Deadwood has increased over the last 25 years, but it remains unclear to what extent this is driven by forestry practices or storms. Therefore, I wanted to study the change in volume, decay stage and tree species during a 22-year period, to see if there was a correlation between increase of deadwood and storm. This study included data from southern Sweden, collected by the Swedish National Forest Inventory between 1994-2016. Deadwood in production forest have doubled over the last 25 years and almost quadrupled in protected forest. The increase does not depend on storm since much of the fallen wood was probably removed following year. In protected forest there was an increase in deadwood of broadleaved trees and a drastic decrease in Pinus sylvetstris. While in production forest, conifer trees dominate and there was no lasting effect due to the storm Gudrun (2005) on Picea abies. Hard deadwood decreased in production forest, possibly due to increased removal of branches and treetops, used as forest fuel in forest management. Possible reasons for the increase in deadwood could be the awareness in forestry, especially certification system and voluntarily set asides. Though, there is still necessary to increase the volume of deadwood in production forest, since it covers the largest parts of Swedish forests and does not seem to reach the national environment objective in 2030.

Tall och gran är de vanligaste trädarterna i svenska skogar. Förutom deras ekonomiska värde är de viktiga värdar för andra organismer och nyttjas oftast när de är döda. Säby Västerskog har skyddats i hundra år och är ett urskogsartat naturreservat där inga fördjupade analyser av dynamiken i trädskiktet har gjorts sedan 1930-talet. Denna studie gjordes med syfte av att uppdatera informationen om reservatets trädstatus samt att undersöka mortaliteten hos skogens barrträd. Det som undersöktes var om mortaliteten skiljde sig mellan trädslag, storleksklass och markslag. Förändringar i grundytan och balansen mellan arten undersöktes också. Träd identifierades med hjälp av data från en detaljerad karta från 1937, det togs mått på deras diameter och noterades vilken mark de stod på. Fler granar än tallar har dött i reservatet sedan 1937. Trädens storlek spelade ingen roll för tallars mortalitet, men väl för granar. Granens mortalitet skiljde sig inte mycket mellan olika markslag, men verkade spela roll för tall som hade högst mortalitet på våtmark och lägst på blockmark. Trots mortaliteten ökade trädens grundyta. Balansen mellan arterna förblev samma. / Scots pine and Norway spruce are the most common tree species in Swedish forests. They are important hosts to other organisms – mostly as dead wood. Säby Västerskog has been protected in hundred years but no in-depth analyses of dynamics in the tree layer have beendone since the 1930s. This study was done to update the information about the reserve’s tree status and examined mortality of conifers. I evaluated if mortality depended on tree species, size of the trees, or the type of ground they stood on. I also examined changes in trees’ basal area. The trees were identified with help of an old, detailed map from 1937. Their diameters were measured and the ground type they were standing on was noted. More spruces than pines had died in the reserve since 1937. Mortality varied with the tree size for spruce but not for pines. The mortality of pines varied among ground types (with the highest on wetlands and lowest on boulder deposits), but not for spruce. Despite high mortality basal area had increased. The balance between the species remained the same.