Muddus

Muddus National Park, Sweden

Muddus National Park is best known for the Muddus Ravine and waterfalls (video right), with its nearly vertical walls up to 100 m high, but also has vast mires and, of interest to us, large old-growth forests.

Muddus National Park was established in 1942 and expanded in 1948 1. It currently covers 493 km2. In 1996, Muddus became part of the Laponia World Heritage site (9409 km2), which also includes Sarek, Stora Sjöfallet and Padjelanta national parks and Sjaunja and Stubbá nature reserves. Muddus, also called Muttos in the Sami language, is the easternmost part of the WH site and the one with the lowest elevations and therefore the best conditions for forest growth. Muddus has been spared from logging because the mires and ravines made it difficult to transport timber1. There was a settlement near Lake Muddusjaure from around 1850 to 1909 2.

Annual precipitation is approx. 500 mm 3 and mean annual temperature about 0°C 4. The bedrock is mostly formed by granite5 and soils are of low fertility6.

53% of Muddus is forest, 45% mire and 2% lakes3. The park can be divided into two parts. The southern part gently slopes down to an artificial lake, which is the park’s southern boundary and lowest point at 165 m. This part is thoroughly forested, but the relief is broken with deep ravines cutting through the forests, which also have countless small fractures. In contrast, the larger northern part is so flat that huge mires and several lakes have formed there. Strips of forest meander between the mires, and some low fells (low round mountains) rise above the plains that lie at 380–440 m elevations.

The forest is mostly approx. 20 m tall Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) – Siberian spruce (Picea obovata) forest, with the pine dominating. The other tree species are silver birch (Betula pendula), downy birch (B. pubescens), common aspen (Populus tremula), grey alder (Alnus incana subsp. kolaensis) and goat willow (Salix caprea). European rowan (Sorbus aucuparia) does not reach tree size. Muddus lies in the northern boreal zone7; however the tree growth is remarkably better than, for example, in the more northerly large national parks of Finland. For example, silver birch is an important component in Muddus, often reaching the conifer canopy. The tallest trees are probably approx. 30 m tall. The tallest tree I measured (with Nikon Laser 550A S instrument) was a 28.5-metre spruce in a small side valley, but slightly taller trees likely grow in sheltered but almost inaccessible ravines. The oldest known living Scots pine established in 1274 and has survived four forest fires5. The undergrowth mostly consists of subshrubs, mosses and lichens, though the lichens have been grazed down to the base by reindeer (photo below).

Effect of reindeer grazing on lichen cover. Reindeer have not reached the boulder on the left, which is covered by abundant reindeer lichens (Cladonia spp.). On the right, lichens have been grazed down to the base

The forest shows abundant signs of past forest fires. The mean fire frequency in pine forests has been 110 years 5. Most fires have burnt only 1–2% of the forest area5. Especially in the northern part, the fires have been of small extent due to the forest–mire mosaic; in the southern part with its continuous forest, there have also been larger fires3. The most remarkable fire year in recent centuries was 1868, when about 10% of the forest area burnt5. Today, fires are very rare due to fire prevention. However, there was a remarkable ground fire in the summer of 2006, which burnt about 3 km2 at the southern end of the park8. This burnt area is easy to see, with a few kilometres hike from the main entrance along a trail. After fires, the importance of the more shade-tolerant spruce increases only slowly, the shade-intolerant pine still being predominant after more than 200 post-fire years 9.

Spruce is more abundant at higher elevations – at lower elevations there have been more fires, the climate is drier and the soil coarser3. Arctic downy birch (B. pubescens var. pumila, see Boreal Region) is an important component at higher elevations (photo below). Forest limit is at slightly above 600 m, but solitary 2 m tall pine and Arctic downy birch grow up to the highest peak, the northern summit of Oerjemus Stubbá at 658 m. Spruce almost reaches the summit.

Spruce and arctic downy birch dominate here at 500 m. Also pine, the largest tree in the photo

Reindeer browse in the park year-round, preferring lichens in winter and birch shoots in summer. The grazing of lichens does not favour mosses, as described from northernmost Finland; this may be related to the drier climate.9

The forest is well studied, with the entire forest area covered by a matrix of research plots at 2 km intervals3. The first scientific studies were conducted in 1926 2.

Muddus National Park can be reached from several directions. The main entrance with car park, Skájdde, is in the southwest. To the east, there are car parks connected to the trail system in Tjoaltadievvá and east of Nammavárre. Muddus can also be entered from the southeast from Sarkavare; this option requires a hike of several kilometres before entering the park. Finally, the Porjus–Gällivare road briefly runs along the park’s northwestern boundary. From the road, a short trail leads to the highest peak, from which almost the entire national park can be seen. However, it is difficult to start a longer hike from the northwest, as the large mires are almost impassable and there are no long trails in the northern part. Only the Rallarstigen trail runs through the northwestern corner of the park.

Two multi-day loop trails of different lengths start from the main entrance. The longer one also includes a section in the northern, flat part of the park. Most visitors take a day-hike from the main entrance along the Muddus Ravine to the raging 42-metre Muttosgahtjaldak waterfall, which is 7 km from the car park. Near the ravine, the trail forks into two alternatives in many sections: the scenic alternative offers gorgeous views of the ravine, but ascend and descend constantly; the easier alternative (“lättare stig”) runs further away from the ravine. There are also five cabins open to the visitors, one of which near the Muttosgahtjaldak waterfall. Hiking and camping is possible throughout the national park, only from March to June there are bird protection areas off-limits to visitors. Off-trail hiking is not easy due to the broken relief in the south and the extensive mires in the north. In Muddus National Park, hikers can enjoy solitude without human noise. Even aircraft are uncommon over Muddus. In contrast, the roar of the waterfall can be heard from many kilometres away in calm weather.

KR

References:

  1. https://www.sverigesnationalparker.se/en/choose-park—list/muddus–muttos-national-park/
  2. Hanneberg, P. & Löfgren, R. (1998): Sweden’s National Parks. Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.
  3. Engelmark, O. (1987): Fire history correlations to forest type and topography in northern Sweden. Ann. Bot. Fennici 24: 317-324.
  4. https://en.climate-data.org/
  5. Engelmark, O. 1984. Forest fires in the Muddus National Park (northern Sweden) during the past 600 years. Can. J. Bot. 62: 893–898.
  6. Engelmark, O, Kullman, L. & Bergeron, Y. (1994): Fire and Age Structure of Scots Pine and Norway Spruce in Northern Sweden During the Past 700 Years. The New Phytologist 126/1:163-168.
  7. Ahti, T., Hämet-Ahti, L. & Jalas, J. (1968): Vegetation zones and their sections in northwestern Europe. Ann. Bot. Fennici 5: 169-211.
  8. Fredriksson, E., Cromsigt, J. P. G. M. & Hofmeester, T. R. (2024): Wildfire influences species assemblage and habitat utilisation of boreal wildlife after more than a decade in northern Sweden. Wildlife Biology.
  9. Engelmark, 0., Hofgaard, A. & Arnborg, T. (1998): Successional trends 219 years after ftre in an old Pinus sylvestris stand in northern Sweden. J. Veg. Sci. 9: 583–592.