Half a century of multiple anthropogenic stressors has altered northern forest understory plant communities

The boreal forests constitute the largest forest biome in the northern hemisphere. These forests are under increasing anthropogenic impact from intensified forest management, eutrophication and climate change, which may change their ecosystem functions and the services they provide. Swedish forests cover a long climatic gradient, receive highly variable rates of nitrogen deposition, and have a long history of forest use. Extensive systematic long-term data on vegetation from the National Forest Inventories (NFI) make Sweden an ideal area to study how species composition and function of other, more pristine boreal forests, might change under increased anthropogenic impact. We used NFI-data t…