Värmansnäs, Naturreservat

During a visit to Värmansnäs nature reserve, you can experience a species-rich older deciduous mixed forest on a peninsula in Lake Lister. The cliffs plunge steeply into the lake or form cliffs.
Värmansnäs was protected as a natural monument in 1961. The reason was "to preserve the current stand type for as long as possible and in doing so study the development of the ground vegetation and to provide a refuge for badgers".

Old calf pen

The reserve consists of a three-hectare peninsula with older deciduous mixed forest where oak and beech are the most common species. The peninsula rises ten meters above Lake Lister and the cliffs plunge steeply into the lake. According to Peter Gedda's map from 1688, Värmansnäs was part of a calf pasture. According to the map, there were plenty of deciduous trees in the area.

The western part of the peninsula is covered by an older, sparse deciduous forest dominated by oak and beech with a significant admixture of spruce. A power line street cuts through the forest and forms a clearing. On the eastern part of the peninsula and on the hill in the middle of the reserve, spruce dominates.

The spruce protects the peninsula from cold winds from Lake Lister, which results in a more even microclimate and faster heating in spring. Blueberries dominate on the slopes in the power line corridor and heather in the upper parts.

Several of the older deciduous trees are now crowded out by spruce. A decision on a new purpose and new regulations was taken in 2006. Careful clearing of spruce is to be carried out to reduce the spruce's competition with the deciduous trees.

Traces of leatherback beetle

The natural forest at Värmansnäs has plenty of dead wood, both in living trees and in high stumps, dry logs and barns. During inventories in 1998, leatherback beetle droppings were found in one of the decaying oaks. The leatherback beetle is one of our largest beetles and it is dependent on old hollow deciduous trees, mainly oak. The leatherjacket lives as a larva in hollow trees for between three and four years, before developing into a three-centimeter-long adult beetle with a lifespan of one month.

During an inventory in 2004, unusual wood insects living on dead spruce wood were found in a small spruce stand where there are plenty of older spruce logs. Several rare species of insects, spiders, lichens and fungi have been found in the reserve.