Effect of latitude and mountain height on the timberline (Betula pubescens ssp. czerpanovii) elevation along the central Scandinavian mountain range

Previously published isoline maps of Fennoscandian timberlines show that their highest elevations lie in the high mountain areas in central south Norway and from there the limits decrease in all directions. These maps are assumed to show differences in “climatic forest limits”, but the isoline patte...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Arvid Odland
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Geographical Society of Finland 2015-08-01
Series:Fennia: International Journal of Geography
Online Access:http://ojs.tsv.fi/index.php/fennia/article/view/48291/15871
id doaj-d9a59795aa7849ddb4909d91c63d03d6
record_format Article
spelling doaj-d9a59795aa7849ddb4909d91c63d03d62020-11-25T00:21:34ZengGeographical Society of FinlandFennia: International Journal of Geography1798-56172015-08-01193226027010.11143/48291Effect of latitude and mountain height on the timberline (Betula pubescens ssp. czerpanovii) elevation along the central Scandinavian mountain rangeArvid OdlandPreviously published isoline maps of Fennoscandian timberlines show that their highest elevations lie in the high mountain areas in central south Norway and from there the limits decrease in all directions. These maps are assumed to show differences in “climatic forest limits”, but the isoline patterns indicate that factors other than climate may be decisive in most of the area. Possibly the effects of ‘massenerhebung’ and the “summit syndrome” may locally have major effects on the timberline elevation. The main aim of the present study is to quantify the effect of latitude and mountain height on the regional variation of mountain birch timberline elevation. The study is a statistical analysis of previous published data on the timberline elevation and nearby mountain height. Selection of the study sites has been stratified to the Scandinavian mountain range (the Scandes) from 58 to 71o N where the timberlines reach their highest elevations. The data indicates that only the high mountain massifs in S Norway and N Sweden are sufficiently high to allow birch forests to reach their potential elevations. Stepwise regression shows that latitude explains 70.9% while both latitude and mountain explain together 89.0% of the timberline variation. Where the mountains are low (approximately 1000 m higher than the measured local timberlines) effects of the summit syndrome will lower the timberline elevation substantially and climatically determined timberlines will probably not have been reached. This indicates that models of future timberlines and thereby the alpine area extent in a warmer world may result in unrealistic conclusions without taking account of local mountain heights.http://ojs.tsv.fi/index.php/fennia/article/view/48291/15871
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Arvid Odland
spellingShingle Arvid Odland
Effect of latitude and mountain height on the timberline (Betula pubescens ssp. czerpanovii) elevation along the central Scandinavian mountain range
Fennia: International Journal of Geography
author_facet Arvid Odland
author_sort Arvid Odland
title Effect of latitude and mountain height on the timberline (Betula pubescens ssp. czerpanovii) elevation along the central Scandinavian mountain range
title_short Effect of latitude and mountain height on the timberline (Betula pubescens ssp. czerpanovii) elevation along the central Scandinavian mountain range
title_full Effect of latitude and mountain height on the timberline (Betula pubescens ssp. czerpanovii) elevation along the central Scandinavian mountain range
title_fullStr Effect of latitude and mountain height on the timberline (Betula pubescens ssp. czerpanovii) elevation along the central Scandinavian mountain range
title_full_unstemmed Effect of latitude and mountain height on the timberline (Betula pubescens ssp. czerpanovii) elevation along the central Scandinavian mountain range
title_sort effect of latitude and mountain height on the timberline (betula pubescens ssp. czerpanovii) elevation along the central scandinavian mountain range
publisher Geographical Society of Finland
series Fennia: International Journal of Geography
issn 1798-5617
publishDate 2015-08-01
description Previously published isoline maps of Fennoscandian timberlines show that their highest elevations lie in the high mountain areas in central south Norway and from there the limits decrease in all directions. These maps are assumed to show differences in “climatic forest limits”, but the isoline patterns indicate that factors other than climate may be decisive in most of the area. Possibly the effects of ‘massenerhebung’ and the “summit syndrome” may locally have major effects on the timberline elevation. The main aim of the present study is to quantify the effect of latitude and mountain height on the regional variation of mountain birch timberline elevation. The study is a statistical analysis of previous published data on the timberline elevation and nearby mountain height. Selection of the study sites has been stratified to the Scandinavian mountain range (the Scandes) from 58 to 71o N where the timberlines reach their highest elevations. The data indicates that only the high mountain massifs in S Norway and N Sweden are sufficiently high to allow birch forests to reach their potential elevations. Stepwise regression shows that latitude explains 70.9% while both latitude and mountain explain together 89.0% of the timberline variation. Where the mountains are low (approximately 1000 m higher than the measured local timberlines) effects of the summit syndrome will lower the timberline elevation substantially and climatically determined timberlines will probably not have been reached. This indicates that models of future timberlines and thereby the alpine area extent in a warmer world may result in unrealistic conclusions without taking account of local mountain heights.
url http://ojs.tsv.fi/index.php/fennia/article/view/48291/15871
work_keys_str_mv AT arvidodland effectoflatitudeandmountainheightonthetimberlinebetulapubescenssspczerpanoviielevationalongthecentralscandinavianmountainrange
_version_ 1725362040720064512