Post on 21-Sep-2020
Forests and forestry in Iceland
Aðalsteinn Sigurgeirsson Icelandic Forest Research
Not only least forested but probably also the least vegetated
country in Europe
40% in state of desertification
Climatically, Iceland is located within the boreal forest zone
!!
Source: UN/ECE
Iceland: Europe’s least forested country
% forest cover in 36 European countries
0
10
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30
40
50
60
70
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Finland
Sweden
Slovenia
Russia
Austria
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Slovakia
Belarus
Albania
Portugal
Czech R
ep.
Italy
Luxembourg
Bulgaria
Croatia
Lithauania
Germ
any
Switzerland
Poland
Norw
ay
France
Rum
ania
Greece
Spain
Belgium
Hungary
Ukraine
Turkey
Denm
ark
Great Britain
Netherlands
Moldovia
Ireland
Malta
Iceland
% forest
Iceland(0.3%)
Source: Rep. 3rd Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forest in Europe, Lisbon, june 1998
Hlutfall skóg- og kjarrlendis af heildarflatarmáli lands (%) í 46 Evrópulöndum
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Proportion of forest or other wooded land in 46 European countries (source: MCPFE, 2007) (í %).
(1,5%)
% forest cover of total land area
0,3%
10,7%
28,9%
65,9%
72,0%
11,6%9,6%
30,7% 29,7%
31,9%47,1%48,7%
When Iceland was settled 1100 years ago the land was forested, as described in the medieval sagas:
"from the feet of the mountains to the seashore". Forests covered 30-40 % of the total area of Iceland
Historical background
Native woodland before colonization, 25-40 % Native woodlands, today
Native forests: birch, rowan, aspen – no conifers
Juniperus communis
(the only native conifer
species)
• Clearing for pasture and hay fields (esp. in 9.-10. century)• The use of firewood and charcoal (until the 20th century)• Overgrazing by domestic animals (esp. sheep, goats) to this day• Volcanic eruptions with extensive ash fall• Catastrophic floods related to volcanic activity• Climatic factors such as “the little ice age” • Low biodiversity: a predisposing factor?
What happened to the forest after settlement (landnám) ?
Cause: a combination of
many interacting factors
Land degradation followed wholesale destruction of native woodlands
874 NOW
40%
The ‘view’ towards Mt. Hekla, S-Icelandon a windy, dry day in Oct. 2004
Oct. 20, 2004
“Man-made barren land & desert” is the most common “vegetation type”
All terrestrial flora and fauna was ‘wiped out’
during glacial interstadials of the
Pleistocene
Source: PALEOMAP project;
C.R. Scotese(http://www.scotese.com/lastice.htm)
Pleistocene effect on flora and fauna
• All plant and animal species are ‘recent’ (Holocene) immigrants– Mainly widespread generalists with holarctic
distribution– No endemic species (save perhaps one species of
freshwater shrimp)• Low species diversity due to geographic
isolation– Number of vascular plants in similar latitudes &
climatic regions ...• Alaska: >1400 species• N-Norway: >700 spp.• Iceland: 470 spp.
