Storön, Naturreservat

In Storön Nature Reserve you can dream away from civilization! Pine and spruce trees rustle as they have done for centuries and nature develops at its own pace. There are no houses or roads on Storön, but the unusual three-toed woodpecker thrives here.

Look out for rare mushrooms

Storön is located in Lake Malmlången, which is part of the Svartälven river. The reserve is completely covered with forest. On the northern part of the island grow mainly spruces, some are up to 30 meters high. The soil is quite swampy in places. There is plenty of wood in decay and a lot of lying, dead trees. Look at the underside of the trunks, and you might spot the cream tick. It can grow several meters long and cover the entire width of the trunk. It prefers soft, decaying spruce wood. It often grows on coarse trunks that have been lying for so long that moss has started to grow on the top. It is rare and is found in forests that are old and contain a lot of dead wood.

Pine trees of different ages

On the south-western part of the island, the trees are 150 years old. Throughout the island, large pines 200-300 years old grow here and there, and on some you can see traces of forest fires. In the southeast, the forest is younger and there are also plenty of deciduous trees.

Dead wood with good content

Hanging lichens thrive in the moist local climate. High up in the branches of the trees you can see large, hanging drapes of beard lichens and thorn lichens. The large amount of dead wood makes the three-toed woodpecker thrive. The decaying trunks are full of insect larvae and spiders that the three-toed woodpecker can easily peck out. Typical of this species is that it drinks the sap of spruce and pine trees. To get at the tasty liquid, the bird pecks lots of small holes in rings around the trunk. The marks are usually called drinking rings.

Availability

Storön 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.