fulltext - DiVA

52 HUGO SJORSFig. 4. Beech forest with modestundergrowth of "meadow" type:mainly Oxalis and Anemone nemorosa.Skane, Romeleasen nearVeberod. May 12, 1954. PhotoH. Sjors.little more than leaf litter and a few patches ofV accinium myrtillus or Deschampsia flexuosa onthe ground. On intermediate soils with mull, Oxalisacetosella and Anemone nemorosa flower abundantlyin springtime, and mostly in slightly better ornot too shady beech forest, Galium odoratum,Stellaria holostea, Poa nemoralis, Viola reichenbachianaand other species are common. Onlythe rich types harbour Lamium galeobdolon, Mercurialisperennis, Anemone ranunculoides, Alliumursinum, Corydalis cava, etc., species that areperhaps more typical of ash or elm woods.Farther north, in northern Halland, the Goteborgarea and coastal Bohuslan, beechwoods aresubordinate or even absent, and low, sometimesalmost shrubby oakwoods are prominent on thesides and in the fissures of the numerous rockyhills. Both Q. petraea and Q. robur are frequentlypresent, with much admixture of birch (B. verrucosa)and aspen (Populus tremula). The rock-woodsare usually rich in heather (Calluna vulgaris) butotherwise very variable as to composition by species.See further HALLBERG & IvARSSON's article.The interesting and varied broad-leaved forestsof the Nemoral zone succumb at present to theexcessive planting of conifers, of which even theScandinavian spruce (Picea abies), the most usedconifer, is here to be regarded as an exotic. As inother parts of the Nemoral zone, the conifers growfast but do not drop their dead lower twigs readily,and in great contrast to conditions in native coniferousforests, almost nothing grows on the forestfloor of these dull looking but profitable plantations.For a more comprehensive treatment of theSwedish Nemoral zone (and adjacent parts of theBoreo-nemoral as far as the beech occurs) thereader is referred to works by the late Prof. B.LINDQUIST, especially his last writings on thissubject (1959), where also much of the other literaturewas cited.The Boreo-nemoral zoneAs stated above, the shift inland to predominantspruce and pine forest was originally not so sharpas it was at the turn of the century. Since then bothbroad-leaved woods, more or less wooded pasturelands and heaths have been extensively replacedby conifer plantations. If these plantations aredisregarded, the shift to predominance of spontaneousconiferous forest at the spruce-line is stillfairly abrupt. The Boreo-nemoral of Sweden is thencharacterized by a definite dominance of conifers.Acta Phytogeog1·. Suec. 50