Long-term spruce forest continuity - a challenge for a sustainable Scandinavian forestry

Macroscopic charcoal and pollen analysis were used to study the disturbance history and development of a boreal Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karat.) forest landscape in southeastern Norway. The sites studied were natural forests and the charcoal records showed no evidence of fire disturbance that could have broken the continuity in the spruce forests that were established ca. 1700 years ago. Consequently, true spruce forest ecosystem continuity was documented on a landscape level. However, fire disturbed the mixed pine-deciduous forest ecosystems that preceded the present spruce forests, suggesting a shift from fire-prone, to fire-free forest ecosystems. It is argued that the studied forest landscape has the potential to be an important natural reference for future forestry, that would be required to mimic natural forest dynamics to be biologically sustainable. A stereotypic promiscuous use of fire in the regeneration phase may cause serious damages in forest ecosystems that have developed without the impact of fire disturbance. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.