Last weekend Protect the Forest carried out an inventory in the Högsta forest, an unprotected natural forest in Haninge municipality. We didn’t get far before everyone stopped to take a closer look at the wood-living fungi Phellinidium ferrugineofuscum (NT), Porodaedalea chrysoloma (NT) and the lichen Felipes leucopellaeus, the wood-living fungi Fuscoporia viticola and Pyrola chlorantha, which are signal species that indicate high conservation values.
The forest consists partly of old spruce with elements of pine, birch and alder, there are marshes and wetlands. On the heights are old, gnarled pines. The forest has already been clear-clut a few years ago, but as a whole the forest is intact. There are also several key forest biotopes and a biotope protection area.
Those of us who took part in the inventory examined the forest on a voluntary basis as a preventive measure against possible logging notifications. One purpose of the inventory was to get more people committed to local forests, especially unprotected forests, and learn to distinguish between natural forest and planted forest. Also to learn more about nature conservation species, i.e. species that are threatened or indicate high nature values. We only had time to inventory a small part of the entire forest.
Phellinidium ferrugineofuscum is a wood fungus that we found in the mossy spruce forest, red-listed as near threatened. It was growing on the side of a fallen spruce that was slightly raised from the ground. This fungus has declined greatly in Sweden because the forests in which it thrives have been logged and are still being clear-cut. If you find a Phellinidium ferrugineofuscum, it usually means that there are more unusual and red-listed species in the area.
Porodaedalea chrysoloma, which is a red-listed wood-living fungi as Near Threatened (NT), we found on the hanging half-dead branches of an old spruce. In the area, there are on the branches of several spruces, but it is also usually found on fallen, dying or dead spruces. The wood tick, like the woolly tick, is “dependent on high and even humidity in old, undisturbed forest environments”, according to Artfakta. It is sensitive to rapid changes in light and wind conditions and therefore does not tolerate hedgerows.
On several of the old spruces grew the lichen Lecanactis abietina, which used to be a signal species. On some of these firs we found the lichen and signal species Felipes leucopellaeus, which you can sometimes find together with Lecanactis abietina. Felipes leucopellaeus needs high humidity. It can therefore indicate environments with high natural values that have microclimates with constant high humidity and continuity of older trees. There were Microbregma emarginatum holes on a spruce which are only 1.4 mm wide. We also found traces of Callidium coriaceum, also a signal species as well as Microbregma emarginatum.
Also check out this article about a threatened forest nearby: