Vegetation cover change on Tindfjöll mountains, Iceland, assessed by aerial photographs, topography, and climate
(2022) In Student thesis series INES NGEM01 20221Dept of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science
- Abstract
- Guðrún Guðjónsdóttir
Climate change is having a great impact on the fragile High Latitude environment where warming is occurring at a rate at least double the global average. It is urgent to understand the relationship between climate and vegetation cover, which is playing an important role, as a carbon sink, for biodiversity, and for protecting against natural hazards. Less studied but equally important is to understand how mountain areas are responding to climate warming and how topography; elevation, aspect, and slope are affecting vegetation distribution and dynamics. This study focuses on Tindfjöll mountain, Iceland, and compares two transects representing two different aspects (one south facing and one west facing) between the... (More) - Guðrún Guðjónsdóttir
Climate change is having a great impact on the fragile High Latitude environment where warming is occurring at a rate at least double the global average. It is urgent to understand the relationship between climate and vegetation cover, which is playing an important role, as a carbon sink, for biodiversity, and for protecting against natural hazards. Less studied but equally important is to understand how mountain areas are responding to climate warming and how topography; elevation, aspect, and slope are affecting vegetation distribution and dynamics. This study focuses on Tindfjöll mountain, Iceland, and compares two transects representing two different aspects (one south facing and one west facing) between the years 2004 and 2019. The results show that vegetation coverage has increased in both areas while for the same period climate warming has been approximately 1°C. This is especially significant for the vegetation class moss heath. The classes glacier and sand/gravel have on the other hand retreated. The south facing transect has shown more significant increase and the vegetation line in the same area has ascended about 150 m during the study period. These results indicate that not only climate is having a significant impact on vegetation production but also topography; elevation, aspect, and slope is creating a microclimate which highly affects vegetation growth. The most important factor is temperature with higher summer temperature and prolonged growing season while warmer winters lead to less protecting snow cover. Aspect and incoming solar radiation are also a strong influencing factor as south facing slopes (more incoming solar radiation) are showing much stronger vegetation responses than west facing slopes. The findings indicate that similar changes might be occurring in other arctic areas which requires further investigation.
Advisor: Micael Runnström
Master degree project 30 credits in Environmental Changes in High Latitudes, 2022.
Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University. Student thesis series (Less) - Popular Abstract
- Guðrún Guðjónsdóttir
Vegetation cover change in Tindfjöll mountain, Iceland*
Climate warming is two times faster in the Arctic than elsewhere on the planet. The warming is already having a great impact on the arctic environment by melting of glaciers, less sea-ice, and changes in vegetation cover. To be able to understand and estimate the consequences of climate change it is urgent to analyse the development in vegetation cover.
In this research we studied how vegetation cover has changed in Tindfjöll mountain, Iceland with focus on the effect of topography; elevation, aspect, and slope. Two 10 km2 transects were selected at two different aspects of the mountain, one south facing and the other west facing and at an elevation from... (More) - Guðrún Guðjónsdóttir
Vegetation cover change in Tindfjöll mountain, Iceland*
Climate warming is two times faster in the Arctic than elsewhere on the planet. The warming is already having a great impact on the arctic environment by melting of glaciers, less sea-ice, and changes in vegetation cover. To be able to understand and estimate the consequences of climate change it is urgent to analyse the development in vegetation cover.
In this research we studied how vegetation cover has changed in Tindfjöll mountain, Iceland with focus on the effect of topography; elevation, aspect, and slope. Two 10 km2 transects were selected at two different aspects of the mountain, one south facing and the other west facing and at an elevation from 300 meters above sea level ascending to 1300 meters. The vegetation cover of the transects was inspected and the changes estimated between the years 2004 and 2019 (15 years interval).
The results show that climate warming is already 1°C between the years 2006 and 2019. The results show further that the warming is already causing changes in vegetation cover of the area. The changes are mostly an increase in vegetation cover, however different according to aspect of the mountain. Most changes are found in south facing slopes above 700 meters altitude. Interestingly, the south facing slopes below 700 meters are showing less vegetation in 2019 than in 2004 most likely due to less snow cover during winter. Warmer climate is moving vegetation line towards higher altitude (150 m). The west facing transect showed more moderate changes with small increases in vegetation cover. Glacier is decreasing for both aspects, a consequence of climate warming.
The changes in Tindfjöll vegetation cover might reflect general changes in the arctic environment but it is important to continue research in this regard. It is therefore important to continue monitoring of the development in the High Latitudes to support future policy making and planning.
Keywords: Environmental changes in High Latitudes, vegetation cover, vegetation change, climate change, topography, GIS.
Advisor: Micael Runnström
Master degree project 30 credits in Environmental Changes in High Latitudes
Depantment of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University. Student thesis series INES nr
*Assessment of vegetation cover change by interpretation of aerial photographs, topography, and climate. A comparative study of Tindfjöll mountain, Iceland. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9093055
- author
- Guðjónsdóttir, Guðrún LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- NGEM01 20221
- year
- 2022
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Environmental changes, High Latitudes, Physical Geography, Ecosystem sciences, GIS, Climate Change, Vegetation change, Vegetation cover
- publication/series
- Student thesis series INES
- report number
- 577
- language
- English
- id
- 9093055
- date added to LUP
- 2022-07-05 12:42:47
- date last changed
- 2022-09-16 15:22:53
@misc{9093055,
abstract = {{Guðrún Guðjónsdóttir
Climate change is having a great impact on the fragile High Latitude environment where warming is occurring at a rate at least double the global average. It is urgent to understand the relationship between climate and vegetation cover, which is playing an important role, as a carbon sink, for biodiversity, and for protecting against natural hazards. Less studied but equally important is to understand how mountain areas are responding to climate warming and how topography; elevation, aspect, and slope are affecting vegetation distribution and dynamics. This study focuses on Tindfjöll mountain, Iceland, and compares two transects representing two different aspects (one south facing and one west facing) between the years 2004 and 2019. The results show that vegetation coverage has increased in both areas while for the same period climate warming has been approximately 1°C. This is especially significant for the vegetation class moss heath. The classes glacier and sand/gravel have on the other hand retreated. The south facing transect has shown more significant increase and the vegetation line in the same area has ascended about 150 m during the study period. These results indicate that not only climate is having a significant impact on vegetation production but also topography; elevation, aspect, and slope is creating a microclimate which highly affects vegetation growth. The most important factor is temperature with higher summer temperature and prolonged growing season while warmer winters lead to less protecting snow cover. Aspect and incoming solar radiation are also a strong influencing factor as south facing slopes (more incoming solar radiation) are showing much stronger vegetation responses than west facing slopes. The findings indicate that similar changes might be occurring in other arctic areas which requires further investigation.
Advisor: Micael Runnström
Master degree project 30 credits in Environmental Changes in High Latitudes, 2022.
Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University. Student thesis series}},
author = {{Guðjónsdóttir, Guðrún}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
series = {{Student thesis series INES}},
title = {{Vegetation cover change on Tindfjöll mountains, Iceland, assessed by aerial photographs, topography, and climate}},
year = {{2022}},
}