Importance of mountain height and latitude for the altitudinal distribution limits of vascular plants in Scandinavia: are the mountains high enough?
The main aim of the present paper was to study regional differences in the altitudinal distribution limits of vascular plants in relation to mountain height and latitudinal position. Altitudinal limits from previously studied areas were compared with the altitudinal distribution limits given by Lid...
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Geographical Society of Finland
2010
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fttsvojs:oai:journal.fi:article/2845 2023-05-15T17:43:39+02:00 Importance of mountain height and latitude for the altitudinal distribution limits of vascular plants in Scandinavia: are the mountains high enough? Odland, Arvid 2010-11-25 application/pdf https://fennia.journal.fi/article/view/2845 eng eng Geographical Society of Finland https://fennia.journal.fi/article/view/2845/3497 https://fennia.journal.fi/article/view/2845 Copyright (c) 2014 Fennia Fennia; Vol 188 Nro 2 (2010); 149-162 Fennia - International Journal of Geography; Vol 188 No 2 (2010); 149-162 1798-5617 Scandinavia distribution limit forest limit mountain summits climatic change info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Peer-reviewed Article Field study 2010 fttsvojs 2020-09-30T22:45:55Z The main aim of the present paper was to study regional differences in the altitudinal distribution limits of vascular plants in relation to mountain height and latitudinal position. Altitudinal limits from previously studied areas were compared with the altitudinal distribution limits given by Lid & Lid (2005) as a reference. Based on these comparisons, different trend lines were used to evaluate the effects of mountain height and thereby estimate how high a mountain must be for vascular plants to reach their potential altitudinal limits. Study areas were Hardangervidda and Aurland southern Norway, Jämtland central Sweden, Lule Lappmark northern Sweden, Troms northern Norway, and Graubünden Switzerland. A regression analysis of the altitudinal limits for 177 vascular plants in Scandinavia compared with the same species in Switzerland gave a highly significant (p < 0.001) linear equation with a slope coefficient of 0.95 and a Y-intercept of 1057. Species limits in Hardangervidda, Aurland and Jämtland, however, showed non-linear altitudinal trends for the whole mountain ranges when they were compared with the highest recorded limits for the same species in Scandinavia. Differences between the recorded altitudinal limits from Scandinavia and the same species from Switzerland were in average the same for lowland, boreal and high altitudinal species (p > 0.422). Comparisons within Scandinavia show that lowland/boreal and high altitudinal species showed different altitudinal distribution patterns. The position of the forest limit increased on average with 72.4 m per degree increase in latitude from Switzerland to N Scandinavia. The altitudinal span of the alpine zone was approximately 1100 m in Switzerland and in Jotunheimen but considerably lower in the south Scandinavian study areas. Studies of altitudinal distribution limits of vascular plants may give an indication of to what extent the height of a particular mountain influence plant distribution and thereby its vegetation zonation. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northern Norway Northern Sweden Troms Federation of Finnish Learned Societies: Scientific Journals Online Lule Lappmark ENVELOPE(20.000,20.000,67.000,67.000) Norway |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Federation of Finnish Learned Societies: Scientific Journals Online |
op_collection_id |
fttsvojs |
language |
English |
topic |
Scandinavia distribution limit forest limit mountain summits climatic change |
spellingShingle |
Scandinavia distribution limit forest limit mountain summits climatic change Odland, Arvid Importance of mountain height and latitude for the altitudinal distribution limits of vascular plants in Scandinavia: are the mountains high enough? |
topic_facet |
Scandinavia distribution limit forest limit mountain summits climatic change |
description |
The main aim of the present paper was to study regional differences in the altitudinal distribution limits of vascular plants in relation to mountain height and latitudinal position. Altitudinal limits from previously studied areas were compared with the altitudinal distribution limits given by Lid & Lid (2005) as a reference. Based on these comparisons, different trend lines were used to evaluate the effects of mountain height and thereby estimate how high a mountain must be for vascular plants to reach their potential altitudinal limits. Study areas were Hardangervidda and Aurland southern Norway, Jämtland central Sweden, Lule Lappmark northern Sweden, Troms northern Norway, and Graubünden Switzerland. A regression analysis of the altitudinal limits for 177 vascular plants in Scandinavia compared with the same species in Switzerland gave a highly significant (p < 0.001) linear equation with a slope coefficient of 0.95 and a Y-intercept of 1057. Species limits in Hardangervidda, Aurland and Jämtland, however, showed non-linear altitudinal trends for the whole mountain ranges when they were compared with the highest recorded limits for the same species in Scandinavia. Differences between the recorded altitudinal limits from Scandinavia and the same species from Switzerland were in average the same for lowland, boreal and high altitudinal species (p > 0.422). Comparisons within Scandinavia show that lowland/boreal and high altitudinal species showed different altitudinal distribution patterns. The position of the forest limit increased on average with 72.4 m per degree increase in latitude from Switzerland to N Scandinavia. The altitudinal span of the alpine zone was approximately 1100 m in Switzerland and in Jotunheimen but considerably lower in the south Scandinavian study areas. Studies of altitudinal distribution limits of vascular plants may give an indication of to what extent the height of a particular mountain influence plant distribution and thereby its vegetation zonation. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Odland, Arvid |
author_facet |
Odland, Arvid |
author_sort |
Odland, Arvid |
title |
Importance of mountain height and latitude for the altitudinal distribution limits of vascular plants in Scandinavia: are the mountains high enough? |
title_short |
Importance of mountain height and latitude for the altitudinal distribution limits of vascular plants in Scandinavia: are the mountains high enough? |
title_full |
Importance of mountain height and latitude for the altitudinal distribution limits of vascular plants in Scandinavia: are the mountains high enough? |
title_fullStr |
Importance of mountain height and latitude for the altitudinal distribution limits of vascular plants in Scandinavia: are the mountains high enough? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Importance of mountain height and latitude for the altitudinal distribution limits of vascular plants in Scandinavia: are the mountains high enough? |
title_sort |
importance of mountain height and latitude for the altitudinal distribution limits of vascular plants in scandinavia: are the mountains high enough? |
publisher |
Geographical Society of Finland |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
https://fennia.journal.fi/article/view/2845 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(20.000,20.000,67.000,67.000) |
geographic |
Lule Lappmark Norway |
geographic_facet |
Lule Lappmark Norway |
genre |
Northern Norway Northern Sweden Troms |
genre_facet |
Northern Norway Northern Sweden Troms |
op_source |
Fennia; Vol 188 Nro 2 (2010); 149-162 Fennia - International Journal of Geography; Vol 188 No 2 (2010); 149-162 1798-5617 |
op_relation |
https://fennia.journal.fi/article/view/2845/3497 https://fennia.journal.fi/article/view/2845 |
op_rights |
Copyright (c) 2014 Fennia |
_version_ |
1766145775295791104 |