Forest management practices can influence carbon and nitrogen dynamics, which are critical for climate change mitigation. We investigated the effects of disc trenching during stand establishment, in combination with repeated nitrogen fertilisation of the previous stand, on carbon and nitrogen stocks in soil, tree biomass, ground vegetation, and fungal community composition in two 17-year-old Pinus sylvestris stands in Sweden (Hagfors and Nissafors). The study applied a split-plot design with factorial combinations of fertilisation (0-1800 kg nitrogen ha(-1) in the previous rotation) and disc trenching as sub-plots. Seventeen years after disc trenching, the total soil carbon stocks were not significantly different between disc-trenched and non-disc-trenched treatments, but organic matter was redistributed. At both sites, disc trenching increased tree biomass carbon and nitrogen by similar to 50% compared to the non-disc-trenched treatment, resulting in significantly higher ecosystem carbon stock at Nissafors; and an increasing trend at Hagfors (albeit non-significant). In contrast, fertilisation of the previous stand had no persistent effects on soil, biomass, or ecosystem carbon and nitrogen stocks in year 17 of the subsequent rotation. Disc trenching and previous fertilisation had limited effects on fungal communities in the soil organic layer. At Hagfors, however, ectomycorrhizal richness was higher in unfertilised non-disc-trenched sub-plots. Overall, disc trenching enhanced ecosystem carbon stock through increased tree growth without causing long-term soil carbon or nitrogen losses, while previous nitrogen fertilisation showed no legacy effects. These results suggest disc trenching can support forest regeneration without causing long-term soil carbon loss.

Silvicultural practices such as site preparation and nitrogen (N) fertilization are commonly used to increase growth of a stand. These practices may affect the forest ecosystem for several decades, impacting not only the trees, but also the stand structure and ground vegetation. Long-term field experiments are thus necessary to study these effects. In our study, two field experiments, Hagfors and Nissafors, established around 1980, were used to study residual effects of previous N-fertilization and disc trenching (DT) on tree growth and ground vegetation 17 years after final felling. At both sites, DT reduced tree mortality and increased individual tree growth, resulting in higher stem numbers and tree volume per hectare after 17 years. Previous N-fertilization had no significant effect on tree growth. The ground vegetation was affected by DT at both sites. At Hagfors, the most pronounced effects were a reduction in the cover of Cladonia rangiferina, and an increase in Calluna vulgaris after DT. Cladonia rangiferina was also negatively affected by previous N-fertilization. At Nissafors, DT caused a shift in cover of Vaccinium vitis-idaea to Vaccinium myrtillus. The impact of DT on the field layer composition appears to have been caused by the soil disturbance but also the increased shading resulting from the increased tree growth and survival. This study indicates that previous N-fertilization and DT affect the ground vegetation in the longer term. This should be considered when developing guidelines and forestry practices.

Forest harvesting can lead to mercury (Hg) mobilization from soils to aquatic habitats and promote the transformation of inorganic Hg to highly neurotoxic and bioaccumulative methyl-Hg (MeHg). Multiple past studies reveal broad variation of stream water MeHg and total Hg (THg) concentration responses to forest harvesting, which has confounded messaging to forest and resource managers. To advance beyond divergent and sometimes contradictory findings, we synthesized information for 23 previously studied catchments in North America and Fennoscandia and compiled a uniform set of soil, landscape, and harvesting properties to identify forest management, riparian, and hillslope factors that influence responses of stream water MeHg and THg concentrations. From this synthesis, we found catchments with high soil moisture and organic soil layers >100 cm to be at highest risk for disturbance-induced increases in MeHg formation after harvest but not necessarily affecting concentrations of MeHg in stream waters. Instead, the combination of MeHg formation in soils along with factors that affect mobilization with runoff to streams most influenced how forest harvest affects MeHg concentrations in stream waters.

