Övre Sävälven, Naturreservat

The Upper Sävälven nature reserve consists of spruce forests, deciduous burns and marshes along the winding course of the Sävälven. Near the river, the forest is herb-rich and lush, and rare lichens and fungi thrive in the untouched parts of the forest.

Rich vegetation along the river

Within the reserve, Sävälven is free from human influence. The exception is an old mill site and the remains of a dam. The river alternates sharp rapids with calmer sections and in places it divides into several channels. The forest closest to the river is flooded in the spring, making the soil nutrient-rich and the vegetation lush with tall herbs such as red clover and midsummer flowers. In the past, haymaking was practiced along some stretches of the river.

Many hanging lichens

Parts of the forests in the reserve were thinned during the 20th century, but here and there there are older, unaffected forests. Old spruce forest grows around Mörttjärn and the area is very rich in various hanging lichens. The branches are draped with the hairy yarn lichen and beard lichen, which can grow several decimeters long. Prickly lichens are also included in the flora of hanging lichens, including the rare violet-grey prickly lichen.

Crow's-bill mushroom

Other unusual lichen species can be found on aspen, such as crustose yellow lichen, aspen yellow lichen and white lichen. In stretches of spruce swamp forest, the old spruce bowl grows - a picky bowl fungus that requires high humidity and only grows on the bark of old, late-growing spruces. The beautifully pink salmon spurge is a wood-living fungus that is very rare, but has been sighted in the northern part of the reserve.

Typical woodpecker tracks

Bird life in the reserve is characterized by forest species such as the capercaillie, the woodpecker and the three-toed woodpecker. The three-toed woodpecker is quite fearless but mainly reveals its presence by making so-called drinking rings - pecking marks in rings around the trunks of spruce trees.

Traces of fires

Forest fires were much more common in the past and throughout the area there are old pine stumps with traces of forest fires. On the ridge south of Mörttjärn is a so-called leaf burn that probably grew up after a forest fire in the 1800s. In the deciduous burn, the forest is sparse with a large number of deciduous trees, mainly birch but also willow and rowan. Here there are

there are traces of fire even on living pines.