Iceland Photograph by Wesley Wettengel   Palaearctic Boreal Forests/Taiga   35,300 square miles (91,500 square kilometers) -- about the size of Indiana Relatively Stable/Intact

· Fire and Ice
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Fire and Ice

Iceland, known as the land of fire and ice because of its active volcanoes and notorious ice-sheets, lies northwest of Britain and Ireland in the cold North Atlantic Ocean. If you stand on the northernmost tip of Iceland, you will be inside the Arctic Circle. The Iceland Boreal Birch Forests and Alpine Tundra ecoregion encompasses most of the island, with the exception of the marine environment and permanent ice fields. This ecoregion is home to Iceland’s highest peak (Hvannadalshnúkur, at 6,952 feet [2119 m]) and largest ice cap (Vatnajökull, at 3,243 square miles [1,297 sq. km]).

Special Features

For several months in the summer, the sun briefly sets for a few hours, giving the country nearly 24 hours of sunlight. Conversely, in the winter, the sun shines for only a few hours, leaving Iceland in almost complete darkness throughout the day. These extreme conditions, coupled with the rocky volcanic soils, make life difficult for plants and animals living here. This ecoregion is only partly covered with tundra and forests; the rest of the land is a barren land of rock and snow. Vegetation covers less than one-fifth of Iceland's area and only about one percent is cultivated. Trees, mostly birch, grow in some places, along with some willows. The rest of the country consists of bare mountains, glaciers, and lava bed deserts. Vatnajökull (Lakes' Glacier) in the southeast is the largest ice field in Europe and Ódáðahraun (Lava of Ill Deeds), the largest lava bed on Earth, lies to the north. Rivers and waterfalls are also plentiful.

	The arctic fox is the only land mammal native to Iceland. Although polar bears are also found in this ecoregion, these large predators are often considered marine mammals and migrate as the ice sheets expand and contract throughout the year.

Wild Side

The shores of Iceland are a busy place during the bird-breeding season. The common loon (great northern diver) and two ducks--Barrow’s goldeneye and the harlequin--are likely to be seen here only while breeding. This is also one of the best and last remaining places to see whooper swans breeding. On the towering rocky cliffs, other sea birds such as common guillemots, thick-billed murres, razorbills, Atlantic puffins, black-legged kittiwakes, northern fulmars, and northern gannets nest high above the shores below. All counted, more than 240 species of birds are known to have visited Iceland at one time or another. During the bird-breeding season, arctic foxes have many choices for prey. Large raptors such as white-tailed eagles, merlins, snowy owls, and gyrfalcons, also survey the land for a potential meal. Meanwhile, out on the ice sheets, polar bears can be seen stalking seals.

Cause for Concern

Recreation and tourism, unsustainable resource exploitation, development, and disturbance of wildlife by human activities are important threats to this ecoregion.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.