Iceland boreal birch forests and alpine tundra

Iceland Boreal Birch Forests and Alpine Tundra

Published: May 16, 2014, 2:24 pm

Topics:

Conservation Biology (main) Biodiversity (main) Ecology (main)

Iceland woodland scene. (Photograph by Wesley Wettengel)

The Iceland boreal birch forests and alpine tundra is an ecoregion that covers the entire island country of Iceland. This island is the second largest island in the North-Atlantic Ocean (c. 103,000 square kilometres (km), is entirely volcanic, being composed of basaltic rock. Weather is typically cold and wet, and blanket bogs are common. The surface is only partially covered with vegetation, the rest being bare rock, snow, and glaciers, which cover over eleven percent to the ecoregion. Wetlands and coastal cliffs serve as habitat for colonising birds. Sixty-one Important Bird Areas (IBAs) supporting almost three hundred bird species are located on the island.

Location and General Description

Map of the North Atlantic. Source: World Wildlife Fund The island country of Iceland is located far north in the Atlantic Ocean. with its northern edge situated immediately south of the Arctic Circle. Iceland is an entirely volcanic island on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge of the North Atlantic, and in present time as well as recent geologic time is being pulled apart at the rate of about one entimetrea per year. The ecoregion is roughly co-latitudinous with Norway, Sweden and Finland.

Geology and Soils

Iceland is a grologically young island that began to form in the Miocene era about 20 million years ago through a series of volcanic eruptions on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where it lies between the North American and Eurasian plates. Consisting of basaltic rock, many of the volanoes are still active, including the well-known volcanoes Hekla, Katla and Krafla. Soils are andosols and podzols, without permafrost but with turbulent movement of saturated soil on slopes. Most of the vegetation and agricultural areas are in the lowlands close to the coastline. The interior of the country is largely Arctic desert, with mountains, glaciers, volcanoes and waterfalls. Much of the interior of the country consists of glaciers, which cover almost 12,000 km² or 11.5 percent of the country. Iceland has the largest glacier in all of Europe, Vatnajökull. However, some of the glaciers may be retreating. In a few cases, some of the smaller ones have melted completely.

Some of the most active volcanic areas lie underneath these glaciers so that when an eruption takes place, it leads to huge meltwater floods and explosive activity. These floods have long been a feature of Iceland's geologic history.The almost total lack of woodland is a striking feature in Iceland, as is the barrenness of the country, whereby vast areas are either devoid of vegetation or only have a very sparse vegetation cover. New lava flows and ash from the volcanoes have sometimes covered vast areas of land, damaging or destroying the vegetation cover in the process. Plant colonisation of these areas is slowed by thin soils and slow vegetative succession. Vegetation consists of the following: Betula nana, Betula pubescens, Salix phylicifolia, Cetraria nivalis, Xanthoria elegans, X. candelaria, Alectoria ochroleuca, Rumex acetosa, Carex chordorrhiza, Carex rostrata, Ranunculus trichophyllus, Angelica archangelica, Ranunculus acris, Geranium silvaticum, Potamogeton filiformis, Erigeron borealis, Achillea millefolium.

Salient Features

Snæfellsnes Peninsula

Fellsjökull National Park lies in the westernmost part of Snæfellsnes peninsula and covers 170 square kilometres. This park features the Snæfellsjökull Glacier and an active volcano, reaching 1446 metres in height; the locale was used to film Jules Vernes' famous Journey to the Center of the Earth.The national park boasts black sand beaches, rugged rocky cliffs towering above the sea, and an intricate system of lava tubes.

Westfjords

This large peninsula is at the northwest of Iceland, and offers forebidding cold and snow impediments except for a narrow time span of July and August. It consists of scenic fjords, craggy mountains, jagged sea cliffs and dramatic waterfalls, featuring the Hornstrandir Nature Reserve. This landform is Europe’s last true wilderness expanses, with rugged terrain hosting Arctic foxes, Grey seals, numerous whale taxa and diverse avafauna.

Highlands of Iceland

The central plateau of Iceland has little human population and covers most of the interior of Iceland. This region lies above the four hundred metre contour and is classified as an uninhabitable volcanic desert; precipitation infiltrates the porous soil so quickly that plant growth is highly limited. The soil surface is a grey, black or brown crust of lava and volcanic ashes. A few oasis areas are found close to the glacial rivers.

