Climate change impact on water and temperature conditions of forest soils : a case study related to the Swedish forestry sector

Sammanfattning: Climate observations have proven the existence of global warming. Projected climate change and its impacts are of great concern for the Swedish forestry sector. Managing forest ecosystem in changing climate is vital for the forest ecosystems and for the country’s overall development. Because of the long life-span of trees, forests are not capable to rapid adaptation to environmental changes. There are several factors which influence forests. Some of the major disturbance factors are considered soil conditions, in particular high and low soil temperature, the soil water depth and ground frost. The major objective of this work was to analyze the impact of climate change on soil water and temperature conditions in Sweden, focusing on the southern part; and to make projections for future conditions of forest soils and possible damages under the changing climate.