Abstract
Immense land-cover changes in Iceland over the last millennium have encompassed birch (Betula pubescencs) woodland depletion and extensive soil erosion; few studies have focused on spatial distribution change of birch woodland in Iceland over centuries. The main objectives of this study were to (1) map the changes of birch woodland cover in Þjórsárdalur (14,000 ha) in southern Iceland, over a period of 350 years from late sixteenth to early twentieth century, and (2) explain the impact of socio-economic and natural forces on the woodland cover over three periods: 1587–1708, 1708–1880 and 1880–1938. We used a combined approach of historical reconstruction from diverse written archives, GIS-techniques and field work. About half of the Þjórsárdalur valley was covered by birch woodland in the late sixteenth century but over a period of 350 years 94 % of woodland had been depleted. The woodland was intensively used for firewood and charcoal making during the period with limited land management restriction. The main driving force for this development was socio-economic, where the form of ownership was a fundamental factor for the fate of the woodland. Harsh climate and volcanism further exacerbated the woodland during times when it had become fragmented and beyond its state of recovery.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Annales Islandici posteriorum sæculorum I-VI. (1922–1987). Reykjavík.
Aradóttir, Á. L. (2005). Restoration of birch and willow woodland on eroded areas. In Effects of afforestation on ecosystems, landscape and rural development.(eds) Halldorsson G, Oddsdottir E. S., Eggertsson O. AFFORNORD conference, Reykholt, Iceland, June 18–22, 2005.
Árnason, J. (1852). Íslenskar þjóðsögur og ævintýri II. Reykjavík, Prentsmiðja Íslands.
Bjarnason, H. (1937). Þjórsárdalur: Ársrit Skógræktarfélags Íslands 1937, 1–30
Blong, R. J. (1984). Volcanic Hazards: a sourcebook on the effects of eruptions. Academic, Sydney.
Blöndal, S. (1993). Socioeconomic importance of forest in Iceland. In Alden, J., Ødrum, S., and Mastranto, J. L. (eds.), Forest Development in cold climates. Plenum press, New York, pp. 1–15.
Brandt, J., Primdahl, J., Reenberg, A. (1999) Rural land-use and landscape dynamics analysis of ‘driving forces’ in space and time. In: Krönert R, Baudry J, Bowler IR, Reenberg A (eds) Land-use changes and their environmental impact in rural areas in Europe. Man and the Biosphere Series 24:81–102
Brown, D. G. (2003). Land use and forest cover in private parcels in the upper Midwest USA, 1970–1990. Landscape Ecology 18: 777–790.
Bruun, D. (1897). Fortidsminder og Nutidshjem paa Island. Orienterende Undersøgelser Foretagne i 1896. Nordiske Forlag, København.
Caseldine, C., Geirsdóttir, Á., and Langdon, P. (2003). Efstadalsvatn- a multy-proxy study of a holocene lacustrine sequence from NW Iceland. Journal of Paleolimnology. 30: 55–73.
Cousins, S. A. O. (2001). Analysis of land-cover transitions based on 17th and 18th century cadastral maps and aerial photographs. Landscape Ecology 16: 41–54.
Diplomatarium Islandicum (DI). (1857–1952). Íslenskt fornbréfasafn. 16 vols. of Icelandic documents. S.L. Möller and Hið íslenska bókmenntafélag, Copenhagen,Denmark, and Reykjavík, Iceland.
Dugmore, A. J., Church, M. J., Mairs, K. A., McGovern, T. H., Perdikaris, S., and Vésteinsson, O. (2007). Abandoned Farms, Volcanic Impacts, and Woodland Management: Revisiting Þjórsárdalur, the “Pompeii of Iceland”. Artic Anthropology 44: 1–11.
Dugmore, A. J., Gísladóttir, G., Simpson, I. A., and Newton, A. (2009). Conceptual models of 1200 years of Icelandic soil erosion reconstructed using tephrochronology. Journal of the North Atlantic 2: 1–18.
Eiríksson, J., and Larsen, G. (2008). Holocene tephra archives and teprhrochronology in iceland − a brief overwiew. Jökull. 58: 229–250.
Erlingsson, Þ. (1899). Ruins of the Saga Time. Being an Account of Travels and Explorations in Iceland in the Summer of 1895. London: D, Nutt,
Eldjárn, K. (1951). Tvennar bæjarrústir frá seinni öldum. Árbók Hins Íslenska Fornleifafélags 1949–1950: 102–119.
Eldjárn, K. (1961). Bær í Gjáskógum í Þjórsárdal. Árbók Hins Íslenska Fornleifafélags 1961: 7–46
Erlendsson, E., and Edwards, K. J. (2009). The timing and causes of the final pre-settlement expansion of betula pubescens in iceland. Holocene 19: 1083–1091.
Erlendsson, E., Edwards, K. J., and Buckland, P. C. (2009). Vegetational response to early human colonisation of the volcanic and coastal environments of ketilsstaðir, southern Iceland. Quaternary Research 72: 174–187.
Gathorne-Hardy, F. J., Erlendsson, E., Langdon, P. G., and Edwards, K. J. (2009). Lake sediment evidence for late holocene climate change and landscape erosion in western Iceland. Journal of Paleolimnology 42: 413–426.
