29.04.2022
The site has turned from barren land to fertile grass land with trees up to seven meters of height. …
The site has turned from barren land to fertile grass land with trees up to seven meters of height. Screen capture from the video

Results from experiments with cultivation of three tree species on eroded land near the Keflavik International Airport in Iceland are explained in a new video released by the Icelandic Forest Service - Skógræktin. The research shows among other things that afforestation is quite feasible in the area, given that the right measures are deployed. Fertilizing qualities of Nootka lupine proved a critical factor for the seedlings' survival but now the lupine has started to give way for grass and other species. The site has turned from barren land to fertile grass land with trees up to seven meters of height.

In the acadamic year of 2020-2021, the Agricultural University of Iceland had on its agenda a course entitled Forest ecology in a treeless land. The course was a combination of a theoretical course and practical training for students and practicing foresters. Main instructor was the American ecologist and professor Dennis Riege. Field trips to various test sites were integrated into the program, including one to the Keflavik air base at Miðnesheiði heath. Experiments have been underway there since 2002 on the cultivation of three tree species and the effect of lupine on their development in poor land. The results of different treatments were shown, in variably dense lupine fields, fields without lupine, cultivation in laid-out black plastic mulch and also the effect of natural lupine expansion into areas where it had not been before. The experiment at Miðnesheiði was laid out in 2002. In 2009 it was measured and assessed with a subsequent publication of results in the Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research. A second assessment was made in 2013 and the results published in Icelandic in the forestry journal Skógræktarritið.

In recent decades, Icelandic foresters have made remarkable achievements in the field of afforestation measures by planting pre-cultivated tree seedlings. However, elsewhere in the world, more diverse methods are used to reclaim forests on deforested land based on ecological knowledge. In the course in question, participants were introduced to the latest research in the field of forest ecology, with an emphasis on how ecological processes such as self-seeding, development, simbiosis and competition are touched on in afforestation projects. Dennis Riege has conducted research in Iceland for the past two decades, partly funded by the National Geographic Society.

Frétt: Pétur Halldórsson
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