Scandinavian Montane Birch forest and grasslands
Encyclopedia
The Scandinavian Montane Birch forests and grasslands ecoregion, a Palearctic
ecoregion
of the Alpine tundra
and Boreal forest Biome
s, located in Norway
, Sweden
, and Finland
. It is one of the terrestrial ecoregions determined and defined by the World Wildlife Fund.
, and is mainly located within the borders of Norway
and Sweden
, as well as the northernmost part of Finland
. This is a varied ecoregion, 1,600 km long, with a total area of approximately 243 000 km² (slightly larger than Great Britain).
The largest glacier
s on the European mainland are located here, as are Northern Europe
's highest mountains and largest mountain plateau. The mountain chain itself creates a rain shadow
, and the eastern part of the mountain chain is considerably drier than the western part.
Parts of the ecoregion are located in smaller mountain areas surrounded by lower elevation biomes, as is the case with many coastal mountains in Norway.
About one third of the total area is made up by high alpine tundra
with very modest vegetation and bare rock, skree, snowfields and glaciers. Another third comprises low alpine tundra with continuous plant cover; dwarf birch
and willow
s up to 1 m tall and grasslands, as well as numerous lakes and bog
s. The last third is made up by the adjacent montane birch zone with small (2-5 m) mountain downy birch (Betula pubescens) above the conifer tree line; some stunted spruce
and pine
are also included, as are many lakes and bogs. This part is regarded as part of the North Boreal vegetation zone by Scandinavian botanists
. In the lower elevations, the forests become closed-canopy and mostly belong to the Scandinavian and Russian taiga
ecoregion; some of the coastal areas do not have true taiga
. In areas outside the range of the spruce, the birch forest dominates also in the middel boreal zone (such as in northern Nordland
and north to Tromsø
). In these low elevation areas the forest is taller (8-12 m) and denser (closed-canopy), and also include other species, such as aspen
, scots pine, grey alder
, rowan
, goat willow and bird cherry
.
ecoregions, and is thus regarded as a high priority for conservation.
species in this region not found anywhere else in Europe, but often in the Arctic
and sometimes in mountain areas in North America. Fauna
includes predators like wolverine
, brown bear
, wolf and red fox
. The arctic fox
is in danger of extinction in this area, but there are efforts to try to save the species. There are also wild reindeer
(only in the mountains in central Norway, domesticated reindeer is much more common). Lemming
and hare
(lower altitude) are character species for the region. There are approximately 150 musk oxen on Dovrefjell
, having been transported from Greenland in the 1930s, as the species were extinct in Scandinavia. There is a rich bird life; most birds are migratory
, but some, like the ptarmigan,
stay all year.
Palearctic
The Palearctic or Palaearctic is one of the eight ecozones dividing the Earth's surface.Physically, the Palearctic is the largest ecozone...
ecoregion
Ecoregion
An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...
of the Alpine tundra
Alpine tundra
Alpine tundra is a natural region that does not contain trees because it is at high altitude. Alpine tundra is distinguished from arctic tundra, because alpine soils are generally better drained than arctic soils...
and Boreal forest Biome
Biome
Biomes are climatically and geographically defined as similar climatic conditions on the Earth, such as communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms, and are often referred to as ecosystems. Some parts of the earth have more or less the same kind of abiotic and biotic factors spread over a...
s, located in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, and Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
. It is one of the terrestrial ecoregions determined and defined by the World Wildlife Fund.
Geography
The ecoregion follows the Scandinavian MountainsScandinavian Mountains
The Scandinavian Mountains or the Scandes, in Swedish Skanderna, Fjällen or Kölen , in Finnish Köli and in Norwegian Kjølen, with the three latter meaning The Keel, are a mountain range that runs through the Scandinavian Peninsula...
, and is mainly located within the borders of Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, as well as the northernmost part of Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
. This is a varied ecoregion, 1,600 km long, with a total area of approximately 243 000 km² (slightly larger than Great Britain).