Geirsdóttir, Á., Miller, G. H., Thordarson, T., and Ólafsdóttir, K. (2009). A 2000 year record of climate variations reconstructed from haukadalsvatn, West Iceland. Journal of Paleolimnology 41: 95–115.
Gestsson, S. and Eiríksson, S. (1980). Tungur, Hreppar, Skeið. Sunnlenskar byggðir I. Bindi. Selfoss: Búnaðarsamband Suðurlands
Gestsson, E. (1984). Heima og Heiman. Iðunn. Reykjavík.
Gísladóttir, G., A. (2004). Gripir úr Þjórsárdal unpublished master thesis. Department of History and Archaeology, University of Iceland
Gísladóttir, G., Erlendsson, E., Lal, R., and Bigham, J. (2010). Erosional effects on terrestrial resources over the last millennium in reykjanes, southwest Iceland. Quaternary Research 73: 20–32.
Gísladóttir, G., Erlendsson, E., and Rattan, L. (2011). Soil evidence for historical human-induced land degradation in West Iceland. Appl, Geochemestry.
Gunnarsson, G. (1987). Upp er boðið Ísaland. Örn og Örlygur, Reykjavík.
Guðmundsson, G. F. (1981). Eignarhald á afréttum og almenningum: Sögulegt yfirlit. Sagnfræðistofnun Háskóla Íslands, Reykjavík.
Haase, D., Walz, U., Neubert, M., and Rosenberg, M. (2007). Changes to central European landscapes—analysing historical maps to approach current environmental issues, examples from Saxony, central Germany. Land Use Policy 24: 248–263.
Hallsdóttir, M. (1987). Pollen Analytical Studies of Human Influence on Vegetation in Relation to the Landnam Tephra Layer in Southwestern Iceland. PhD. thesis. Lund: Lund University.
Hardin, G. (1968). Tragedy of the commons. Science 162(3859): 1243–1248.
Icelandic Meteorological Office (2011). Database. Reykjavík: Icelandic Meteorological Office
Jónsson. B. (1884). Um Þjórsardal. Árbók Hins Íslenzka Fornleifafélags 1884–5:38–60
Jónsson. B. (1897). Athugasemdir um Þjórsárdal. Árbók Hins Íslenzka Fornleifafélags 1897: 20–21
Jónsson, G., and Magnússon, M. S. (eds.) (1997). Hagskinna Icelandic historical statistics. Reykjavík, Hagstofa Íslands.
Jónasson, J. (1934). Íslenskir Þjóðhættir. Reykjavík, Ísafoldarprentsmiðjan.
Karlsson, G. (2000). Iceland’s 1100 Years: History of a Marginal Society. Mál og Menning, Reykjavík.
Kirkjueignir á Íslandi. (1992). Reykjavík: Kirkjueignarnefnd.
Kristjánsson, J. (ed.) (2002). Biskupasögur. Hið íslenzka fornritafélag, Reykjavík.
LaPierre, S., and Germain, R. H. (2005). Forestland parcelization in the New York City Watershed. Journal of Forestry 103: 139–145.
Larsen, G. (2000). Holocene eruptions within the Katla volcanic system, south Iceland: Characteristics and environmental impact. Jökull: 49: 1–28.
Lawson, I. T., Gathorne-Hardy, F. J., Church, M. J., Newton, A. J., Edwards, K. J., Dugmore, A. J., et al. (2007). Environmental impacts of the Norse settlement: Palaeoenvironmental data from Mývatnssveit, northern Iceland. Boreas 36: 1–19.
Lárusson, B. (1967). The Old Icelandic Land Registers. Lund University, Dr. Thesis.
(LMÍ) Landmælingar Íslands (1953. 8. ágúst). Aerial photographs nr. 9342, 9000, 9398, 9434. Regular black and white. Scale c.a. 1:30000.
Lovett-Doust, J., Biernacki, M., Page, R., Chan, M., Natgunarajah, R., and Timis, G. (2003). Effects of land ownership and other landscape-level factors on rare-species richness. Landscape Ecology 18: 621–633.
Lög um laun sóknapresta. nr. 46/1907: Looked up 30. August 2013 on website Alþingis: http://www.althingi.is/lagas/141b/1907046.html
Magnússon, Á., and Vídalín, P. (1918–1921). Jarðabók II Árnessýsla. Hið íslenska fræðafélag, Kaupmannahöfn.
Magnússon, Þ. (2004). Málmsmíðar gripir til gagns og prýði. Hlutavelta tímans. Menningararfur á Þjóðminjasafni. Árni Björnsson og Hrefna Róbertsdóttir (eds). Reykjavík, Þjóðminjasafn Íslands, 302–311.
Massé, G., Rowland, S., Sicre, M.-A., Jakob, J., Jansen, E., and Belt, S. (2008). Abrupt climate changes for Iceland during the last millennium: Evidence from high resolution sea ice reconstructions. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 269: 564–568.
