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Local birch trees in Iceland
http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights-managed/IH214075/birch-forest-in-iceland |
1100 years ago, 25 to 40 percent of the land in Iceland was covered by forest. Northern Birch (Betula Pubescens), the most common native tree species in Iceland filled much of Iceland's forests. Aspen (Populus tremula), Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia), Common Juniper (Juniperus communis), and other smaller trees like willows also grew. In the late 12th-century Íslendingabók, Ari the Wise described it as "forested from mountain to sea shore". There is fossil evidence in many tree species that shows that 5 to 15 million years ago, the temperature was pretty warm in Iceland, allowing trees like Sequoia, Magnolia, Sassafras, and Pterocarya to grow abundantly. Then by the late Pliocene, the climate became cooler, and forests were dominated by boreal-type trees (Oskarsson 2007)[7].
