Hällingsåfallet is a waterfall and a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

Jämtland County Jämtland County (, ) is a county or '' län'' in Sweden. It consists of the provinces of Jämtland and Härjedalen, along with minor parts of Hälsingland and Ångermanland, plus two small strips of Lapland and Dalarna. It borders the countie ...

in Sweden. It is part of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

-wide

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectiv ...

network.

Geography

The nature reserve is centred on Hällingsåfallet waterfall and the river

canyon A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency t ...

into which it discharges. The nature reserve is located at an altitude of around to above the sea level, and the waterfall itself is high. The canyon into which it falls is circa long, making it the longest in Sweden, and between and wide. The canyon was probably not formed by the current stream running there, but rather during the last

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

, when the melting ice eroded what was already a crack in the bedrock here. However, it cannot be excluded that the canyon is even older.

Flora

The moisture evaporating from the stream as it cascades through the fall has generated an unusual, very wet environment which is a good habitat for several types of

Cryptogam A cryptogam (scientific name ''Cryptogamae'') is a plant, in the broad sense of the word, or a plant-like organism that share similar characteristics, such as being multicellular, photosynthetic, and primarily immobile, that reproduces via sp ...

ae. Because of the extensive use of

hydropower Hydropower (from Ancient Greek -, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, ...

in Sweden, this kind of environment is today very unusual in the country. The purpose of the nature reserve is to protect this biotope. It contains several species of

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...

and

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

deemed to be in need of protection within Sweden, including ''

Cavernularia hultenii ''Cavernularia'' may refer to: * ''Cavernularia'' (lichen), a genus of lichenised ascomycetes in the large family Parmeliaceae * ''Cavernularia'' (cnidarian), a genus of marine cnidarians in the family Veretillidae {{genus disambiguation ...

'', ''

Cololejeunea calcarea ''Cololejeunea calcarea'' is a species of liverwort belonging to the family Lejeuneaceae Lejeuneaceae is the largest family of liverworts. Most of its members are epiphytes found in the tropics, while others can be found in temperate regions. ...

'', '' Fuscopannaria confusa'' and '' Lobaria hallii'' (the latter being known from only eight locales in Sweden, including Hällingsåfallet). It also includes threatened

fungi A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

such as ''

Pseudographis pinicola ''Pseudographis pinicola'' is a species of fungus A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more famil ...

'' and '' Neolecta vitellina''. The forest surrounding the waterfall and the canyon (and which is also under protection) is a circa 150-year-old mixed

coniferous forest Conifers () are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All e ...

dominated by

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal (taiga) regions of the Northern hemisphere. ''Picea'' ...

and with the occasional even older tree. Apart from the aforementioned great variety of fungi, moss and lichen, the moist forest also contain the

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

species ''

Dactylorhiza maculata ''Dactylorhiza'' is a genus of flowering plants in the orchid family Orchidaceae. Its species are commonly called marsh orchids or spotted orchids. ''Dactylorhiza'' were previously classified under '' Orchis'', which has two round tubers. Desc ...

'' and other unusual plants such as

northern wolfsbane ''Aconitum lycoctonum'' (wolf's-bane or northern wolf's-bane) is a species of flowering plant in the genus ''Aconitum'', of the family Ranunculaceae, native to much of Europe and northern Asia.Flora Europaea''Aconitum lycoctonum''/ref> It is fou ...

, Alpine snow-thistle and velvetbells. The bird-life of the area has also been described as "interesting"; species found here are

grey wagtail The grey wagtail (''Motacilla cinerea'') is a member of the wagtail family, Motacillidae, measuring around 18–19 cm overall length. The species looks somewhat similar to the yellow wagtail (disambiguation), yellow wagtail but has the yello ...

white-throated dipper The white-throated dipper (''Cinclus cinclus''), also known as the European dipper or just dipper, is an aquatic passerine bird found in Europe, Middle East, Central Asia and the Indian Subcontinent. The species is divided into several subspecies ...

merlin The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of UK Re ...

and

rough-legged buzzard The rough-legged buzzard (Europe) or rough-legged hawk (North America) (''Buteo lagopus'') is a medium-large bird of prey. It is found in arctic and subarctic regions of North America, Europe, and Asia during the breeding season, and migrates s ...

. For the convenience of visitors, a long path has been created from a nearby parking lot, and amenities such as

outhouse An outhouse — known variously across the English-speaking world otherwise as bog, dunny, long-drop, or privy — is a small structure, separate from a main building, which covers a toilet. This is typically either a pit latrine or a bucket ...

s and a simple shelter have been built. The path and one outhouse is accessible also for the

disabled Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physica ...

References

External links

Länsstyrelsens Natura 2000 Bevarandeplan

Euroturism
Waterfalls of Sweden Natura 2000 in Sweden Strömsund Municipality Nature reserves in Jämtland County {{Protected areas in Jämtland County

Geography

Flora

See also

References

External links