McGovern, T. H., Vésteinsson, O., Fridriksson, A., Church, M., Lawson, I., Simpson, I. A., et al. (2007). Landscapes of settlement in northern Iceland: Historical ecology of human impact and climate fluctuation on the millennial scale. American Anthropologist 109: 27–51.
Ogilvie, A. E .J. (1995). Documentary evidence for changes in the climatic of Iceland A.D. 1500 to 1800. In Bradley, R.S. and Jones, P. D. (ed). Climate since A. D. 1500. London, New York. 92–117.
Ogilvie, A. E. J., and Jónsson, T. (2000). ‘Little Ice Age’ Research: A Perspective from Iceland. Climatic Change 9: 9–52.
Ólafsdóttir, R., and Guðmundsson, H. (2002). Holocene land degradation and climatic change in northeast Iceland. Holocene 12: 159–167.
Rafnsson, S. (1977). Sámsstaðir í Þjórsárdal. Árbók Hins Íslenska Fornleifafélags: 1976: 39–120.
Steffensen, J. (1943). Þjórsdælir hinir fornu. Samtíð og Saga 11: 7–42.
Steffensen, J. (1950). Enn um eyðingu Þjórsárdals. Árbók Hins Íslenska Fornleifafélags. 1949–50: 63–72.
Sigurðsson S. (1977). Birki á Íslandi, útbreiðsla og ástand. In Skógarmál 1977:146–172. Reykjavík: Edda hf
Spies, T. A., Ripple, W. J., and Bradshaw, G. A. (1994). Dynamics and Pattern of a Managed Coniferous Forest Landscape in Oregon. Applied Ecology 4: 555–568.
Stanfield, B. J., Bliss, J. C., and Spies, T. A. (2002). Land Ownership and Landscape Structure: A Spatial Analysis of sixty-six Oregon (Usa) Coast Range Watersheds. Landscape Ecology 17: 685–697.
Stenberger, M. (ed.) (1943). Forntida Gårdar i Island. Nordiska Arkeologiska Undersokningen i Island 1939. Munksgaard, Köbenhavn.
Steindórsson, S. (1930). Vegetation researches in Þjórsárdalur South Iceland during the summer 1930. Reykjavík: Vísindafélag Íslands.
Sveinbjarnardóttir, G. (1992). Farm Abandonment in Medieval and Post-Medieval Iceland: An Interdisciplinary Study. Oxbow Books, Oxford.
Sveinbjarnardóttir, G., Simpson, I. A., and Thomson, A. M. (2009). Land in Landscapes Circum Landnám: An Integrated Study of Settlements in Reykholtsdalur, Iceland. Journal of the North Atlantic 1: 1–15.
Sæmundssen, E. (1918). Dagbókarskýrsla Sumarið 1918. Looked up 3. ágúst 2013 on website Skógræktar ríkisins. http://www.skogur.is/media/sudurland/Arsskyrsla_skogarv_Sudurland_1918.pdf
Thoroddsen, Þ. (1889). Rauðukambar, Kerlingarfjöll og Kjalvegur. Ferðasaga (1888). Andvari 15: 56–119.
Thoroddsen, Þ. (1916–1917). Árferði á Íslandi í þúsund ár. Hið íslenska fræðafélag, Kaupmannahöfn.
Þórarinsson, S. (1944). Tefrokronologiska Studier på Island. Geografiska Annaler 26: 1–217.
Þórarinsson, S. (1954). The Tephra Fall from Hekla on March 29th 1947 [The Eruption of Hekla 1947–48 II, 3]. Societas Scientiarum Islandica, Reykjavik.
Þórarinsson, S. (1968). Heklueldar. Sögufélagið, Reykjavík.
Þórarinsson, S., and Larsen, G. (1977). Hekla 4 and Other Acidic Hekla Tephra Layers. Jökull. 27: 28–46.
Vickers, K., Erlendsson, E., Church, M. J., Edwards, K. J., and Bending, J. (2011). 1000 years of environmental change and human impact at Stóra-Mörk, southern Iceland: A multiproxy study of a dynamic and vulnerable landscape. The Holocene, March. 21.
Vilhjálmsson, V. Ö. (1989). Stöng og Þjórsárdalur-Bosættelsens Ophør. Hikuin 15: 75–102.
Vilmundardóttir, O. K., Magnusson, B., Gísladóttir, G., and Thorsteinsson, T. (2009). Bank development and Aeolian deposition alpng the shores of a recent reservoir, Blöndulón. Iceland. Geomorphology. 114: 542–555.
Wulf, M., Sommer, M., and Schmidt, R. (2010). Forest cover changes in the Prignitz region (NE Germany) between 1790 and 1960 in relation to soils and other driving forces. Landscape Ecology 25(299–313): 168.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the support from the Hekluskógar project and the University of Iceland for the teaching assistant grant. We are grateful to Dr. Egill Erlendsson and the three anonymous reviewers for insightful and thorough comments on the early drafts of this article.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sigurmundsson, F.S., Gísladóttir, G. & Óskarsson, H. Decline of Birch Woodland Cover in Þjórsárdalur Iceland from 1587 to 1938. Hum Ecol 42, 577–590 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-014-9670-8
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-014-9670-8