The wildlife of Iceland is the wild plant and animal life found on the island of Iceland, located in the north Atlantic Ocean just south of the Arctic Circle. The flora, fauna, and funga is limited by the geography and climate of the island. The habitats on the island include high mountains, lava fields, tundras, rivers, lakes and a coastal plain of varying width. There is a long coastline, much dissected by fjords, especially in the west, north and east, with many offshore islets. [1]
Iceland is of volcanic origin with the landscape being influenced by water and wind erosion, abrasion and frost action. The Highlands form a plateau some 500 m (1,640 ft) above sea level, lying in the central and southeastern part of the island, and occupy about 40% of the landmass; they consist largely of volcanic deserts interspersed with glaciers. Other parts of the country consist of mountains and hills surrounded by coastal lowlands, cut by steep-sided valleys and fiords. There are many small lakes and short, fast-flowing rivers. Only about 25% of the land has a complete cover of vegetation and two fifths of this is marshland. Another 69% is sparsely or very sparsely vegetated. [2]
The climate is subarctic. In general, the southern part of the island is warmer, wetter, and windier than the north. The coldest part of the country is the Central Highlands. The low-lying inland areas further north are the driest part but these areas of the country get the heaviest snowfalls in winter. The climate is rendered warmer than other places at similar latitudes by the North Atlantic Current and the coast normally remains free of ice. [3]
There is a limited number of plant species in Iceland. Although the island was once fairly well forested at lower elevations, the arrival of settlers was followed by the felling of trees for construction and firewood and few trees now remain. [4] The settlers introduced livestock, and overgrazing, particularly by sheep, led to damage to the volcanic soils. Three quarters of the island is now affected by soil erosion, with the remaining soil unable to support much vegetation. [5] The flora includes about 540 species of plant, with woody plants typically including heather, bilberry, bearberry, crowberry, hairy birch, rowan and willow. [6] Most of the trees are less than 2 m (7 ft) in height with a few taller trees in the river valleys of the north and east. [2]
Much of the northern part of the country is marshy or tundra, with the vegetation being predominantly mosses, lichens and sedges. Typical is Iceland moss, a lichen which grows abundantly forming mats on the tundras and mountain slopes and which can provide "famine food" in times of necessity. [7] Sedges and grasses dominate the vascular plants, with 53 species of the former and 47 of the latter. Of dicotyledonous plants, the commonest family is the Asteraceae (daisy family), followed by the Caryophyllaceae (carnation family). [2] There are around 560 species of bryophyte (mosses and liverworts), 550 species of lichen and 1,200 species of fungi, with both lichen and fungi being similar to those found in Scandinavia. [2]
The only native land mammal on Iceland is the Arctic fox. [8] Walruses were native to Iceland, but disappeared after human settlement, likely as a result of hunting, climate change and/or volcanism. [9] Polar bears have been known to occasionally visit the island, mostly drifting there from Greenland. However, sightings of polar bears are rare, and those that are seen are usually killed for reasons of public safety. [10]
Animals that have been introduced include the American mink, which escaped from fur farms and prospered, and the reindeer. A herd of reindeer in the southeast has died out but a larger herd in the northeast has a population of several thousand animals. The wood mouse has also been introduced and inhabits the countryside, with the house mouse, the brown rat and the black rat being restricted to urban areas. [2] Bats have been increasingly recorded where they are thought to be either vagrants or artificially introduced. [11]
About 72 species of bird breed on Iceland. These include the gyrfalcon, the white-tailed eagle, the merlin, the snowy owl and the short-eared owl. There are also ducks, geese, waders, gulls and other sea birds, the Arctic skua and the great skua, with the Icelandic population of the latter representing almost half of the total world population. There are few passerines (perching birds), perhaps because of a lack of nesting opportunities or a dearth of insect food at some times of year. [2]
The rivers and lakes are home to Atlantic salmon, brown trout and Arctic char, as well as European eel and three-spined stickleback, and there are rainbow trout which have escaped from fish hatcheries. There are no amphibians or reptiles on Iceland. [2]
Around 270 species of marine fish occur in the waters around Iceland, with the most important commercial species being cod, haddock, sea perch, plaice, herring, capelin and blue whiting. The harbour seal and the grey seal breed on beaches and several species of whale occur in the waters, as well as dolphins and harbour porpoises. [2]
In physical geography, tundra is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing season. the term tundra comes from the Finnish word tunturia meaning "treeless plain" There are three regions and associated types of tundra: Arctic tundra, alpine tundra, and Antarctic tundra.