The largest glacier
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
s on the European mainland are located here, as are Northern Europe
Northern Europe
Northern Europe is the northern part or region of Europe. Northern Europe typically refers to the seven countries in the northern part of the European subcontinent which includes Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland and Sweden...
's highest mountains and largest mountain plateau. The mountain chain itself creates a rain shadow
Rain shadow
A rain shadow is a dry area on the lee side of a mountainous area. The mountains block the passage of rain-producing weather systems, casting a "shadow" of dryness behind them. As shown by the diagram to the right, the warm moist air is "pulled" by the prevailing winds over a mountain...
, and the eastern part of the mountain chain is considerably drier than the western part.
Habitats
About one third of the total area is made up by high alpine tundra
Alpine tundra
Alpine tundra is a natural region that does not contain trees because it is at high altitude. Alpine tundra is distinguished from arctic tundra, because alpine soils are generally better drained than arctic soils...
with very modest vegetation and bare rock, skree, snowfields and glaciers. Another third comprises low alpine tundra with continuous plant cover; dwarf birch
Dwarf Birch
Betula nana is a species of birch in the family Betulaceae, found mainly in the tundra of the Arctic region.-Description:...
and willow
Willow
Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
s up to 1 m tall and grasslands, as well as numerous lakes and bog
Bog
A bog, quagmire or mire is a wetland that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses or, in Arctic climates, lichens....
s. The last third is made up by the adjacent montane birch zone with small (2-5 m) mountain downy birch (Betula pubescens) above the conifer tree line; some stunted spruce
Norway Spruce
Norway Spruce is a species of spruce native to Europe. It is also commonly referred to as the European Spruce.- Description :...
and pine
Scots Pine
Pinus sylvestris, commonly known as the Scots Pine, is a species of pine native to Europe and Asia, ranging from Scotland, Ireland and Portugal in the west, east to eastern Siberia, south to the Caucasus Mountains, and as far north as well inside the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia...
are also included, as are many lakes and bogs. This part is regarded as part of the North Boreal vegetation zone by Scandinavian botanists
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
. In the lower elevations, the forests become closed-canopy and mostly belong to the Scandinavian and Russian taiga
Scandinavian and Russian taiga
The Scandinavian and Russian taiga is an ecoregion within the Taiga and Boreal forests Biome as defined by the WWF classification...
ecoregion; some of the coastal areas do not have true taiga
Taiga
Taiga , also known as the boreal forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests.Taiga is the world's largest terrestrial biome. In North America it covers most of inland Canada and Alaska as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States and is known as the Northwoods...
. In areas outside the range of the spruce, the birch forest dominates also in the middel boreal zone (such as in northern Nordland
Nordland
is a county in Norway in the North Norway region, bordering Troms in the north, Nord-Trøndelag in the south, Norrbottens län in Sweden to the east, Västerbottens län to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The county was formerly known as Nordlandene amt. The county administration is...
and north to Tromsø
Tromsø
Tromsø is a city and municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø.Tromsø city is the ninth largest urban area in Norway by population, and the seventh largest city in Norway by population...
). In these low elevation areas the forest is taller (8-12 m) and denser (closed-canopy), and also include other species, such as aspen
Populus tremula
Populus tremula, commonly called aspen, common aspen, Eurasian aspen, European aspen, trembling poplar, or quaking aspen, is a species of poplar native to cool temperate regions of Europe and Asia, from the British Isles east to Kamchatka, north to inside the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia and...
, scots pine, grey alder
Grey Alder
Alnus incana is a species of alder with a wide range across the cooler parts of the Northern Hemisphere....
, rowan
Rowan
The rowans or mountain-ashes are shrubs or small trees in genus Sorbus of family Rosaceae. They are native throughout the cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the highest species diversity in the mountains of western China and the Himalaya, where numerous apomictic microspecies...
