Around Handöl in Jämtland, the cloudberry species is already visible and at Abisko in Norrbotten, some cloudberry flowers are already pollinated.
– It is insanely early, says Sofie Werner in Jämtland, who discovered the map.
She travels a lot in forest and land and has not experienced deer this early in the summer.
Warm spring
Researcher Keith Larson at Umeå University explains why the cloudberry flowering is already underway, is that the winter was not so snowy and that the spring has been warm.
– Everything has started earlier this year, not just the deer crown, he says.
He has worked in Abisko for eleven years and has never before experienced cloudberry blossoming as early as June. But he doesn’t think it’s due to climate change.
– We cannot say that it is due to climate change. But when the climate gets warmer, the years with snow and warm springs may increase. So climate change may increase the number of early springs or early summers. But we cannot determine that the climate is the cause.
Then we will have a good deer year
He believes in a good deer year in the north, but it all depends on the pollination.
– Let’s hope that the bees have done their job, and we will have a good deer year.
And if you want to fill the freezer with berries, Keith Larson has a suggestion:
– If you are going out to pick berries this year, you should think about going one to two weeks earlier than you usually do, he says.