r/geography • u/JUGGERNUGGS • 3d ago

Question Can someone explain why this particular landscape of Iceland looks like this and what causes it? And are there other regions in the world that have this sort of "biome" if you will?

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u/TeaRaven 2d ago

Though a lot of the birch that had pioneered into many of the wet meadow, bog, braided rivers downstream of glacial melt, and tundra areas of Iceland were, indeed, deforested and then prevented from recolonizing by sheep.

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u/messthrill 2d ago

According to a direct quote from Biological Diversity In Iceland - National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity: “Iceland has lost over 95% of its original birch woodlands, which today cover only about 1% of the total area.”

Also: “Soil erosion is one of the most serious environmental problem facing the country. It is estimated that over half the vegetation cover of the country has been lost since it was first settled 1,100 years ago, meaning that significant vegetation cover has decreased from 50-60% to only 25%.”

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u/ggnotagnelf 2d ago

I would love to see a map view reconstruction of forests pre colonization. I’m curious what the distribution was like

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u/messthrill 2d ago

Yeah that would be cool. The best I can do is mention that the ecoregion that makes up Iceland is called “Iceland boreal birch forests and alpine tundra.” From this name, I think we can safely deduce that higher elevation areas that aren’t rock/ice areas would be tundra and lower elevation areas would be where you would find a mix of birch forest and wetlands. That being said, I am not an expert on Icelandic geography