so far. Most of the species worthy of protection in the reserve are linked to old deciduous trees, such as the cream thistle and the leather-lobed lichen, while others are linked to pine wood, such as the dwarf beech lichen.