Vatnajökull National Park

Vatnajökull National Park encompasses over fourteen thousand square kilometres in southeast Iceland, consisting of a gamut of features including geothermal sites, rivers, glaciers and volcanoes. It encompasses all of Vatnajökull glacier and extensive surrounding areas. These include the national parks previously existing at Skaftafell in the southwest and Jökulsárgljúfur in the north. This is the largest national park in Europe.

Climate

Iceland has a relatively mild coastal climate due to the effect of the Gulf Stream. The average summer temperature in Reykjavik, the capital, is 10 degrees Celsius. The average temperature is 6^oCelsius (C) in July, with average highs of 24. The average winter temperature in Reykjavik is about 0^oC in January (average highs are 9^oC). For two to three months in summer there is continuous twenty four hour daylight in Iceland, and early spring and late autumn enjoy extremely elongated twilight. However, the days are very short in mid-winter. Precipitation ranges anywhere from 400 to 1,000 millimeters (mm). The relatively mild climate is due to the influence of the Gulf Stream. Iceland has a very vigorous climate, which has a negative effect on the habitat; with little or no vegetation, high winds and precipitation lead to rapid erosionof soiland coastline.

Glaciation

A number of Iceland's glaciers are advancing, including the remarkable growth of Iceland’s Breidamerkurjokull glacier; this glacier advanced from the LIttle Ice Age until about 1890, and then has commenced advance in the last twenty years. This glacial advance trend is rather common in present day glacial development, with other dramatic current glacial advances being currently noted in:

• Russia's Causcasus Mountains: where a number of glaciers are presentlyl advancing dramatically, the Malli adance being responsible for deaths of over 150 RussiansBiodiversity Features
• Norway's glaciers:.As early as 2009 the Norwegion Directorate of of Water Resources and Energy has been reporting general advances of major glaciers.
• Canada's tallest point Mount Logan: This glacier grew from 1992 to 2017 and also apparently more recently by laser altimeter measurement in situ.
• Karakoram mountains in the Western Himalayas:, a group of over 230 glaciers are advancing. At peaks of Mt. Everest like K2 and Nanga Parbat, glaciers are growing for over the last thirty years. These are among the largest mid latitude glaciers in the world
• Alaska’s Hubbard Glacier: has been advancing toward Gilbert Point near Yakutat at an average rate of sixteen metres per week.
• New Zealand: The nation's two largest glaciers, Franz Josef and Fox, continue to advance down-valley and are near their historic peak attained approximately 1987. Glacial advances pose risks to tourists and adventurers.

Icelandic landscape. (Photograph by: WWF-Canon/Peter Prokosch)

Biodiversity

This ecoregion is rich in bird diversity, over three hundred species have been observed. Sixty-one Important Bird Areas cover seven percent of this country. Although not technically an artcic area, many typical arctic species are found here. This habitat serves as an important refueling stop for many {C}migratory birds from Arctic breeding grounds to warmer wintering sites. Eighty-eight species have, up to recently, been nesting regularly in the country. Of these, fourty-two species are of European conservation concern. These include the Short -eared owl (Asio flammeus), Snowy owl (Nyctea scandiaca), Redshank (Tringa totanus), Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea), Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo), Glaucous gull (Larus hyperboreus), Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis), and Snow Hu (Plectrophenax nivalis). Thjorsarver, an Important Bird Area contains one of the largest breeding colony in the world for the Pink-footed goose (Anser brachyrhynchus).

Mammals comprise a much smaller number of the island's biodiversity. Long-tailed field mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) are abundant here, and are the only rodents on the island. The Arctic fox (Alopex lagopus) and the American mink (Mustela vison), an introduced species, are other mammals found on this island ecoregion; moreover, the Arctic fox is the only actual indigenous terrestrial mammal that was present prior to the arrival of man. Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) were imported to Iceland in the 18th century and are now found all over the country.

Marine mammals found in Icelandic ocean waters include Grey seal, Narwhal, White beaked dolphin and Humpback whale.

