Range Resources of Iceland Item Type Article; text Authors Thorsteinsson, I.; Olafsson, G.; Van Dyne, G. M. Citation Thorsteinsson, I., Olafsson, G., & Van Dyne, G. M. (1971). Range resources of Iceland. Journal of Range Management, 24(2), 86-93. DOI 10.2307/3896512 Publisher Society for Range Management Journal Journal of Range Management Rights Copyright © Society for Range Management. Download date 25/09/2021 05:32:50 Item License http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ Version Final published version Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/650012 changing winds. The summers are Range Resources of Iceland cool and the winters are relatively warm. There are, holwever, con- I. THORSTEINSSON, G. OLAFSSON, AND G. M. VAN DYNE1 siderable differences regionally. Agricultural Research Institute, Reykjavik, Iceland; and Natural Resource Table 1 shows the mean tempera- Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado. ture and precipitation of the grow- ing season (May to September) Highlight and the winter for 1940 to 1960 at Animal agriculture in Iceland is second only to fisheries. At least half the six Lowland stations and for 1966 forage consumed by large herbivorous animals comes from rangelands. During to 1969 at one Highland station (see the period June to September most of the sheep and large numbers of un- also Fig. 1). The data show that, broken horses graze on mountain ranges where they roam freely in large in particular, the winters are colder grazing districts or commons. There is urgent need for land reclamation and range improvement. Only 25% of the country is covered with vegetation, in north than south Iceland and much of which does not provide adequate protection against soil erosion that the precipitation is greatest in and has low carrying capacity. With increasing population and demands upon south Iceland. Although the short rangelands for food production, an aggressive program of rangeland improve- and cold summers are the main ment and management, supported by adequate research, is essential. limiting factors for plant gro’wth in most parts of the co’untry, there Iceland is located in the North natural rangelands have been the is evidence to suggest that in some Atlantic ocean, barely south of the main source of grazing for live- parts the low precipitation is Polar Circle. Its area is 103,000 s tack. For many centuries after equally limiting. The severe con- km2. The country was settled by settlement possibilities for haymak- ditions for plant growth are illus- Norwegians and their Celtic slaves. ing were limited. The Lowland trated by the temperatures at a 600 The first settlers arrived in 874 ranges were used for grazing year- m elevation Highland weather sta- A.D. and, with the exception of a long while the Highland range- tion. few Irish monks, men had not pre- lands (above 300 to 400 m) were Since the time of settlement there viously inhabited the island. The grazed only in the summer. have been occasional serious cold present population of about 200,000 During recent decades feeding spells, which have lasted over a inhabitants is located in the coastal and management of the livestock period of years. The coldest of areas, while the Highlands are un- has greatly improved. Most live- these have been caused by drift ice inhabited. About 40% of the popu- stock are now fed indoors for six which sometimes is carried from the lation lives in the capital Reykjavik. to seven months during the winter. Arctic to the northern coastline of The principal industries of the Dairy cows graze in the summer Iceland by currents and winds. In country are fishing, agriculture, and almost entirely on cultivated pas- this century, however, this has various manufacturing and service tures, and sheep and horses graze rarely happened, and the glaciers industries. At present about 14% the native rangeland. Due to in- have been continuously receding in of the population is supported by creased number of sheep, the use arctic and subarctic regions. In Ice- agriculture. There are approxi- of cultivated pastures has not re- land air temperatures have been a mately 5,300 farms in the coantry, sulted in reduced grazing pressure little higher during the past decade most of which are combined dairy on the rangelands during the sum- than the normals from 1901 to and sheep farms. Grass is the main mer, although it is becoming a 1930. crop in Iceland as the short grow- more common practice that the ing season limits even the growth lambs are fattened on cultivated Geology of grains such as barley and oats. pastures two to four weeks prior Geologically, Iceland is a young The present area of cultivated to slaughtering (Palsson and Sveins- country. It contains two major pastures is about 100,000 ha. son, 1952; Palsson and Gunnarsson, geological formations, the