Wildlife of Sweden
The southernmost province of Scania differs from the rest of Sweden in consisting almost entirely of mostly flat, arable land, and also in its complex geology, which includes Mesozoic rocks and abrasion coasts.
The rest of Sweden mostly consists of gneiss and granite, sometimes forming archipelagos (Sw. "skärgård") of fairly small, bare, rounded rocks in the northern part of the west coast and around Stockholm.
The country is much warmer and drier than other places at a similar latitude, mainly because of the combination of the Gulf Stream[5] and the general westerly direction of the wind.
[9] Beech (Fagus sylvatica) is the dominant tree species in the region of Skåne and along a narrow strip of the west coast.
Forest herbs in this zone typically vegetate and flower in spring, as the crown of beech is very dense, and little light reaches the ground once the leaves appear.
Forests of alder (Alnus glutinosa), ash (Fraxinus excelsior), and elm (Ulmus glabra) grow in nutrient-rich, often wet soil, but most of these areas have long since been drained and converted to arable fields.
South of the river Dalälven, there are scattered deciduous trees like oak (Quercus robur), and this zone is referred to as boreo-nemoral.
There are a total of four native conifers in Sweden, and of these only Norway spruce (Picea abies) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) form forests, in pure or mixed stands.
are abundant, and in richer soils, herbs (e.g., Paris quadrifolia, Actaea spicata) and broad-leaved grasses (e.g., Milium effusum) are more common.
Under wet and nutrient-rich conditions, luxuriant vegetation may develop, consisting of tall herbs such as Aconitum septentrionale, Angelica archangelica, and Cicerbita alpina.
Above the birch forest, starting at 300–1000 meters, depending on latitude, there are usually willow-thickets, and above these can be found alpine heath or meadows, the former dominated by dwarf shrubs of the family Ericaceae, the latter by sedges, rushes and various herbs such as Saxifraga spp., Dryas octopetala and Draba spp.
These bogs largely consist of living and dead Sphagnum spp., with scattered dwarf shrubs and sedges such as Eriophorum vaginatum.
In the wet southwest, Narthecium ossifragum and Erica tetralix occur in the bogs, while in the north and the east, the dwarf birch Betula nana and Ledum palustre, an evergreen shrub, are common.
), like Lake Vattern, or small ponds with brown water surrounded by floating mats of bog vegetation (e.g. sedges and Menyanthes trifoliata).
A common seashore species there is the endemic, tussock-forming grass Deschampsia bottnica, which survives the destructive force of up to 2 meters thick sea ice.
Common submerged vascular plants in this area, the Gulf of Bothnia, are, among others Myriophyllum sibiricum, Callitriche hermaphroditica and Stuckenia pectinata.
The mountain hare, the Eurasian beaver, the red squirrel, as well as about fourteen species of smaller rodents occur in Sweden as well.
Some of the significant challenges Swedish wildlife faces include: Additionally, climate change is likely to affect the country's biodiversity, with the treeline moving further north and to higher altitudes, and forests replacing tundra.
