Plant Conservation in Iceland

Number of Nationally Threatened Species

Plant Group	EW	CR	EN	VU	LR	DD	Total threatened
Vascular Plants	1	10	9	18	10	4	38
Mosses	-	5	12	27	14	16	44
Lichens	-	11	17	10	9	20	38
Marine Benthic Algae	1	13	-	28	-	-	42
Total	2	39	38	83	33	40	162

EW=Extinct in the Wild, CR=Critically Endangered, EN=Endangered, VU=Vulnerable, LR=Lower Risk, DD=Data Deficient

National Red Data Books

Válisti 1 (Red list 1). Plöntur (Plants). A. Ingadóttir (ed.). 1996. Náttúrufræðistofnun Íslands, Reykjavik. 82 pp. The official Red List, prepared at the Icelandic Institute of Natural History by Eythor Einarsson, Bergthor Johannsson, Hordur Kristinsson & Karl Gunnarsson. Covers 52 species of vascular plants (out of the c. 485 species found wild in Iceland), 74 mosses, 67 lichens and 42 species of marine benthic algae. Uses the IUCN Red List categories of November 1994.

In 2002 the Institute prepared proposals to the Ministry for the Environment to revise the vascular plants Red List so as to cover 66 species, including all the 52 species red-listed in 1996, and all 8 Icelandic species of orchids. (Einarsson et al., 2002)

An earlier unofficial plant Red List contained 46 species (Einarsson, 1988). A few Icelandic species were included in the list of rare, threatened and endemic vascular plants in Europe published by the Council of Europe in 1977, and also in list of threatened plants and animals published by the Nordic Council of Ministers in 1982 and 1995.

Floras

Flóra Íslands. Stefán Stefánsson. 3rd. Ed. 1948 by S. Steindórsson et al. Pp. 407. Hid ísl. náttúrufr. fél. Akureyri. (The classic Icelandic Flora of vascular plants)

Íslenzk ferdaflóra, 2nd Ed. Á. Lóve. 1977. Pp. 429. Almenna Bókafélagid, Reykjavik. English edition 1983 as Flora of Iceland. (Flora of vascular plants)

Plöntuhandbókin. Hördur Kristinsson. 1986. Pp. 304. English Edition 1987 as A guide to the flowering plants and ferns of Iceland. Pp. 311. Örn and Örlygur Publishing House, Reykjavík. (Field guide with colour photographs and simplified distribution maps)

The Botany of Iceland, 5 vols, 9 parts. L.K. Rosenvinge, Eug. Warming et al. (eds). 1912–1949. J. Frimodt and E. Munksgaard, Copenhagen, Denmark. (1 & 2 – physical geography by Th. Thoroddsen, marine algal vegetation by H. Jónsson, diatoms by E. Östrup, bryophytes by Aug. Hesselbo, lichen flora and vegetation by O. Gallöe, fungi by P. Larsen, cyanophyceae and aerial algae by J. Boye Petersen; 3 – vegetation studies by H. Mölholm Hansen, vegetation of the central highlands by S. Steindorsson, larger fungi by M.P. Christiansen, genus Taraxacum by M.P. Christiansen; 4 – pteridophytes, spermatophytes, habitat accounts by J. Gröntved (comprehensive critical Flora); 5 – flora of Reykjanes Peninsula, SW Iceland, by E. Hadac.

Íslenskir mosar (Icelandic mosses). Bergthor Johannsson. 1989–2003. Fjölrit Náttúrufræðistofnunar (Monograph Series of the Institute of Natural History) No 12–13, 15–16, 19–22, 24, 26–27, 29–30, 33–34, 36, 38, 41–44. In total 2118 pp. Includes all known Icelandic species of mosses. A thorough treatment, with descriptions of all species and drawings of details of taxonomic importance, most important habitats and maps of known distribution in Iceland. The Institute of Natural History. Reykjavik. (In Icelandic)

The Bryophyta of Iceland. Aug. Hesselbo. 1918. In The Botany of Iceland, 1(4), pp. 395–677. Copenhagen.

Benthic marine algae of Iceland: revised checklist. Karl Gunnarsson & Sigurdur Jónsson. Cryptogamie, Algol., 2002, 2002, 23 (22): 131–158.

Iceland is also covered in:

Flora Nordica, vols 1, 2 and General Volume. Bengt Jonsell (ed.). Pp. 344, 430, 274. 2000, 2001, 2004. (Bergius Foundation, Sweden). Flora Nordica, Department of Phanerogamic Botany, Swedish Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 50007, SE-104 05 Stockholm, Sweden. Covers Denmark and the Faeroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Norway and associated Arctic islands, and Sweden. 15 vols projected. Plant Talk review of Vol. 1; Vol. 2 covers Chenopodiaceae to Fumariaceae. Available from Koeltz Scientific Books.