Mechanical site preparation (MSP) is deliberate soil disturbance which is undertaken to improve the conditions for forest regeneration. Disc trenching and mounding are the dominant MSP practices currently used in Sweden and Finland. In this paper, the impacts of MSP on the soil, water quality, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and ground vegetation of mineral soil sites in Sweden and Finland are reviewed. The practices considered are patch scarification, mounding, inverting, disc trenching, and ploughing, which together represent a wide range of soil disturbance intensity. The environmental effects of MSP in this region have not been studied extensively. The environmental impact of MSP derives from the process of creating microsites which involves horizontal and/or vertical redistribution of soil and soil mixing. This typically affects decomposition, element circulation and leaching, vegetation coverage and uptake of nutrients and water, and possibly erosion and sediment exports. Following disc trenching or mounding the effects on GHG emissions appear to be minor over the first two years. For a few years after disc trenching concentrations in soil water collected below ridges are higher than that below furrows for some elements (e.g., NO3-, NH4+, Mg2+, and total or dissolved organic C). The physical and chemical effects of ploughing remain detectable for several decades. There is little evidence about how the effects of forestry activities in upland areas on soil-water chemistry are transferred to adjacent surface water bodies, including what role streamside discharge areas play. MSP increases the tree biomass C store and may increase the total ecosystem C store. The impact of MSP on the cover and abundance of ground vegetation species depends on the composition of the original plant community, MSP intensity, and the establishment rate of different species. Species cover generally seems to decline for late succession understory species, while pioneer and ruderal species can benefit from the microsites created. Areas containing lichens which are used for reindeer forage require special consideration. More research is needed on the environmental effects of MSP, particularly regarding its long-term effects. Further efforts should be made to develop efficient site-preparation practices which better balance the disturbance intensity with what is needed for successful regeneration.

Since the 1950s, more than 200 000 km of roads have been built in Sweden’s forests, making them easily accessible and open to multiple uses. The aim of this study was to review the impacts of forest roads in Sweden from a broad perspective encompassing social, ecological, and environmental factors. The Swedish case is interesting because it has an extensive network of permanent forest roads which were built primarily for forestry-related transportation but are currently used by many other stakeholders for many different purposes. Forest roads not only facilitate transportation of wood, machinery, personnel, and equipment into and out of the forest but also enable emergency response to wildfires and support berry and mushroom picking, hunting, recreation, tourism, and access to second homes. The roads increase the opportunities for members of the public to experience forests in various ways. Conflicts arise when different interests collide, for example when the interests of the forest owner clash with those of commercial berry-picking companies, tourism entrepreneurs, or reindeer (Rangifer tarandus L.) herding. Forest roads may have ecological impacts such as barrier and disturbance effects, fragmentation or loss of habitats, altering fauna movement patterns, and changing the composition of plant and insect species. The environmental impacts of forest roads relate to, among other things, hydrology, water quality, and erosion. Predicted changes in the climate are likely to place new demands on Swedish forest roads but, despite their extent, this review shows that there is only a small amount of rather fragmented research on their social, ecological, and environmental consequences. Overall, few studies appear to cover both social and ecological/environmental factors and their interactions, either in Sweden or elsewhere. This review provides examples of such interactions in the case of Sweden, and suggests that more research into these and the specific social, ecological, and environmental factors involved is warranted.

The maintenance of narrow strips of trees (forest buffers) along the shorelines of surface water bodies during logging is a common measure to protect freshwater habitats. The functionality of forest buffers may be improved by actively managing the streamside forest early in the rotation for their eventual function as buffers, including by increasing the proportion of broadleaf trees in spruce-dominated stands. In this study, long-term effects of different selective thinning regimes along two small forest streams were investigated in south-central Sweden. In a young coniferous forest, a c. 10 m-wide band along the streams was selectively thinned in 1998 to create a band with purely broadleaf trees along one of the streams and purely conifers along the other. Forest stand characteristics, water chemistry and benthic macroinvertebrates data were collected during 1996-2003 (before and after selective thinning). The streams were re-investigated 20-22 years after thinning, together with three streams representing operational forest management. The forest adjacent to all five streams was inventoried and litterfall, stream water chemistry, and benthic macroinvertebrates composition were monitored between spring and late autumn during 2018-2020. Twenty years after thinning, the thinned bands beside the streams were still dominated by either broadleaf trees or conifers, depending on the stream. Over the longer term, the differences in water chemistry between the streams with selective thinning were mainly related to lower pH, ANC, Tot-P and Tot-N concentrations in the stream bordered by mainly broadleaf trees. Analysis of benthic macroinvertebrates was based on environmental quality indices (ASPT and EPT), diversity and abundance metrics, and relative abundances of functional feeding groups. Streams with higher broadleaf litter inputs tended to score better on the ASPT and EPT indices than those with lower broadleaf inputs, as well as supporting higher relative abundances of one or more groups of invertebrate detritivores (leaf shredders, collector-gatherers and/or passive filter feeders). This suggests that management of the density of broadleaf trees beside these streams might support higher ecological status and will support a greater proportion of detritivores in benthic food webs.