, goat willow and bird cherry
Bird cherry
The bird cherries are a subgenus of the genus Prunus, characterised by having deciduous leaves, flowers 12-30 together on slender racemes produced in late spring well after leaf emergence, and small, sour fruit usually only palatable to birds, hence the name...
.
Conservation value
The Scandinavian Montane Birch forests and grasslands is one of the Global 200Global 200
The Global 200 is the list of ecoregions identified by the World Wildlife Fund as priorities for conservation. According to the WWF, an ecoregion is defined as a "relatively large unit of land or water containing a characteristic set of natural communities that share a large majority of their...
ecoregions, and is thus regarded as a high priority for conservation.
Flora and fauna
There are many alpine plantAlpine plant
Alpine plants are plants that grow in the alpine climate, which occurs at high elevation and above the tree line. Alpine plants grow together as a plant community in alpine tundra.-Alpine plant diversity:...
species in this region not found anywhere else in Europe, but often in the Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
and sometimes in mountain areas in North America. Fauna
Fauna
Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...
includes predators like wolverine
Wolverine
The wolverine, pronounced , Gulo gulo , also referred to as glutton, carcajou, skunk bear, or quickhatch, is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae . It is a stocky and muscular carnivore, more closely resembling a small bear than other mustelids...
, brown bear
Brown Bear
The brown bear is a large bear distributed across much of northern Eurasia and North America. It can weigh from and its largest subspecies, the Kodiak Bear, rivals the polar bear as the largest member of the bear family and as the largest land-based predator.There are several recognized...
, wolf and red fox
Red Fox
The red fox is the largest of the true foxes, as well as being the most geographically spread member of the Carnivora, being distributed across the entire northern hemisphere from the Arctic Circle to North Africa, Central America, and the steppes of Asia...
. The arctic fox
Arctic fox
The arctic fox , also known as the white fox, polar fox or snow fox, is a small fox native to Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and is common throughout the Arctic tundra biome. The Greek word alopex, means a fox and Vulpes is the Latin version...
is in danger of extinction in this area, but there are efforts to try to save the species. There are also wild reindeer
Reindeer
The reindeer , also known as the caribou in North America, is a deer from the Arctic and Subarctic, including both resident and migratory populations. While overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and one has already gone extinct.Reindeer vary considerably in color and size...
(only in the mountains in central Norway, domesticated reindeer is much more common). Lemming
Lemming
Lemmings are small rodents, usually found in or near the Arctic, in tundra biomes. They are subniveal animals, and together with voles and muskrats, they make up the subfamily Arvicolinae , which forms part of the largest mammal radiation by far, the superfamily Muroidea, which also includes rats,...
and hare
Hare
Hares and jackrabbits are leporids belonging to the genus Lepus. Hares less than one year old are called leverets. Four species commonly known as types of hare are classified outside of Lepus: the hispid hare , and three species known as red rock hares .Hares are very fast-moving...
(lower altitude) are character species for the region. There are approximately 150 musk oxen on Dovrefjell
Dovrefjell
Dovrefjell is a mountain range in central Norway that forms a natural barrier between Eastern Norway and Trøndelag, the area around Trondheim. As a result, it has been heavily trafficked during and probably preceding historical times...
, having been transported from Greenland in the 1930s, as the species were extinct in Scandinavia. There is a rich bird life; most birds are migratory
Bird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...
, but some, like the ptarmigan,
stay all year.
See also
- Alpine tundra
- Scandinavian coastal conifer forestsScandinavian coastal conifer forestsThe Scandinavian coastal conifer forest ecoregion, a Palearctic ecoregion in the Temperate coniferous forests Biome, is located in along the coast of Norway...
- Scandinavian and Russian taigaScandinavian and Russian taigaThe Scandinavian and Russian taiga is an ecoregion within the Taiga and Boreal forests Biome as defined by the WWF classification...
- Vegetation of Norway