Alpine tundra is a type of natural region or biome that does not contain trees because it is at high elevation, with an associated harsh climate. As the latitude of a location approaches the poles, the threshold elevation for alpine tundra gets lower until it reaches sea level, and alpine tundra merges with polar tundra.
Polar ecology is the relationship between plants and animals in a polar environment. Polar environments are in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Arctic regions are in the Northern Hemisphere, and it contains land and the islands that surrounds it. Antarctica is in the Southern Hemisphere and it also contains the land mass, surrounding islands and the ocean. Polar regions also contain the subantarctic and subarctic zone which separate the polar regions from the temperate regions. Antarctica and the Arctic lie in the polar circles. The polar circles are imaginary lines shown on maps to be the areas that receives less sunlight due to less radiation. These areas either receive sunlight or shade 24 hours a day because of the earth's tilt. Plants and animals in the polar regions are able to withstand living in harsh weather conditions but are facing environmental threats that limit their survival.
The Kerguelen Islands are part of the Southern Indian Ocean Islands tundra ecoregion that includes several subantarctic islands. In this cold climate plant life is mainly limited to grasses, mosses and lichens, although the islands are also known for the indigenous edible Kerguelen cabbage. The islands are at the Antarctic convergence, where cold water moving up from the Antarctic mixes with the warmer water of the Indian Ocean. As a consequence, marine mammals, especially seals, and seabirds and penguins are numerous.
The Gyrfalcon Islands are an uninhabited island group in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. The over 200 small islands form an archipelago in western Ungava Bay north of Quebec's Ungava Peninsula and 19.7 km (12.2 mi) northeast of Leaf Bay. Tiercel Island and Qikirtajuaq Island lie to the southwest. The closest community is the Inuit village of Kuujjuaq, 120 km (75 mi) to the southeast.
The North American Arctic is composed of the northern polar regions of Alaska (USA), Northern Canada and Greenland. Major bodies of water include the Arctic Ocean, Hudson Bay, the Gulf of Alaska and North Atlantic Ocean. The North American Arctic lies above the Arctic Circle. It is part of the Arctic, which is the northernmost region on Earth. The western limit is the Seward Peninsula and the Bering Strait. The southern limit is the Arctic Circle latitude of 66° 33’N, which is the approximate limit of the midnight sun and the polar night.
The Arctic coastal tundra is an ecoregion of the far north of North America, an important breeding ground for a great deal of wildlife.
The wildlife of Russia inhabits terrain that extends across 12 time zones and from the tundra region in the far north to the Caucasus Mountains and prairies in the south, including temperate forests which cover 70% of the country. Russia's forests comprise 22% of the forest in the world as well as 33% of all temperate forest.
Gyda National Park is the northernmost national park in the Western Siberia. The park covers arctic terrain of the Gyda Peninsula and nearby islands in the Kara Sea. It is situated in the Tazovsky District of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Until 2019, it was a 'zapovednik'.
Taymyr Nature Reserve is a Russian 'zapovednik' located in the northern lowlands of Siberia, on the Taimyr Peninsula, and on the coast of the Laptev Sea of the Arctic Ocean. The reserve includes the most northern forest of Dahurian larch in the world, and also the most northern mainland mountain range in the world. The protected area was established to protect the breeding grounds of the Red-breasted goose as well as the summer residences of wild reindeer and the biodiversity of the Lake Taymyr. The reserve is situated about 120 km east of the town of Norilsk, and 3,000 km northeast of Moscow, in the Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky District of Krasnoyarsk Krai. In 1995, the site was designated a UNESCO MAB Reserve. The reserve was formally established in 1979, and covers an area of 1,781,928 ha (6,880.06 sq mi).
