Coastal heath vegetation in central Norway

• Published in: Nordic Journal of Botany
• Main Authors: Nilsen, Liv S., Moen, Asbjørn
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2009
• Subjects: Plant Science; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Norway; Betula nana; Empetrum nigrum; Rubus chamaemorus
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1756-1051.2009.00240.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1756-1051.2009.00240.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1756-1051.2009.00240.x

This description of heath vegetation on the outermost coast of Trøndelag was based on 354 sample plots and 243 taxa. TWINSPAN, DCA and Ellenberg's indicator values were used to distinguish the vegetation types and to assess gradients in the vegetation. The aims were to make a phytosociological classification of the open coastal heath vegetation, find floristic gradients, compare the heath vegetation of central Norway with similar vegetation elsewhere and to evaluate the conservation values. The study area belongs to the southern boreal vegetation zone, and comparisons were made to Norwegian boreal and boreonemoral heaths, and to the sub‐montane heaths in the system of British plant communities. In the multivariate analyses, the data set was first separated on the poor–rich gradient. The four main units were separated by the second division of TWINSPAN and a further 16 communities were described. The poor heath communities had few vascular plants and a rather high number of bryophytes and lichens. The opposite was the situation in rich heaths. The studied heaths lack a number of typical species from further south in Europe, while some other species are common, that are absent or only occasionally occurring in coastal heath vegetation in nemoral and boreonemoral zones; e.g. Arctous alpinus, Arctostaphylos uva‐ursi, Betula nana, Chamaepericlymenum suecicum, Empetrum nigrum ssp. hermaphroditum, Rubus chamaemorus, Trientalis europaea, Vaccinium uliginosum, Carex nigra, Eriophorum angustifolium and E. vaginatum. A large number of western species occurs occasionally; Carex binervis is an exclusive, characteristic species for the heaths. In the European hierarchical phytosociological system, the communities were classified in five alliances: Erico–Sphagnion, Ericion tetralicis, Myrtillion boreale, Loiseleurio–Vaccinion and Kobresio–Dryadion. The rich heath types had the highest conservation value.