Hösås, Naturreservat

The ash trees in Hösås are among the northernmost in Scandinavia.

The Hösås nature reserve is home to one of Värmland's few ash stands. Ash is special in several ways, partly because it is a species that requires good nutritional conditions and offers many other organisms a living space. Examples of this are lichens, mosses, fungi, insects and land snails.

Ash is also a culturally important tree. The ash tree has been used as fodder for livestock by harvesting the leaves, known as pollarding. The collected branches were dried with the leaves on. The remains of a giant ash tree, the so-called ash monument, are located just north of the reserve boundary.

The reserve was established to preserve the ash population and plant communities in the area and to promote nature study and outdoor recreation for the public.

Ash dieback disease

The ash trees in the reserve have been affected by the ash dieback disease. Ash dieback is a fungal disease that was discovered in Sweden in the early 2000s. The fungus spreads with the wind and causes wounds on the trunk and can kill entire trees. Several trees in the reserve have died due to the fungus, but some trees have fared better. These trees may be more resistant to the disease and may eventually become the ash trees that seed themselves and give rise to a more resistant generation of ash trees. In the places where ash trees have died, a new forest will grow up with alder, birch and aspen.

Plants

The deep, rich soil in the reserve favors not only the ash tree, but also the grove-like flora with witch hazel, dwarf witch hazel, ferns, gooseberries and squirrels. In spring, you can enjoy the magnificent spring flora when the wood anemones and bluebells bloom.