TERRITORY INVERTED
A sabbatical is a time for quiet(er) contemplation, a period for taking stock, writing some papers, building new networks, developing some new directions. And some travel. So 20 years in the NT, a hot place and getting hotter (quickly), flat and getting flatter (slowly), old and getting older (slowly, depending on the speed of the observer). So how about something different? Has to be cold, mountainous and young?
At 25 million years old, Iceland is one of the youngest land masses on earth, it is cold (13 to -3 o C) and is mountainous. Perfect. It has had human occupation for some 1145 years, about 98% less time than North Australia. North Australia is 150 times older than Iceland. Iceland got a new bit in 1963, Surtsey Island (63.302153°, -20.603107°) courtesy of one of its 30 active volcanoes. Last volcanic activity in north Australia was a very very long time ago.
So this place should be a bit different, a Territory ‘inversion’ so off we went.
Iceland is thought to have been settled in the year 874, when Ingólfur Arnarso and his wife Hallveig Frodesdatter of Nordic descent turned up and founded the capital, Reykjavík having left Norway after a ‘blood feud’. They were followed by other settlers from the Nordic countries and by 930, up to 20, 000 people had settled. Some didn’t stay. Leiv Eiriksson c. 970 – c. 1020 was an Icelandic explorer who is likely to have been the first European to land in North America, arriving on the northern tip of Newfoundland in Canada. He landed in L’Anse aux Meadows around about 1000 AD. Native Americans eventually drove these ‘undersirable’ settlers away.
Figure 1. Leifur Eiríksson’s bold statue is located in front of the magnificent Hallgrímskirkja, the Lutheran Church of Iceland in Reykjavik. The church took 41 years to build and was finally completed in 1986.
The early Icelandic settlers were pagan and established the world’s oldest parliament, the ‘Althing’, founded in 930 at Þingvellir, the 'Parliament Plains', 45km from Reykjavík (Fig. 2). The Althing was a general assembly where the country’s leaders met to decide on legislation, deal with legal disputes and dispense justice. A parliamentary session was also a significant social event and farmers and families with traders, craftsmen, storytellers and travellers all gathered for the event.
Eventually the pagans were invaded and from 1286 to 1814, were ruled by Norway and then Denmark. Until the 20th century, the country relied largely on fishing and agriculture, more recently financial services (disastrous behaviour in the GFC) and tourism.
But where are all the trees?
Figure 2. On the way to the ‘Althing’ at Þingvellir, the "Parliament Plains" 45km from Reykjavík.
Iceland is ‘warmed’ by the Gulf Stream and is capable of supporting tree growth. There is fossil evidence of significant forest cover during the mid to late Tertiary (5-15 million years ago) with downy birch (Betula pubescens) and rowan (Sorbus aucuparia) common prior to human settlement (Eysteinsson, 2009). An agrarian society evolved following settlement in 874 and by 930, up to 20,000 people had settled and had extensively cleared and converted lowland birch forests to pasture (sheep, lots of sheep) with some cropping.
After this period, the only common trait Iceland shares with the NT became apparent – poor soils. Forest areas occurred in the lowlands between the inner and inhospitable Icelandic highlands and the ocean (Fig. 3). Extensive clearing and overgrazing resulted in desertification, sand encroachment and other soil erosion. While Iceland is close to carbon neutral (100% geothermal energy), it has plenty of other environment issues to deal with, principally ecosystem degradation as large areas have been desertified after over-exploitation. Soil erosion rates are magnified by volcanic activity and harsh weather conditions such as heavy rainfall and high winds that drive high rates of water and wind erosion.
Figure 3. Forest management, Viking-style. Downy birch (Betula pubescens) was a common species at the time of human settlement (pale green) forming extensive forests and woodlands across the lowlands (pale green). Current distribution is the dark green (look harder, squint). Less than 5% pre-settlement forest cover remains today, generating an ongoing environmental management problem 1000 years later.
The peak of the ecosystem destruction may have been reached in the late 19th century, caused by the interaction of increasing size of livestock population and climatic variability and a series of degrading sandstorms in the early 1880s. By the early 20th century, Iceland was among the poorest countries in the world with primary productivity suffering from losses due to land degradation (SCSI, http://land.is/about-soil-conservation-service-of-iceland/).
Iceland has one of the world’s oldest soil conservation agencies, founded in 1907, the Soil Conservation Service of Iceland (SCSI) who are empowered with tackling these soil derived problems. In addition, major tree re-planting programs are underway and Iceland has one of the highest tree plantings per capita in Europe. However, tree growth and thus forest recovery is slow given the climate, soils and the short growing season and after 100 years these problems persist.
Iceland is a remarkable place, a stunning, cold, beautiful, natural environment (Fig. 4). Yet it has been rapidly and radically disturbed following human arrival, with damage done within 200 years of settlement and 1000 years later, Icelanders still battle the consequences.
Figure 4. Iceland is a spectacular landscape but this beauty can mask some serious land degradation issues that Icelanders are confronting.
In North Australia we too have non-ideal conditions for dramatic land use change, with poor and highly erodible soils, seasonal and highly variable rainfall and a warming thermal regime. Andres Arnalds of Iceland’s SCSI suggests "Iceland is a doomsday scenario for the rest of the world" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4737743.stm); what more evidence do we need to ensure we are cautious custodians of our own precious natural resources.
Professor Lindsay Hutley is a plant physiologist with expertise in plant ecology, ecophysiology, ecohydrology, land-atmosphere exchange and soil science in the Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods.