Nenets Nature Reserve is a Russian 'zapovednik' in the northeast of European Russia on the coast of the Barents Sea and the delta of the Pechora River, about 800 km northeast of Arkhangelsk. With abundant wetlands, rivers, and sea islands, the reserve is an important point on the Atlantic migratory path for birds that winter in Western Europe and nest in the Eastern Europe and Western Siberian Tundra. Also present are large breeding grounds for the Atlantic Walrus. The reserve is situated in the Zapolyarny District of Nenets Autonomous Okrug. It was formally established in 1997, and covers and area of 313,400 ha (1,210 sq mi), of which 181,000 ha (700 sq mi) is over water.
The Canadian Arctic tundra is a biogeographic designation for Northern Canada's terrain generally lying north of the tree line or boreal forest, that corresponds with the Scandinavian Alpine tundra to the east and the Siberian Arctic tundra to the west inside the circumpolar tundra belt of the Northern Hemisphere.
The fauna of Iceland is the animal life which resides on the island of Iceland and its coasts, located in the north Atlantic Ocean just south of the Arctic Circle. This fauna includes a number of birds, mammals, fish, and invertebrates. The Arctic fox is the only land mammal native to Iceland, although a number of other mammals have been introduced following the human settlement of Iceland.
The Arctic desert ecoregion is a terrestrial ecoregion that covers the island groups of Svalbard, Franz Josef Land, Severny Island and Severnaya Zemlya in the Arctic Ocean, above 75 degrees north latitude. The region is covered with glaciers, snow, and bare rock in a harshly cold environment. The temperature does rise above freezing for short periods in the summer, so some ice melt occurs, and the area supports colonies of sea birds and mammals. It has an area of 161,400 square kilometres (62,300 sq mi).
The wildlife of Norway includes the diverse flora and fauna of Norway. The habitats include high mountains, tundras, rivers, lakes, wetlands, sea coast and some lower cultivated land in the south. Mainland Norway has a long coastline, protected by skerries and much dissected by fjords, and the mostly-icebound archipelago of Svalbard lies further north. The flora is very varied and a large range of mammals, birds, fish and invertebrate species live here, as well as a few species of reptiles and amphibians.
Located in the Scandinavian Peninsula, Sweden is mountainous and dominated by lakes and forests. Its habitats include mountain heath, montane forests, tundra, taiga, beech forests, rivers, lakes, bogs, brackish and marine coasts and cultivated land. The climate of Sweden is mild for a country at this latitude, largely owing to the significant maritime influence.
The Iceland boreal birch forests and alpine tundra ecoregion covers the island of Iceland in the North Atlantic. The island is volcanic in origin with basaltic soils, and the cold northerly climate prevents any significant crop agriculture. Because the island is young and isolated from larger land masses, species biodiversity is relatively low. Forest cover has been reduced to about 1% of the original birch forest by a long history of timber extraction and soil erosion caused by sheep grazing. Blanket bogs are common.
The Canadian High Arctic Tundra ecoregion encompasses most of the northern Arctic archipelago, from much of Baffin Island, Somerset Island, and Prince of Wales Island in the south, through all islands northward to the most northern island in Canada, Ellesmere Island. Much of the northern islands are covered in ice, and the climate is very dry with as little as 50 mm/year in places. The ecoregion has very little human habitation, and most of the non-ice terrain is moss and lichen cover. The region supports viable populations of arctic mammals such as muskox, arctic wolves, arctic foxes, arctic hares, polar bears, and caribou.
The Torngat Mountain tundra ecoregion covers the Torngat Mountains on the northeastern tip of the Labrador Peninsula where the provinces of Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador meet. The mountains feature glacially carved U-shaped valleys and deep fjords. The vegetation over most of the territory is that of arctic tundra, herbaceous cover, or bare rock. The region supports seasonal polar bears, black bears, and caribou. The Atlantic coast is on the Atlantic Flyway for migratory birds.
The Tundra of North America is a Level I ecoregion of North America designated by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) in its North American Environmental Atlas.