Forest buffers beside surface water can mitigate negative effects of logging. To gain more information on buffer implementation in operational forestry, forest buffers were inventoried during 2018 on 174 harvested and site-prepared compartments traversed by or bordering streams, ditches and lakes in three regions across Sweden 2–4 years after clearcutting. Most of the inventoried stream and ditch reaches were ≤5 m wide. The water reaches were categorized as lakes (n = 16), natural streams (n = 50), modified streams (n = 21) or ditches (n = 87). Forest buffers with 100% shoreline coverage were present along all lake reaches and 55% and 10% of the natural or modified stream and ditch reaches, respectively. Buffers were absent beside 14% of the natural or modified stream reaches and 61% of the ditch reaches. Lake reaches had significantly wider buffers on average than ditch reaches and natural or modified stream reaches. The mean (SE) buffer widths beside lakes, natural or modified stream reaches and ditch reaches across all three regions and shoreline coverage classes were 12 (1.1), 6.6 (0.6) and 1.5 (0.5) m, respectively. The character of the local stream networks (natural or modified streams or ditches) containing each inventoried reach, were assessed using map information and the reaches´ field classifications. This illustrated the difficulty of judging a streams´ character based solely on field inspections of individual reaches on forest land where historic drainage activities have been performed. We recommend that also upstream and downstream conditions should be considered when planning environmental measures to protect surface water bodies.

Ditch cleaning (DC) is a well-established forestry practice across Fennoscandia to lower water table levels (WTL) and thereby facilitate the establishment of tree seedlings following clear-cutting. However, the implications from these activities for ecosystem-atmosphere greenhouse gas (GHG) exchanges are poorly understood at present. We conducted chamber measurements of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), methane (CH 4 ) and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) fluxes from soil and ditches over the first two post-harvest years to assess initial DC effects on the GHG balance of a forest clear-cut on a drained fertile peatland in hemiboreal Sweden. We also evaluated spatial effects by comparing fluxes at 4m and 40m from ditches. We find that 2 years after DC, mean (± standard error) WTL of 65±2cm was lower in the DC area compared to −56±2cm in the uncleaned area. We further observed lower gross primary production and ecosystem respiration in the first year after DC which coincided with delayed development of herbaceous ground vegetation. We also found higher CH 4 uptake but no difference in N 2 O fluxes after DC. Greater CH 4 uptake occurred at 4m compared to 40m away from both cleaned and uncleaned ditches. Model extrapolation suggests that total annual GHG emissions were reduced in the DC area from 49.4±4.4 to 27.8±2.8 t-CO 2 -eq-ha -1 -year -1 in the second year. This was primarily caused by decreased heterotrophic respiration, probably because DC during dry conditions resulted in drought-limited soil microbial activity. CH 4 and N 2 O fluxes from clear-cut areas contributed <2% to the total (soil, ditches) GHG budget. Similarly the area-weighted contributions from ditch CO 2 and CH 4 emissions were <2%. Thus, our study highlights that DC may considerably alter the post-harvest GHG balance of drained peatland forests. However, long-term observations under various site conditions and forest rotation stages are warranted to better understand DC effects on the forest GHG balance.

Forest soils in Northern Europe are generally trafficked by forest machinery on several occasions during a forest rotation. This may create ruts (wheel tracks), which could increase sediment transport to nearby surface water, reduce recreational value, and affect tree growth. It is therefore important to reduce soil disturbance during off-road forest transportation. In this study, rut depth was measured following forwarder traffic on study plots located along four harvested till hillslopes in Northern Sweden with drier soil conditions uphill and wet conditions downhill. The treatments included driving 1) using no ground protection, 2) on logging residue (on average, 38–50 kg m–2) and 3) on logging mats measuring 5×1×0.2 m. The hillslopes contain areas with a high content of boulders, stones, and gravel as well as areas with a significant content of silt. Six passes with a laden forwarder with four bogie tracks were performed. On the plots with ground protection, the application of logging residue and the application and removal of logging mats necessitated additional passes. Rut depth was measured using two methods: 1) as the difference in elevation between the interpolated original soil surface and the surface of the rut using GNSS positioning (Global Navigation Satellite Systems), and 2) manually with a folding rule from an aluminium profile, placed across the rut, to the bottom of the rut. The two methods generally gave similar results. Driving without ground protection in the upper part of the hillslopes generated ruts with depths <0.2 m. Here, the rut depth was probably modified by the high content of boulders and stones in the upper soil and drier soil conditions. In the lower part of the hillslopes, the mean rut depth ranged from 0.21 to 0.34 m. With a few exceptions, driving on logging residue or logging mats prevented exposure of mineral soil along the entire hillslope. Soil disturbance can thus be reduced by acknowledging the onsite variability in ground conditions and considering the need for ground protection when planning forest operations.

