Effect of latitude and mountain height on the timberline (Betula pubescens ssp. czerpanovii) elevation along the central Scandinavian mountain range
Previously published isoline maps of Fennoscandian timberlines show that their highest elevations lie in the high mountain areas in central south Norway and from there the limits decrease in all directions. These maps are assumed to show differences in “climatic forest limits”, but the isoline patte...
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Geographical Society of Finland
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:cfe0ef358c8e4f02a262fd771302d94f 2023-05-15T16:13:06+02:00 Effect of latitude and mountain height on the timberline (Betula pubescens ssp. czerpanovii) elevation along the central Scandinavian mountain range Arvid Odland 2015-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doaj.org/article/cfe0ef358c8e4f02a262fd771302d94f EN eng Geographical Society of Finland https://fennia.journal.fi/article/view/48291 https://doaj.org/toc/1798-5617 1798-5617 https://doaj.org/article/cfe0ef358c8e4f02a262fd771302d94f Fennia: International Journal of Geography, Vol 193, Iss 2 (2015) Scandinavia Forest limit Multiple regression Ecology Global warming Massenerhebung Geography (General) G1-922 article 2015 ftdoajarticles 2022-12-31T08:11:11Z Previously published isoline maps of Fennoscandian timberlines show that their highest elevations lie in the high mountain areas in central south Norway and from there the limits decrease in all directions. These maps are assumed to show differences in “climatic forest limits”, but the isoline patterns indicate that factors other than climate may be decisive in most of the area. Possibly the effects of ‘massenerhebung’ and the “summit syndrome” may locally have major effects on the timberline elevation. The main aim of the present study is to quantify the effect of latitude and mountain height on the regional variation of mountain birch timberline elevation. The study is a statistical analysis of previous published data on the timberline elevation and nearby mountain height. Selection of the study sites has been stratified to the Scandinavian mountain range (the Scandes) from 58 to 71o N where the timberlines reach their highest elevations. The data indicates that only the high mountain massifs in S Norway and N Sweden are sufficiently high to allow birch forests to reach their potential elevations. Stepwise regression shows that latitude explains 70.9% while both latitude and mountain explain together 89.0% of the timberline variation. Where the mountains are low (approximately 1000 m higher than the measured local timberlines) effects of the summit syndrome will lower the timberline elevation substantially and climatically determined timberlines will probably not have been reached. This indicates that models of future timberlines and thereby the alpine area extent in a warmer world may result in unrealistic conclusions without taking account of local mountain heights. Article in Journal/Newspaper Fennoscandian Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Norway |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Scandinavia Forest limit Multiple regression Ecology Global warming Massenerhebung Geography (General) G1-922 |
spellingShingle |
Scandinavia Forest limit Multiple regression Ecology Global warming Massenerhebung Geography (General) G1-922 Arvid Odland Effect of latitude and mountain height on the timberline (Betula pubescens ssp. czerpanovii) elevation along the central Scandinavian mountain range |
topic_facet |
Scandinavia Forest limit Multiple regression Ecology Global warming Massenerhebung Geography (General) G1-922 |
description |
Previously published isoline maps of Fennoscandian timberlines show that their highest elevations lie in the high mountain areas in central south Norway and from there the limits decrease in all directions. These maps are assumed to show differences in “climatic forest limits”, but the isoline patterns indicate that factors other than climate may be decisive in most of the area. Possibly the effects of ‘massenerhebung’ and the “summit syndrome” may locally have major effects on the timberline elevation. The main aim of the present study is to quantify the effect of latitude and mountain height on the regional variation of mountain birch timberline elevation. The study is a statistical analysis of previous published data on the timberline elevation and nearby mountain height. Selection of the study sites has been stratified to the Scandinavian mountain range (the Scandes) from 58 to 71o N where the timberlines reach their highest elevations. The data indicates that only the high mountain massifs in S Norway and N Sweden are sufficiently high to allow birch forests to reach their potential elevations. Stepwise regression shows that latitude explains 70.9% while both latitude and mountain explain together 89.0% of the timberline variation. Where the mountains are low (approximately 1000 m higher than the measured local timberlines) effects of the summit syndrome will lower the timberline elevation substantially and climatically determined timberlines will probably not have been reached. This indicates that models of future timberlines and thereby the alpine area extent in a warmer world may result in unrealistic conclusions without taking account of local mountain heights. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Arvid Odland |
author_facet |
Arvid Odland |
author_sort |
Arvid Odland |
title |
Effect of latitude and mountain height on the timberline (Betula pubescens ssp. czerpanovii) elevation along the central Scandinavian mountain range |
title_short |
Effect of latitude and mountain height on the timberline (Betula pubescens ssp. czerpanovii) elevation along the central Scandinavian mountain range |
title_full |
Effect of latitude and mountain height on the timberline (Betula pubescens ssp. czerpanovii) elevation along the central Scandinavian mountain range |
title_fullStr |
Effect of latitude and mountain height on the timberline (Betula pubescens ssp. czerpanovii) elevation along the central Scandinavian mountain range |
title_full_unstemmed |
Effect of latitude and mountain height on the timberline (Betula pubescens ssp. czerpanovii) elevation along the central Scandinavian mountain range |
title_sort |
effect of latitude and mountain height on the timberline (betula pubescens ssp. czerpanovii) elevation along the central scandinavian mountain range |
publisher |
Geographical Society of Finland |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://doaj.org/article/cfe0ef358c8e4f02a262fd771302d94f |
geographic |
Norway |
geographic_facet |
Norway |
genre |
Fennoscandian |
genre_facet |
Fennoscandian |
op_source |
Fennia: International Journal of Geography, Vol 193, Iss 2 (2015) |
op_relation |
https://fennia.journal.fi/article/view/48291 https://doaj.org/toc/1798-5617 1798-5617 https://doaj.org/article/cfe0ef358c8e4f02a262fd771302d94f |
_version_ |
1765998714607894528 |