To decrease the impact of edge effects, the Swedish Board of Forestry recommends leaving strips of forest as protective zones when logging adjacent to swamp forests, although the effects of this is poorly documented (Magnus Wadstein, pers. comm.). Studies are needed on the local scale to properly understand the effects of forestry on swamp forests (Hilmo et al. 2005) and the importance of protective zones. In northern Europe, studies of swamp forest dynamics are mostly limited to boreal forests (e.g. Kuusinen 1996, Segerström 1997, Hörnberg et al 1998), why studies in the boreonemoral forest mosaic are important in describing possible regional variations.

I studied spatial and temporal variations in abundance of five lichen species in alder-dominated swamp forests in Kinda municipality of Östergötland county, southern Sweden. More specifically, this study consists of three separate observational studies, investigating (I) general trends of habitat disturbance in boreonemoral swamp forests, (II) the importance of leaving protective zones when logging and (III) the spatial distribution of a sensitive lichen in three different swamp forests. The aim was to compare abundance and distribution patterns of lichens between swamp forests of different disturbance history, to increase the knowledge of population-limiting mechanisms of rare lichens in the boreonemoral parts of Scandinavia.