ABSTRACT Stand development in riparian forest buffers was simulated for three forest landscapes in Sweden, using data taken from a sample plot inventory along 38 streams. The objectives were: to quantify the effects on wood production and the economy of management alternatives for buffers; and to evaluate the development of important stand structures for buffer functionality. Buffer widths from 0 to 30 m were analyzed with unmanaged or selective logging as alternatives. Leaving unmanaged buffers resulted in the cost being generally proportional to the area of productive forest land covered by buffers in the landscape. The cost for the widest buffer alternative, 30 m, when left unmanaged, was between 4 and 10% of the total net present value of the entire forest landscape. Allowing selective logging to promote broadleaved trees in the buffer reduced the costs to 1–3% of the net present value. Selective logging increased the volume share of broadleaved trees in the buffer, thus enhancing some of its ecological functions. Unmanaged buffers increased the amount of dead wood more than the alternatives with selective logging. Decisions about buffer zone management must consider the trade-off between economic and environmental benefits, as well as the trade-offs between contrasting environmental goals.

Riparian buffers are the primary tool in forest management for protecting the habitat structure and function of streams. They help protect against biogeochemical perturbation, filter sediments and nutrients, prevent erosion, contribute food to aquatic organisms, regulate light and hence water temperature, contribute deadwood, and preserve biodiversity. However, in production forests of Sweden and Finland, many headwater streams have been straightened, ditched, and/or channelized, resulting in altered hydrology and reduced natural disturbance by floods, which in turn affects important riparian functions. Furthermore, in even-aged management systems as practiced in much of Fennoscandia, understory trees have usually been cleared right up to the stream’s edge during thinning operations, especially around small, headwater streams. Fire suppression has further favored succession towards shade tolerant species. In the regions within Fennoscandia that have experienced this combination of intensive management and lack of natural disturbance, riparian zones are now dominated by single-storied, native Norway spruce. When the adjacent forest is cut, thin (5 - 15m) conifer-dominated riparian buffers are typically left. These buffers do not provide the protection and subsidies, in terms of leaf litter quality, needed to maintain water quality or support riparian or aquatic biodiversity. Based on a literature review, we found compelling evidence that the ecological benefits of multi-layered, mixed-species riparian forest with a large component of broadleaved species are higher than what is now commonly found in the managed stands of Fennoscandia. To improve the functionality of riparian zones, and hence the protection of streams in managed forest landscapes, we present some basic principles that could be used to enhance the ecological function of these interfaces. These management actions should be prioritized on streams and streamside stands that have been affected by simplification either through forest management or hydrological modification. Key to these principles is the planning and managing of buffer zones as early as possible in the rotation to ensure improved function throughout the rotation cycle and not only at final felling. This is well in line with EU and national legislation which can be interpreted as requiring landscape planning at all forest ages to meet biodiversity and other environmental goals. However, it is still rare that planning for conservation is done other than at the final felling stage. Implementing this new strategy is likely to have long-term positive effects and improve the protection of surface waters from negative forestry effects and a history of fire suppression. By following these suggested management principles, there will be a longer time period with high function and greater future management flexibility in addition to the benefits provided by leaving riparian buffers at the final felling stage.

Wood-ash application to forestland has been proposed as a means to compensate for increased nutrient removal when harvesting logging residue in addition to stems. A study-plot experiment was established on a mineral soil site in Sweden to investigate how this measure affects soil-water chemistry. In 1995, 10 treatments were applied. Here, we present results from 9 to 17 years after application for eight of the treatments: control; 3 × 10 3 , 6 × 10 3 , and 9 × 10 3 kg·ha −1 of self-hardened and crushed wood ash (WA); 150 kg N·ha −1 supplied as ammonium nitrate; 3 × 10 3 kg WA and 150 kg N·ha −1 applied simultaneously; 3 × 10 3 kg WA with 150 kg N·ha −1 applied 1 month before the ash; and 3 × 10 3 kg·ha −1 of pelleted ash. Soil-water samples were collected from a depth of 50 cm. Treatment effects (p < 0.05) were detected in the electrical conductivity, pH, and concentrations of K + , Mg 2+ , Ca 2+ , Al, SO 4 2− -S, and B. Elevation of K + and SO 4 2− -S concentrations tended to cease toward the end of the study period. Effects were generally more pronounced with increasing ash dosage. No difference was detected between the 150 kg N·ha −1 treatment and the control. Despite the high solubility of the ash, its effects on soil-water chemistry could still be detected 9–17 years after application.