Illlustrated Flora of Nordic Liverworts and Hornworts. K. Damsholt. 2002. Nordic Bryological Society, Lund, Sweden. (Coverage includes Faeroe Is., Jan Mayen, Svalbard, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland & Denmark)

Vegetation

When Iceland was settled 1100 years ago original birch forests and scrub occupied lowland areas up to 400 m; now mostly cleared due to extensive sheep grazing and deteriorating climate, particularly in the period 1600–1900. Today forests and scrub occupy only c. 1250 sq. km, mainly in the more sheltered lowland valleys where birch, willows and rowan (Sorbus aucuparia) survive. Arctic/alpine tundra, particularly in the centre, west, north and east of the country, with dwarf shrubs (Empetrum, Vaccinium, Loiseleuria, Arctostaphylos, Salix, Betula nana and Juniperus). Elsewhere, large areas of gravel, sand and almost bare rock, sparsely vegetated with mosses, lichens and vascular plants. Extensive wetlands, but many in the lowlands now drained. For more information see Gröntved (1942, cited above) and Flora Nordica: General Volume (Jonsell, 2004, cited above). See also Steindórsson (1964) and Paahlsson et al. (1994). (Paragraph corrected and reproduced with permission from Davis, S.D. et al. (1986). Plants in Danger: What do we know? IUCN, Gland, Switzerland).

Plant Conservation Programmes

The first Icelandic Act on Nature Conservation of 1956, and all later amended versions of that Act, included measures to establish national parks and nature reserves, and to protect rare and/or endangered species. At present 91 such areas are protected by law and 31 species of plants are protected – 8 pteridophytes, 16 dicotyledons and 7 monocotyledons. As yet no special conservation programmes have been set up for any of these 31 plant species, but 9 of them grow in national parks or other protected areas (Einarsson, 2004). The emphasis is to collect further information on the distribution and habitats of protected and other Red List species, as well as to register accurately and monitor known localities. Red lists for plants were prepared and published, the first official one in 1996 (see above). The present Nature Conservation Act of 1999 also states that a Nature Conservation Strategy shall be developed and issued every five years, including provisions on the protection of species, both plants and animals, and their habitats (Einarsson, 2004). The Institute of Natural History has recently worked out proposals (Einarsson et al., 2002) for habitats and species to be covered under the first such strategy, which is now being prepared by the Ministry for Environment. In 2004 the Icelandic Parliament approved the first Nature Conservation Strategy, for 2004–2008; this aims to protect 14 new areas, 2 of them especially because of rare plant species and/or distinct vegetation.

Key Institutions

Umhverfisstofnun (Environment and Food Agency). (Includes the Nature Conservation Division), Sudurlandsbraut 24 (Skulagata 21)- 105(1) Reykjavik. (Government agency, under the auspices of the Ministry of Environment, for the “protection of areas, wild plants and animals and habitats”.)

Náttúrufraedistofnun Íslands (Icelandic Institute of Natural History), Hlemmur 3, P.O. Box 5320, 125 Reykjavík.

Landvernd (Icelandic Environment Association). Ránargata 18, 101 Reykjavik.

Náttúruverndarsamtök Íslands (Iceland Nature Conservation Association, INCA). Hringbraut 121, 107 Reykjavík.

See also:

CAFF – Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna, a Working Group of the Arctic Council. International Secretariat: Hafnarstraeti 97 600 Akureyri, Iceland.

WWF Arctic Programme, Kristian Augusts gate 7A, Box 6784 St Olavs Pl, N-0130 Oslo, Norway.

References cited

Einarsson, Eythor. 1988. Truede, saarbare og sjældne karplanter paa Island (Threatened, vulnerable and rare vascular plants in Iceland). Svensk Botanisk Tidskrift 87: 388–391. (In Danish)

Einarsson, Eythor. 2004. Plant protection, Iceland. In Flora Nordica: General Volume (Ed. B. Jonsell), pp. 127–131. (see under Floras, above, for complete citation)

Einarsson, Ólafur et al. 2002. Verndun tegunda og svæða (Protection of species and areas). Tillögur Náttúrufræðistofnunar Íslands vegan Náttúruverndaráætlunar 2002. (Proposals from the Icelandic Institute of Natural History for Nature Conservation Strategy 2002). Pp. 118. NÍ-02016. Reykjavík, November 2002. (In Icelandic)

Paahlsson, Lars (ed.); Angell-Petersen, Inger; Einarsson, Eythor; Ovesen, Claus Helveg; Toivonen, Heikki & Vestergaard, Peter. Vegetationstyper i Norden (Vegetation types in the Nordic Countries). Pp. 627. TemaNord 1994:665. Nordic Council of Ministers. 1994. (In Swedish)

Steindórsson, Steindór. 1964. Gróður á Íslandi (Vegetation in Iceland). Pp. 187. Almenna bókafélagid. Reykjavik. (In Icelandic)

Acknowledgement

This page, originally written in 2004, was extensively updated and enlarged in March and October 2005 by Dr Eythór Einarsson, Icelandic Institute of Natural History, Reykjavík. Updated October 2005.