Kungsberget
Kungsberget is a demo area in Sweden.
The demo Site Kungsberget (60°45’: 16°24’E) consists of several locations along a water course. Starting with some very narrow headwater streams (10-20 centimetres wide), intermediate site around one meter wide and large site.
Headwater site
The Kungsberget site, located 25 kilometres north west of Sandviken, hosts two small headwater streams, where the riparian forest was experimentally thinned in 1998. Then, the site was covered by a 15-year old Scots pine stand. All broadleaved trees were removed in a 10 meters wide zone around one of the streams, while all conifers were removed in the same way along the other stream. Each zone was about 500 meters long. Measurements of benthic fauna composition and water chemistry were carried out before and after thinning of the riparian forest. The pre-treatment measurements showed that the benthic fauna composition and water chemistry in the two streams was similar, especially the benthic fauna composition. The post-treatment measurements indicated decreasing similarity in benthic fauna composition with time.
By repeating the measurements of benthic fauna and water chemistry allows us to study how the tree species composition of the riparian forest has influenced these factors following a period of as much as 20 years. Additional variables will be monitored as well to be able to analyse which factors that might explain the results obtained (see monitoring program below). Another 2-3 streams, located on the same hillslope as the manipulated streams, will be included to widen the range in tree species composition. The riparian forest along these streams has not been subjected to experimental thinning and holds different proportions of broadleaved and conifer species, respectively. All streams are draining the same hillslope and are distributed within a total distance of about 1 kilometre. The Scots pine stand covering the site was thinned in January-February 2017, but the riparian forests around the manipulated streams were left intact according to a field inspection later in March.
Needed update
- Clearing of foot path
- Some removal of spruce’s in the birch brook border
- Signs and information posts
Facilities
There are several possibilities for food and accommodation in the vicinity (Kungsbergets ski resort, Kungsbergets Herrgård or Jädraås (13 kilometres).
Future use
The site will be used for monitoring the effect of the previous thinning done 20-years ago. The measurements and monitoring are done within another external project.