Garnanäs Naturreservat
Nature reserve near Garnanäs
Garnanäs Naturreservat is a species-rich nature reserve located at the headland Garnanäsudde near Garnanäs, approximately 23 kilometers southwest of Ronneby.
The 22-hectare nature reserve Garnanäs consists of a dense coastal forest on rocky ground and salt marshes in the flood-prone areas along the seashore. The trees are mainly composed of oaks, beeches and hornbeams and in their shade thrive wood bluegrass (Poa nemoralis), wood sorrel (Oxalis acetosella) and sweetscented bedstraw (Galium odoratum). In some places are large collections of various mosses, including large white-moss (Leucobryum glaucum).
On the higher rocky areas are partly low-growing pines, while the ground is mainly covered by reindeer lichen (Cladonia rangiferina). In the lower valleys grows a swamp forest mainly consisting of old alders.
Juniper, hawthorn, blackberry and various wild roses grow in the sunnier areas near the shore. Seaside centaury (Centaurium littorale), sea milkwort (Lysimachia maritima), creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera) and silverweed (Argentina anserina) grow on the salt marshes.
The entire nature reserve is grazed traditionally, which ensures the preservation of the special flora especially on the salt marshes. Several of the large trees show visible traces of clipping, as the leafy branches of the trees used to be harvested as winter feed for the livestock.
The natural fauna consists of a large number of wood-loving insect species due to the very old trees and the high proportion of deadwood, with the stag beetle (Lucanus cervus) being the largest insect species living on site. The insect population forms the food base for the lesser spotted woodpecker (Dryobates minor), which occurs in larger numbers in the nature reserve.
On the riparian zones, there is a great number of green sandpiper (Tringa ochropus) and the holes in the old trees serve mainly as the breeding site for tawny owls (Strix aluco).
