150:
84:
30:
321:
243:
127:. In general, the southern part of the island is warmer, wetter, and windier than the north. The coldest part of the country is the Central Highlands. The low-lying inland areas further north are the driest part but these areas of the country get the heaviest snowfalls in winter. The climate is rendered warmer than other places at similar
108:
interspersed with glaciers. Other parts of the country consist of mountains and hills surrounded by coastal lowlands, cut by steep-sided valleys and fiords. There are many small lakes and short, fast-flowing rivers. Only about 25% of the land has a complete cover of vegetation and two fifths of this
157:
There is a limited number of plant species in
Iceland. Although the island was once fairly well forested at lower elevations, the arrival of settlers was followed by the felling of trees for construction and firewood and few trees now remain. The settlers introduced livestock, and overgrazing,
217:
which grows abundantly forming mats on the tundras and mountain slopes and which can provide "famine food" in times of necessity. Sedges and grasses dominate the vascular plants, with 53 species of the former and 47 of the latter. Of
65:
is limited by the geography and climate of the island. The habitats on the island include high mountains, lava fields, tundras, rivers, lakes and a coastal plain of varying width. There is a long coastline, much dissected by
782:
699:
Keighley, Xénia; Pálsson, Snæbjörn; Einarsson, Bjarni F; Petersen, Aevar; Fernández-Coll, Meritxell; Jordan, Peter; Tange Olsen, Morten; Malmquist, Hilmar J (2019-09-12). Nowick, Katja (ed.).
104:
form a plateau some 500 m (1,640 ft) above sea level, lying in the central and southeastern part of the island, and occupy about 40% of the landmass; they consist largely of
756:
234:(mosses and liverworts), 550 species of lichen and 1,200 species of fungi, with both lichen and fungi being similar to those found in Scandinavia.
166:, with the remaining soil unable to support much vegetation. The flora includes about 540 species of plant, with woody plants typically including
848:
144:
683:
656:
629:
297:. A herd of reindeer in the southeast has died out but a larger herd in the northeast has a population of several thousand animals. The
904:
194:. Most of the trees are less than 2 m (7 ft) in height with a few taller trees in the river valleys of the north and east.
492:
278:
were native to
Iceland, but disappeared after human settlement, likely as a result of hunting, climate change and/or volcanism.
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924:
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265:
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Iceland is of volcanic origin with the landscape being influenced by water and wind erosion, abrasion and frost action. The
83:
949:
149:
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286:. However, sightings of polar bears are rare, and those that are seen are usually killed for reasons of public safety.
418:
Around 270 species of marine fish occur in the waters around
Iceland, with the most important commercial species being
376:(perching birds), perhaps because of a lack of nesting opportunities or a dearth of insect food at some times of year.
1187:
1036:
783:"A Review of the Occurrence of Bats (Chiroptera) on Islands in the North East Atlantic and on North Sea Installations"
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372:, with the Icelandic population of the latter representing almost half of the total world population. There are few
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have been increasingly recorded where they are thought to be either vagrants or artificially introduced.
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Much of the northern part of the country is marshy or tundra, with the vegetation being predominantly
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Petersen, Aevar; Jensen, Jens-Kjeld; Jenkins, Paulina; Bloch, Dorete; Ingimarsson, Finnur (2014).
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162:, led to damage to the volcanic soils. Three quarters of the island is now affected by
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have been known to occasionally visit the island, mostly drifting there from
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29:
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128:
807:
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459:
439:
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42:
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701:"Disappearance of Icelandic walruses coincided with Norse settlement"
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70:, especially in the west, north and east, with many offshore islets.
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is marshland. Another 69% is sparsely or very sparsely vegetated.
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67:
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has also been introduced and inhabits the countryside, with the
198:
830:
87:
View into the
Botnsdalur Mountains in western Iceland from the
419:
314:
328:
About 72 species of bird breed on
Iceland. These include the
757:"Killing polar bears in Iceland "only logical thing to do""
41:
is the wild plant and animal life found on the island of
293:, which escaped from fur farms and prospered, and the
230:(carnation family). There are around 560 species of
1158:
1120:
862:
607:. University of California Press. pp. 224–225.
618:Sandness, Roger K.; Gritzner, Charles F. (2009).
580:. Iceland Whale Watching. 2000. Archived from
289:Animals that have been introduced include the
270:The only native land mammal on Iceland is the
842:
8:
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516:
514:
512:
510:
508:
506:
504:
135:and the coast normally remains free of ice.
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835:
827:
529:. Convention on Biological Diversity. 2001
806:
732:
454:breed on beaches and several species of
678:. Bradt Travel Guides. pp. 47–60.
624:. Infobase Publishing. pp. 27–29.
475:
145:List of lichenicolous fungi of Iceland
550:Climate, History and the Modern World
7:
222:plants, the commonest family is the
605:Dirt: The Erosion of Civilisations
487:. Reed International. p. 12.
313:being restricted to urban areas.
25:
648:Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants
524:"Biological Diversity in Iceland"
379:The rivers and lakes are home to
651:. Stackpole Books. p. 106.
458:occur in the waters, as well as
226:(daisy family), followed by the
705:Molecular Biology and Evolution
266:List of Lepidoptera of Iceland
1:
603:David R. Montgomery (2007).
1240:
262:List of mammals of Iceland
255:
249:
142:
116:
93:
33:Topographic map of Iceland
645:Angier, Bradford (1974).
364:and other sea birds, the
246:Arctic fox in summer coat
799:10.3161/150811014X683381
403:which have escaped from
397:three-spined stickleback
258:List of birds of Iceland
45:, located in the north
905:Bosnia and Herzegovina
672:Evans, Andrew (2008).
