Líffræðifélag Íslands
Líffræðiráðstefnan 2015
Erindi/veggspjald / Talk/poster E25
Egill Erlendsson (1), Guðrún Gísladóttir (1)
1. University of Iceland, Faculty of Life- and environmental Sciences
Kynnir / Presenter: Egill Erlendsson
Tengiliður / Corresponding author: Egill Erlendsson (egille@hi.is)
"Significant research on historical environmental change has been conducted in Iceland. Frequently these studies reveal a rapid loss of woodland and subsequent soil erosion. Although change associated with human arrival is fairly clear, it is more difficult to pinpoint actual reasons behind this process. Also, a serious flaw in the available data is the lack of spatial extent; most studies have thus far focused on the immediate surroundings of major, presumably early settlement farms where land had to be cleared to facilitate agriculture and environmental impacts could be expected to be most the prominent and abrupt. On the contrary, the actual grazing areas, the highland margin and the hightlands, are areas where data about past environmental change are limited. Using pollen analysis as a primary tool this paper presents data about environmental change at three sites in Kjarardalur in West Iceland, which in the past was used primarily as an area for grazing associated with shieling activity. The paper makes the following statements: A) Grazing following landnám adversely affected the pre-settlement woodland; B) By AD 1400 a reduction in grazing intensity led to woodland expansion; C) Early modern period rise in livestock number had negative impacts upon woodland and soils in Borgarfjörður."