– One native mammal (Arctic fox)
Number of tree species (> 3 m) in North-America
Iceland: 3
Source:Currie DJ, Paquin V. 1987.Large-scale biogeographicalpatterns of species richnessof trees. Nature 329: 326-327
Icelandic birch woodlands
Afforestation
Began in 1899• protection of remaining woodlands
•afforestation experiments
The “Pine stand” at Thingvellir
1899
2003
1899: First experiments in ‘organized’ afforestation
(Danish initiative)1907:
A law on forestry and soil erosion.1913-1935:
Management of native woodlands
1930:Icelandic Forestry Association founded
1990: Land reclamation forest project, first regional forestry ‘pilot’
project1999, 2006:
The Regional Afforestation Projects Act, 5% of plantation forest cover of lowlands (400m)
Afforestation in Iceland
Mynd: Þröstur Eysteinsson
It took half a century to convince Icelandersthat trees could grow in Iceland
The first larch plantation, Hallormsstadur, E-Iceland
• 1937 • 2008
Tree species planted (2000-2005)
Sitka spruce 14,92%
Lodgepole pine 14,92%
Siberian larch 33,72%
Birch 26,34%
White spruce 1,03% Rowan 0,20%
Norway spruce 0,04%Willow 1,62%
Engelmann spruce 2,59%
Black cottonwood 4,61%
Downy birch (Betula pubescens)
Siberian larch (Larix sibirica)
Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis)
Lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta)
Black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa)
Feltleaf willow (Salix alaxensis) and Hooker willow (S. hookeriana)
Norway spruce (Picea abies)
Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) the biggest failure – so far
Source: Icel. Forestry Association (www.skog.is)
Changes in use of tree species1945-2000
Black cottonwood(Populus trichocarpa)
Downy birch(Betula pubescens)
Norway spruce(Picea abies)
Sitka spruce and Lutz spruce(Picea sitchensis & P. xlutzii)
Scots pine(Pinus sylvestris)
Lodgepole pine(Pinus contorta)
% Expansion or reduction of forest or woodland cover (1990-2005) in 46 European countries
Icelandic forests have expanded by 21,000 ha over this period, amounting to 95% increase over this 15-year period (6,3% per annum).
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Afforestation 1940-2007• 75% of afforestation in Iceland has occurred since 1990.• 75% of planted forest in Iceland are ‘Kyoto-forests’
Afforestation objectives in IcelandMultiple-use:
• Ecological (rehabilitation of ecosystem processes, habitats, wildlife),
• Economic (wood production, non-wood products),
• Protective (soil and water conservation, shelter, seq. CO2)
• Social (recreation).
Main actors in Icelandic forestry
• Iceland Forest Service– Mgt of state-owned forests,
research, extension, information• Regional Afforestation
Projects (5, in total)– Grants to farmers (800),
extension• Icelandic Forestry
Association– NGO, over 50 local societies– 7500 members (the largest
environmental NGO in Iceland)
Icelandic forest research (research branch of the Iceland Forest Service)
Photos: Mats Wibe Lund©
Mógilsá 1974Mógilsá 1999
Main research areas
• Genetics, genecology, breeding• Silviculture (esp. in establishment phase: site
preparation, tree nutrition, nursery research, establishment methods)
• Forest site research (production capacity), forest inventory, carbon sequestration
• Forest protection (entomology, pathology)• Forests, public perception and rural
development• Forest ecology (esp. ecological effects of
afforestation; biodiversity, water, etc.)
Government policy goal
• To afforest 5% of land area in lowlands (below 400 m a.s.l.)
• = 2% of total land area
Annual change in forest cover 1990-2000 (source: FAO)
Site-types afforested in Iceland since 2000
Planted forests, 1899-2005
For what purpose?
Multiple-use 9.200 32%
Timber 8.700 30%
Land rehabilitation
3.600 12%
Recreation 5.100 18%
Summer cottage surroundings
700 2%
Experimental 200 1%
Christmas trees 500 2%
Shelter 700 2%
Nature conservation
200 1%
28.900
Purported environmental damage
• Forest plantations (esp. conifers) claimed to be a threat to environmental health– Biodiversity– Acidification of soils– Eutrophication of water
• Research has failed to substantiate these claims
Athyrium filix-femina, rarein Iceland, colonizing the forest floor in a plantation of Sitka spruce, N-Iceland
Do you feel that forests are positive or negative for the country?
• Results of a nation-wide poll (Aug. 2004)
• 93% of Icelanders feel that forests are positive for the country
Positive
Would you like to see forests in Iceland increase or decrease in area?
• Results of a nation-wide poll (Aug. 2004)
• 85% of Icelanders feel that forests should expand (66% felt that forests should expand greatly)