Bofallsmossen, Naturreservat

The Bofallsmossen nature reserve is one of Örebro County's finest pine forests. It is located high up on a plateau of old bedrock. Pines over 400 years old grow here.

Bergslagsbygd

The forest at Bofallsmossen has a long history to tell. It was purchased in the 1740s by the miners in the northern cabins in Karlskoga Bergslag. The miners selected and marked the old trees, as straight pines were needed as timber for both smelting and house building. For some reason, only a few of these trees were felled, which is why there are still old pines at Bofallsmossen today.

Thrives on old trees

In many places, the trees are richly draped with lichen. One example is the greenish-yellow yarn lichen, which can grow several decimeters long. This is impressive, considering it only grows a few millimeters a year. Hanging lichens often spread by breaking off a piece and being carried away by the wind to a new tree in the same forest.

Air indicators

Many bearded lichens thrive in a forest where trees have been allowed to grow, live and die at their own pace for a long time. The hanging lichens found here at Bofallsmossen used to be a common sight in every forest. Modern forestry and air pollution have meant that today they are only found in old-growth forests with clean air.

The pine's own tick

Old pine trees have their own fungus, the pine tick. It only grows on pines that are older than 120-130 years. The part we see on the tree is the fruiting body itself, inside the tree there are several kilometers of fungal tissue, mycelium. It only attacks the heartwood in the center of the tree, so a pine tree with pine spruce sawfly can survive for a long time.

Accessibility

Bofallsmossen 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.