325:
247:
154:
133:North Atlantic Current
91:
34:
787:Acta Chiropterologica
761:icelandmonitor.mbl.is
717:10.1093/molbev/msz196
323:
245:
152:
86:
32:
96:Geography of Iceland
1219:Wildlife by country
1121:States with limited
39:wildlife of Iceland
857:Wildlife of Europe
485:Atlas of the World
334:white-tailed eagle
326:
248:
155:
119:Climate of Iceland
92:
49:just south of the
35:
1206:
1205:
711:(12): 2656–2667.
685:978-1-84162-215-6
658:978-0-8117-2018-2
631:978-1-4381-0509-3
578:Iceland Worldwide
483:Philip's (1994).
464:harbour porpoises
348:. There are also
16:(Redirected from
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1224:Biota of Iceland
1159:Dependencies and
863:Sovereign states
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584:on 14 April 2010
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548:Lamb H. (1995).
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534:
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499:
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399:, and there are
252:Fauna of Iceland
158:particularly by
106:volcanic deserts
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18:Flora of Iceland
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1037:North Macedonia
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407:. There are no
405:fish hatcheries
381:Atlantic salmon
346:short-eared owl
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228:Caryophyllaceae
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139:Flora and funga
123:The climate is
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250:Main article:
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220:dicotyledonous
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117:Main article:
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94:Main article:
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47:Atlantic Ocean
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1173:Faroe Islands
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1145:South Ossetia
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552:. Routledge.
551:
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494:0-540-05831-9
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401:rainbow trout
398:
394:
391:, as well as
390:
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377:
375:
371:
367:
363:
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347:
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291:American mink
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267:
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259:
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244:
237:
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209:. Typical is
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51:Arctic Circle
48:
44:
40:
31:
27:
19:
1150:Transnistria
969:
808:10141/622681
790:
786:
776:
764:. Retrieved
760:
751:
708:
704:
694:
674:
667:
647:
640:
620:
613:
604:
598:
586:. Retrieved
582:the original
577:
568:
549:
543:
531:. Retrieved
484:
478:
448:harbour seal
444:blue whiting
417:
415:on Iceland.
393:European eel
378:
327:
288:
269:
211:Iceland moss
196:
164:soil erosion
156:
153:Iceland moss
122:
99:
38:
36:
26:
1188:Isle of Man
1123:recognition
1097:Switzerland
1032:Netherlands
793:: 169–195.
766:15 December
389:Arctic char
385:brown trout
366:Arctic skua
303:house mouse
280:Polar bears
184:hairy birch
89:Hvalfjörður
1213:Categories
1067:San Marino
1027:Montenegro
1007:Luxembourg
987:Kazakhstan
890:Azerbaijan
588:4 November
574:"Wildlife"
559:0415127351
533:5 November
470:References
409:amphibians
374:passerines
370:great skua
324:Great skua
299:wood mouse
272:Arctic fox
256:See also:
224:Asteraceae
143:See also:
74:Background
1178:Gibraltar
1002:Lithuania
725:0737-4038
452:grey seal
428:sea perch
342:snowy owl
330:gyrfalcon
311:black rat
307:brown rat
284:Greenland
232:bryophyte
180:crowberry
176:bearberry
129:latitudes
125:subarctic
102:Highlands
79:Geography
1198:Svalbard
1183:Guernsey
1130:Abkhazia
1082:Slovenia
1077:Slovakia
1052:Portugal
910:Bulgaria
817:86008251
743:31513267
460:dolphins
450:and the
413:reptiles
368:and the
344:and the
309:and the
295:reindeer
276:Walruses
172:bilberry
1107:Ukraine
1057:Romania
1017:Moldova
975:Ireland
970:Iceland
965:Hungary
955:Germany
950:Georgia
940:Finland
935:Estonia
930:Denmark
915:Croatia
900:Belgium
895:Belarus
885:Austria
880:Armenia
875:Andorra
870:Albania
734:6878957
675:Iceland
621:Iceland
440:capelin
436:herring
424:haddock
203:lichens
168:heather
131:by the
113:Climate
43:Iceland
1193:Jersey
1135:Kosovo
1102:Turkey
1092:Sweden
1072:Serbia
1062:Russia
1047:Poland
1042:Norway
1022:Monaco
992:Latvia
960:Greece
945:France
920:Cyprus
815:
741:
731:
723:
682:
655:
628:
556:
491:
446:. The
432:plaice
358:waders
340:, the
338:merlin
336:, the
332:, the
305:, the
264:, and
215:lichen
207:sedges
199:mosses
192:willow
68:fjords
61:, and
53:. The
1168:Åland
1087:Spain
1012:Malta
982:Italy
813:S2CID
527:(PDF)
456:whale
362:gulls
354:geese
350:ducks
238:Fauna
188:rowan
160:sheep
63:funga
59:fauna
55:flora
768:2020
739:PMID
721:ISSN
680:ISBN
653:ISBN
626:ISBN
590:2018
554:ISBN
535:2018
489:ISBN
462:and
442:and
395:and
387:and
315:Bats
213:, a
205:and
190:and
37:The
803:hdl
795:doi
729:PMC
713:doi
420:cod
411:or
1215::
811:.
801:.
791:16
789:.
785:.
759:.
737:.
727:.
719:.
709:36
707:.
703:.
576:.
503:^
466:.
438:,
434:,
430:,
426:,
422:,
383:,
360:,
356:,
352:,
274:.
260:,
201:,
186:,
182:,
178:,
174:,
170:,
57:,
850:e
843:t
836:v
819:.
805::
797::
770:.
745:.
715::
688:.
661:.
634:.
592:.
562:.
537:.
497:.
20:)
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