Inventering av skyddsvärd biotop med hjälp av digitala verktyg

Abstract

In this essay a method of localizing and getting an overview of basiphilous pine forests was studied. The question was if findings from the species observation system, Artportalen, used together with maps that among others show vegetation, rock and soil art in a GIS program could show the locations of unique biotopes without time wasting field studies. The object of the research was Böda Ekopark and its surroundings in the northern parts of Öland. The area has a history of being a royal forest, where the trees were protected from logging. The park is owned by Sveaskog, a public company that is the biggest forest owner in Sweden. They claim working towards developing their ”Ecoparks”, such as Böda, into environments that helps endangered species to spread. They also want to promote the outdoor life and look to the cultural values. The results show that the method used can be a way to locate possible places for further field studies. It cannot be assured that what appears to be a calochorus pine forest when studying different layers in a GIS-program actually is exactly that. In the discussion several sources of error are dealt with, for example the fact that Artportalen is not a fully reliable source due to the varying levels of knowledge and professionality among those making the reports. This can effect the results regarding correct species, environments and coordinates. Another source of error is local varieties when it comes to ground conditions and so forth. There is a risk using a standard list to work from when searching different environments and different parts of the country the results may vary because of local differences. The conclusion of the essay is that the method may very well be used, if combined with field studies. It is important to make a sufficient selection before the work of choosing areas to study.