Investigations of the Long Term Sustainability of Human Ecodynamic Systems in Northern Iceland
This project has centered on the Lake Myvatn area of northeastern Iceland. In spite of severe erosion problems, the Myvatn economy has been largely sustainable since the time when Iceland was first settled in the late ninth century. Until the early part of the twentieth century, the inhabitants of t...
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2017
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dataone:doi:10.18739/A2Z967 2024-06-03T18:46:56+00:00 Investigations of the Long Term Sustainability of Human Ecodynamic Systems in Northern Iceland Astrid Ogilvie The Myvatn district, northeast Iceland 65°36'N, 17°0'W. ENVELOPE(-17.0,-17.0,65.6,65.6) BEGINDATE: 1700-01-01T00:00:00Z ENDDATE: 1950-01-01T00:00:00Z 2017-02-16T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.18739/A2Z967 unknown Arctic Data Center Myvatn, Iceland, Sustainability, Human Ecodynamics Dataset 2017 dataone:urn:node:ARCTIC https://doi.org/10.18739/A2Z967 2024-06-03T18:09:22Z This project has centered on the Lake Myvatn area of northeastern Iceland. In spite of severe erosion problems, the Myvatn economy has been largely sustainable since the time when Iceland was first settled in the late ninth century. Until the early part of the twentieth century, the inhabitants of the region lived almost entirely on the proceeds of the land by farming, fishing for trout, and collecting the eggs of wild birds. In recent times, tourism has become an extremely important part of the economy. This brings needed revenue but raises conservation issues in what is a very fragile ecosystem. The interplay between the hydrology and geology of the area has formed a unique landscape characterised by an abundance of pseudo-craters and curious lava formations and an ecosystem that is unparalleled in Iceland. In the Myvatn area most resources are directly connected to water. The complex food web and biogeochemistry of the lake has created unique wildlife resources on which people depended, and adjacent wetlands produced the most important sources of hay for the animal husbandry practiced in the area. In the past, because of its North Atlantic location, marginal for agriculture, grass was the only viable crop in Iceland, and the economy focused primarily on the keeping of sheep and cattle until comparatively recent times. This meant that the success or failure of the grass crop, coupled with winter rangeland grazing, was the one aspect of the economy on which all else rested. If there was not enough hay to feed the livestock over the winter, then they could die, and the human population could also suffer with famines and related difficulties. The primary goal of this project was to establish what were the varying factors that influenced the success or failure of the grass growth and hay crop and grazing, and the sustainability of the use of these resources. A particularly important part of the project was to examine resource-management decisions and to consider to what extent local farmers focused on the long-term sustainability of grazing resources. Dataset Iceland Investigations of the Long Term Sustainability of Human Ecodynamic Systems in Northern Iceland North Atlantic Arctic Data Center (via DataONE) ENVELOPE(-17.0,-17.0,65.6,65.6) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Arctic Data Center (via DataONE) |
op_collection_id |
dataone:urn:node:ARCTIC |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Myvatn, Iceland, Sustainability, Human Ecodynamics |
spellingShingle |
Myvatn, Iceland, Sustainability, Human Ecodynamics Astrid Ogilvie Investigations of the Long Term Sustainability of Human Ecodynamic Systems in Northern Iceland |
topic_facet |
Myvatn, Iceland, Sustainability, Human Ecodynamics |
description |
This project has centered on the Lake Myvatn area of northeastern Iceland. In spite of severe erosion problems, the Myvatn economy has been largely sustainable since the time when Iceland was first settled in the late ninth century. Until the early part of the twentieth century, the inhabitants of the region lived almost entirely on the proceeds of the land by farming, fishing for trout, and collecting the eggs of wild birds. In recent times, tourism has become an extremely important part of the economy. This brings needed revenue but raises conservation issues in what is a very fragile ecosystem. The interplay between the hydrology and geology of the area has formed a unique landscape characterised by an abundance of pseudo-craters and curious lava formations and an ecosystem that is unparalleled in Iceland. In the Myvatn area most resources are directly connected to water. The complex food web and biogeochemistry of the lake has created unique wildlife resources on which people depended, and adjacent wetlands produced the most important sources of hay for the animal husbandry practiced in the area. In the past, because of its North Atlantic location, marginal for agriculture, grass was the only viable crop in Iceland, and the economy focused primarily on the keeping of sheep and cattle until comparatively recent times. This meant that the success or failure of the grass crop, coupled with winter rangeland grazing, was the one aspect of the economy on which all else rested. If there was not enough hay to feed the livestock over the winter, then they could die, and the human population could also suffer with famines and related difficulties. The primary goal of this project was to establish what were the varying factors that influenced the success or failure of the grass growth and hay crop and grazing, and the sustainability of the use of these resources. A particularly important part of the project was to examine resource-management decisions and to consider to what extent local farmers focused on the long-term sustainability of grazing resources. |
format |
Dataset |
author |
Astrid Ogilvie |
author_facet |
Astrid Ogilvie |
author_sort |
Astrid Ogilvie |
title |
Investigations of the Long Term Sustainability of Human Ecodynamic Systems in Northern Iceland |
title_short |
Investigations of the Long Term Sustainability of Human Ecodynamic Systems in Northern Iceland |
title_full |
Investigations of the Long Term Sustainability of Human Ecodynamic Systems in Northern Iceland |
title_fullStr |
Investigations of the Long Term Sustainability of Human Ecodynamic Systems in Northern Iceland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Investigations of the Long Term Sustainability of Human Ecodynamic Systems in Northern Iceland |
title_sort |
investigations of the long term sustainability of human ecodynamic systems in northern iceland |
publisher |
Arctic Data Center |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.18739/A2Z967 |
op_coverage |
The Myvatn district, northeast Iceland 65°36'N, 17°0'W. ENVELOPE(-17.0,-17.0,65.6,65.6) BEGINDATE: 1700-01-01T00:00:00Z ENDDATE: 1950-01-01T00:00:00Z |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-17.0,-17.0,65.6,65.6) |
genre |
Iceland Investigations of the Long Term Sustainability of Human Ecodynamic Systems in Northern Iceland North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Iceland Investigations of the Long Term Sustainability of Human Ecodynamic Systems in Northern Iceland North Atlantic |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.18739/A2Z967 |
_version_ |
1800873553108664320 |