Restoration of birch woodlands in Iceland

Eysteinsson, Þröstur; Aradóttir, Ása L.

doi:10.1201/9780203497784.pt5

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Iceland has gone through extensive deforestation since its human settlement around 874 AD. The forest coverage has been reduced from 20% to about 1.5% of the total area of Iceland (103,000 km 2 ) and is currently represented by fragmented patches of birch forests scattered throughout the country ( Aradottir and Eysteinsson 2005 ) ( Fig. 1 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population structure and genetic variation of fragmented mountain birch forests in Iceland

Pálsson

Wąsowicz

Heiðmarsson

et al. 2022

Journal of Heredity

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Betula pubescens Ehrh. (mountain birch) is the only forest-forming tree in Iceland. Since human settlement (874 AD), the continuous 25,000-30,000 km 2 forest has shrunk to 1.200 km 2 of fragmented patches, making it a good object to study population genetic consequences of habitat fragmentation and disturbance. Further, genetic studies have also shown that hybridization between the tetraploid (2n=56) B. pubescens and the diploid (2n=28) Betula nana L. (dwarf birch) occurs among Iceland’s natural populations. This study assessed the genetic variation within and among eleven birch forests remaining across Iceland. Genotype-by-sequencing methodology (GBS) provided a total of 24,585 SNPs, with a minor allele frequency > 5% for genetic analyses. The analysis showed similar diversity within forests, suggesting that fragmentation and hybridization have had a limited effect on the genetic variation within sites. A clear genetic divergence is found among forests from the different regions of Iceland that may reflect historical isolation; the differentiation between forests increased with geographic distances reflecting isolation by distance. Information on the distribution of genetic variation of birch in Iceland is essential for its conservation and to establish genotype-phenotype associations to predict responses to new environmental conditions imposed by climate change and novel biotic/abiotic stressors.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population structure and genetic variation of fragmented mountain birch forests in Iceland

Pálsson

Wąsowicz

Heiðmarsson

et al. 2022

Journal of Heredity

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“…2013). In Iceland, the original forests were felled centuries ago and nearly all large tracts with trees today result from afforestation since the mid-1900s (Eysteinsson 2013). Relative to stand age, the concrete path at Öskjuhlíd is therefore not a recent disturbance, but as much a fixture as the trees, and the ‘snapshot’ of the consortia of Peltigera beside it might represent a seral stage of transition.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Peltigera islandica, a new cyanolichen species in sectionPeltigera(‘P. caninagroup’)

et al. 2016

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A new cyanolichen, Peltigera islandica sp. nov. in the section Peltigera (‘P. canina group’) is described from Iceland. This species is similar in general appearance to P. rufescens and P. membranacea, but may be recognized by its downturned lobe tips and narrow lobes, respectively. Most thalli are bright emerald green in colour when moist, although a dark khaki green colourmorph is also documented. Monophyly of P. islandica s. lat. (i.e. including P. sp. A sensu O’Brien et al., from Canada) is significantly supported based on ITS sequences and corroborated by molecular synapomorphy (absence of the ITS1 hypervariable region). Analysis of the rbcLX locus indicates the cyanobiont of P. islandica (Nostoc sp.) comprises strains belonging to a pool of Icelandic genotypes, some of which are present in other Peltigera species, including P. “neorufescens”, another taxon new to Iceland collected during this study. Association with photobionts that are shared by other local species suggests P. islandica may be well established in Iceland, but a review of herbarium collections as well as broader field surveys are needed to better characterize its geographical distribution.

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“…In 2012 native birch cover in the country was approximately 1150 km 2 and cultivated forest cover 350 km 2 . That year about 2.5 million trees (~10 km 2 ) were planted in the country [42]. These restoration efforts cause a localized increase in the NDVI, such as that seen in Figure 7c.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Warming, Sheep and Volcanoes: Land Cover Changes in Iceland Evident in Satellite NDVI Trends

et al. 2015

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Abstract:In a greening Arctic, Iceland stands out as an area with very high increases in the AVHRR Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI, 1982(NDVI, -2010. We investigated the possible sources of this anomalous greening in Iceland's dynamic landscape, analyzing changes due to volcanism and warming temperatures, and the effects of agricultural and industrial land use changes. The analysis showed the increases were likely due to reductions in grazing in erosion-prone rangelands, extensive reclamation and afforestation efforts, as well as a response to warming climate, including glacial retreat. Like Scandinavia and much of the rest of the Arctic, Iceland has shown a recent reduction in NDVI since 2002, but still above pre-2000 levels. Theil-Sen robust regression analysis of MODIS NDVI trends from 2002 to 2013 showed Iceland had a slightly negative NDVI trend of 0.003 NDVI units/year (p < 0.05), with significant decreases in an area three times greater (29,809 km 2 ) than that with increases (9419 km 2 ). Specific areas with large decreases in NDVI during the last decade were due to the formation of a large reservoir as a part of a hydroelectric power project (Kárahnjúkar, 2002(Kárahnjúkar, -2009, and due to ashfall from two volcanic eruptions (Eyjafjallajökull, 2010; Grímsvötn, 2011). Increases in NDVI in the last decade were found in erosion control areas, around retreating glaciers, and in other areas of plant colonization following natural disturbance. Our analysis demonstrates the OPEN ACCESS Remote Sens. 2015, 7 9493 effectiveness of MODIS NDVI for identifying the causes of changes in land cover, and confirms the reduction in NDVI in the last decade using both the AVHRR and MODIS satellite data.

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Restoration of birch woodlands in Iceland

Cited by 6 publications

References 11 publications

Population structure and genetic variation of fragmented mountain birch forests in Iceland

Population structure and genetic variation of fragmented mountain birch forests in Iceland

Peltigera islandica, a new cyanolichen species in sectionPeltigera(‘P. caninagroup’)

Warming, Sheep and Volcanoes: Land Cover Changes in Iceland Evident in Satellite NDVI Trends

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