Icelandic Researchers Discover Origin of New Birch Forest – IcelandReview

Some 22 years ago, Icelandic scientists were amazed to discover birch tree seedlings growing on the barren Skeiarrsandur sand plain. The budding forest had sprung up naturally, without any human efforts, despite the dry and seemingly inhospitable environment. Now scientists have determined where the seeds came from.

At 1,300 square kilometres (502 square miles), Skeiarrsandur is the largest sand plain in the world. It stretches from the base of Vatnajkull, Icelands largest glacier, all the way to the ocean.

The first birch trees on the plain were spotted around 1998, two years after a glacial outburst flood caused by the Grmsvtn volcano had flooded Skeiarrsandur. The sediment deposited by the flood may have been a crucial factor in the success of the areas new birch trees. The forest is now on course to become the largest natural birch forest in Iceland in a handful of years.

We have compared genetic material from birch on Skeiarrsandur and birch in three birch forests nearby and now have its paternity test results, if you will, Kristinn Ptur Magnsson, Professor of Genetics at the University of Akureyri, explained to RV reporters recently. It was Kristinns job to determine the origin of the seeds that had unexpectedly thrived on the sand plain.

Scientists compared the genetic material of the birch on Skeiarrsandur to that of birch in Bjarstaaskgur, Npstaaskgur, and the forest on Skaftafellsheii heath. Its clear that this birch comes from Bjarstaarskgur, which is not a bad inheritance, because that old birch forest is particularly beautiful, Kristinn stated.

At the time of settlement, somewhere between 25-40% of Icelands land area was covered by birch forest. Today forests cover less than 2% of Iceland, largely due to settlers clearing of land for firewood and livestock grazing. According to Kristinn, the most remarkable thing about this project is that birch can plant itself in this way [] This shows and proves that if we give these forests that are disappearing today a little room to propagate, then they should be able to do so.

Go here to read the rest:
Icelandic Researchers Discover Origin of New Birch Forest - IcelandReview