Basalt Prior to settlement there were 196 1). In the perio,d June to Sep- and the Palagonite formations. The probably no such herbivores in Ice- tember most of the sheep and a first dates back to the Tertiary land as rodents, large mammals, great number of the unbroken period and consists largely of ba- nor important insects. Geese prob- horses graze on mountain ranges saltic lava sheets. This formation, ably were the only important native where they roam freely in large which occupies the central zone of herbivores. grazing districts or commons. the country, is comparatively water- The livestock which the settlers tight. The Palagonite formation is brought with them were the first Physical Characteristics younger, partly a mixture of sub- large herbivores in Iceland. The Climate glacial and subaerial eruptives and The climate in Iceland is cold partly consisting of glacial, fluvial, 1 Consultant to Icelandic Agricultural and aeolian deposits. With time Research Institute, July-August, 1967; temperate, moist, and oceanic and July, 1970. is characterized by frequent and this mixture has been hardened 86 ICELANDIC RANGES 87 Table 1. Mean temperatures in OC and mean precipitation in mm for six Soils selected Lowland weather stations, 1931 to 1969, and one Highland station, A simple yet practical classifica- 1966 to 1969 (see also Fig. l).l tion of Icelandic soils, is into dryland soils (well-drained) and Temperature Precipitation wetland soils (poorly-drained) (Hel- May- Oct.- May- Oct.- gason, 1966; Johannesson, 1960). Weather stations Sept. Apr. Annual Sept. Apr. Annual The well-drained soils are gen- Stykkisholmur, W 8.5 1.1 4.2 237 521 758 erally loessial material derived from Akureyri, N 8.9 0.4 3.9 157 317 474 frost weathering of the bedrock or Hallormssta ur, E 8.8 0.8 4.1 212 452 664 from material which has been Vik i M@dal, S 9.5 2.9 5.7 904 1352 2256 blown out in explosive eruptions. Sbmsstadir, S 9.6 1.8 5.0 374 727 1101 These soils are rather uniform in Reykjavik, SW 9.4 1.8 5.0 269 536 805 character all over the country. Hveravellira 4.2 -5.8 -1.6 289 398 687 They are rockfree and clayfree and * From Vedrhttan, 1954. are mainly silty loams. Accordingly, z A Highland station at 600 m above sea level. they are friable and erode easily, and their water-holding capacity and fertility is low. Alternately, into water-permeable rocks. Acid is 2,119 m. The Highlands (above they are easy to cultivate. Owing rocks occur in Iceland, but they are 300 to 400 m) are a more-or-less to the origin of the soils, low pre- of minor significance as a contribu- slightly undulating plateau with cipi tation, and short frost free tor to the formation of soil ma- single mountains and ridges pro- period, very little leaching occurs, terials (Johannesson, 1970). truding up to 1,000 m above the and profile formation is hardly In the Palagonite formation vol- surroundings. The great majority noticeable. canic activity has been continuous of farms are located below 200 m The poorly-drained soils (peat up to the present time. Since the elevation along the coast and in bogs), which are characteristic of settlement of the country at least the numerous valleys that extend arctic and subarctic regions, are 30 volcanoes have erupted, and the into the Highlands. Approximately number of recorded eruptions has 11 y0 of the country is covered with of organic origin. In Iceland, how- been about 150. Altogether the glaciers, most of which are in the ever, their mineral content is rela- number of postglacial volcanoes in southern part where the precipita- tively high due to inputs of vol- Iceland is close to ZOO. Icelandic tion is highest. canic ash and soil material trans- volcanism is predominantly effu- sive, producing more lava than ash. In some eruptions, however, great masses of pumice both of alkaline and acid composition are ejected, greatly affecting the formation and character of Icelandic soils over large areas. Hot springs are com- mon in Iceland as often is the case in volcanic areas. Topography Iceland is mountainous yet does not extend to high elevations (Table 2). The highest mountain Table 2. Altitudinal distribution (o/o) in Iceland. Elevation Area Percent of (m) (km2) Iceland O-200 27,000 26 200-600 37,500 36 600-800 18,000 17 FIG. 1. A map of Iceland showing weather stations referred to in Table 1. Areas mapped under the range survey project also are shown. Large open (white) areas 21,500 21 Above 800 within the island are glaciers; small areas are lakes. 88 THORSTEINSSON ET AL. TVith settlement through com- bined effects of uncontrolled grar- ing of livestock, cutting, burning, and other means of removing the trees, in only 300 to 400 years the forests were reduced to their pres- ent level, now covering only about 1% of the country (Hjarnason, 1942: Einar,son, 1962; Thorarins- son, 19Gl).