Nitrogen fertilization can increase above- and belowground forest growth and carbon storage in low nitrogen (N) environments. However, it may also induce changes in other parts of the ecosystem, such as altered composition and diversity of the ground vegetation. These changes may occur, for example, because of increased availability of nitrogen and light depletion due to a denser tree canopy. We studied vegetation changes at 11 experimental sites in Pinus sylvestris stands with low N-deposition, along a south-north gradient in Sweden. We estimated the relative cover of individual species and the data were analysed with a linear model, using total amount of fertilizer-N added, years since last fertilization, site and site index as independent variables. The relative cover of the dominant dwarf shrubs (Vaccinium myrtillus and Vaccinium vitis-idaea) increased following fertilization. In the bottom layer, N significantly increased the total cover of two of the three dominant species (Pleurozium schreberi and Dicranum spp.). For the third species (Hylocomium splendens) no detectable effect was found. For lichens as a group, the cover decreased following N fertilization. No effect of N fertilization on species diversity was detected at any of the sites, and the forest vegetation types remained unchanged.

Core Ideas Impact of forwarding on soil water and vegetation was investigated after 4 to 5 years. Soil water content was highest in wheel tracks and lowest between tracks. Bare soil was more frequent in tracks and between tracks than in undisturbed soil. In wheel tracks, soil aeration may be restricted in periods with high precipitation. Simulated root‐zone pressure heads showed little variation between microsites. Soil compaction is a common consequence of forestry traffic traversing unprotected, moist soils; it decreases porosity and affects hydraulic conductivity even in coarse‐textured soils. The aim here was to study root‐zone hydrology and vegetation in three microsites (in, between, and beside wheel tracks) 4 to 5 yr after forwarder traffic, on stony and sandy till soils in two clearcuts in northern Sweden. Measurements of soil volumetric water content (VWC), vegetation indicators and one‐dimensional hydrological modeling (Hydrus‐1D) of wheel tracks and undisturbed soil were conducted. Soil VWC was monitored hourly during 2017 and 2018 in three or four plots along a slope on each site. Soil VWC was also measured once with a portable sensor in 117 plots along two slopes at each site, where the vegetation was recorded and analyzed using Ellenberg indicator indexes. Soil VWC was highest in wheel tracks and lowest between tracks; this was corroborated by the species composition in the wheel tracks (Ellenberg indicator for soil moisture). Bare soil was more frequent in wheel tracks and between tracks than in undisturbed soil. The model simulations indicated that the changed soil hydraulic properties influenced the VWC results in the wheel tracks. However, the differences in average pressure heads in the root zone were small between the microsites and only apparent during dry periods. In the wheel tracks, air‐filled porosity was <0.10 m3 m−3, indicating insufficient soil aeration during 82% (Site T) and 23% (Site R) of the 2017 growing season. Insufficient aeration could be one explanation for the presence of some still unvegetated areas.

Forest fertilisation with nitrogen (N) typically increases N leaching for 1–2 years. Some studies have reported effects also after clearcutting. This study presents an analysis of soil-water chemistry data from the 3rd to the 15th year after clearcutting of fertilised experimental plots on a low-fertility site in Sweden. Before clearcutting in 1987, study plots had been fertilised with NH4NO3 in 1967, 1974, and 1981, resulting in total applications ranging from 0 to 1800 kg N·ha−1. In 1989, disc trenching was simulated by manual digging on small subplots within the fertilised main plots. Soil-water samples were collected at a depth of 50 cm. Previous N fertilisation and site preparation, respectively, affected (p < 0.05) the total N and NO3–-N concentrations and pH of soil water, but no statistical interaction between fertilisation and site preparation was found. The NO3–-N concentration was elevated for total N applications above 720 kg·ha−1 (mean NO3–-N concentration of 0.93 mg·L−1 for 1080 kg N·ha−1, 1.6 mg·L−1 for 1440 kg N·ha−1, and 2.4 mg·L−1 for 1800 kg N·ha−1 compared with 0.20 mg·L−1 for the control) and lower after simulated disc trenching (0.63 mg·L−1) than in nontrenched soil (1.3 mg·L−1). The elevations in the soil-water NO3–-N concentration for the fertiliser treatments seemed to be related to changes in the soil N store created by previous fertilisation.