Restoration of birch woodlands in Iceland

Land degradation and soil erosion have drastically changed Icelandic ecosystems since human settlement: vegetation cover has decreased, most of the woodlands have disappeared, and the remaining vegetation is severely degraded. The result of the degradation processes is often sparsely vegetated land with shallow and poor soils and in other cases barren land, a desert (Arnalds and Kimble 2001). Once extensive, birch woodlands and shrublands now cover about 1% of the country. Downy birch (Betula pubescens Ehrh.) is the
only species that has formed woodlands in Iceland during the Holocene (Hallsdottir 1995).
Preservation of the remaining native woodlands and restoration of productive birch ecosystems on degraded landscapes are important conservation goals in Iceland. Traditional landuse, however, is a major obstacle to large-scale restoration efforts, particularly sheep grazing. Birch woodland restoration must also compete for funding and popularity with other forms of reclamation such as seeding with grasses to improve grazing or planting of exotic tree species.
In this chapter, we discuss the ecological and socioeconomic context of restoring birch woodlands and describe potential restoration strategies.