Ancient History

Earliest recorded human settlement of Iceland is from the Ninth Century AD, with arrival of Irish, Orkney and Norwegion settlers; apparently the first arrivals were interested in cultivating farmland, in a likely warmer era of the North Atlantic. Christianity became the established religion by the year one thousand , fostered by the Norse king. Archaeologists have recovered Roman coins from Iceland dating to circa three hundred AD; while some have suggested that Vikings may have been in possession of Roman coinage from six centuries earlier, this theory is not likely. Furthermore, Roman sailors were known to have circumnavigated the Orkney Islands as early as three hundred AD

.Current Status

Soil Erosion is responsible for thousands of square kilometre+s of destroyed vegetation. Although the population density of this country is only 3 persons per km², most of whom live along the coast, agriculture development has also altered much of the original vegetation and landscape of this ecoregion. Drainage of wetlands for agriculture has not only changed the natural habitat, but also affected populations of birds that lived there. There are sixty-one Important Bird Areas in Iceland including Arnarvatnsheidi-Tvidaegra, Gudlaugstungur-Alfgeirsungur, and Thjorsarver.

Types and Severity of Threats

Drainage of wetlands for agriculture is a major threat to bird populations of this ecoregion. Fisheries exploitation of the waters around Iceland negatively affects the populations of birds by reducing their major food source. Introduced species such as is the American mink are also a threat to colonies of birds, which make up their diet. Future oil and gas exploration threatens this ecoregion. Currently there are plans for building a hydropower station near Vatnajoekull, the largest glacier in Iceland. This station would negatively affect more than 3,000 square kilometres of relatively intact habitat and its flora and fauna through the building of dams, reservoirs, and the diverting of natural streams and rivers.

Justification of Ecoregion Delineation

This ecoregion is equivalent to the DMEER unit of the same name. It consists of the entire island of Iceland not covered by permanent ice. All of the Bohn et al. western boreal and nemoral-montane birch forests, southern arctic and shrub tundras, mountain tundras and sparse mountain vegetation, and minerotrophic mires on Iceland are included.

Additional information on this ecoregion

• For a shorter summary of this entry, see the WWF WildWorld profile of this ecoregion.
• To see the species that live in this ecoregion, including images and threat levels, see the WWF Wildfinder description of this ecoregion.

Further Reading

• Bohn, Udo, Gisela Gollub, and Christoph Hettwer. 2000. Reduced general map of the natural vegetation of Europe. 1:10 million. Bonn-Bad Godesberg 2000.
• Davis, S.D., V.H. Heywood, and A.C. Hamilton. 1994. Centres of plant diversity. Vol. 1: Europe, Africa, Southwest Asia and Middle East. WWF and IUCN, Washington DC.
• Digital Map of European Ecological Regions (DMEER), Version 2000/05
• Eldjám, Kristján. 1949.. "Fund af romerske mønter på Island". Nordisk Numismatisk Årsskrift: 4–7.
• Heath, M.F., and M.I. Evans, editors. 2000. Important bird areas in Europe: Priority sites for conservation. 2 vols. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK. ISBN: 0946888361
• IUCN 2000: The Global Redlist of Species, of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
• Gunnar Karlsson. "Iceland's 1100 Years: History of a Marginal Society". Hurst.[4] London. (2000) ISBN 1-85065-420-4.
• Ozenda, P. 1994. Végétation du Continent Européen., Delachaux et Niestlé, Lausanne, Switzerland. ISBN: 2603009540
• Northern Seas Yearbook 1995. Association for the History of the Northern Seas. 1995. pp. 11–32, 77–108.
• Stanners, D., and P. Bourdeau, editors. 1995. Europe's environment: The Dobris assessment. European Environment Agency, Copenhagen. ISBN: 9282654095
• The New Zealand Herald. Glacier visitors ignore extreme risks. NZPA.. 12 January 2006. Archived from the original on 27 January 2010. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
• Vésteinsson, Orri; Gestsdóttir, Hildur (2014-11-01). "The Colonization of Iceland in Light of Isotope Analyses". Journal of the North Atlantic. 7: 137–45. 
• Wheatley, N. 2000. Where to watch birds in Europe and Russia. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. ISBN: 069105729X

Disclaimer: This article contains certain information that was originally published by the World Wildlife Fund. Topic editors and authors for the Encyclopedia of Earth have edited ontent and added new information. The use of information from the World Wildlife Fund should not be construed as support for or endorsement by that organization for any new information added by EoE personnel, or for any editing of the original content.

Citation

World Wildlife Fund and C. Michael Hogan. 2014. Iceland Boreal Birch Forests and Alpine Tundra. ed. Mark McGinley. Encyclopedia of Earth. National Council for Science and Environment. Washington DC. Revised 2019 Retrieved from http://editors.eol.org/eoearth/wiki/Iceland_boreal_birch_forests_and_alpine_tundra