GEO Seminar with Ole Reidar Vetaas

Speaker: Ole Reidar Vetaas (University of Bergen)
Topic: Restoring heathlands after clear-felling of Spruce plantations on two neighbouring islands in western Norway
Time: 16 February 12:15-13:00
Place: Room 744 or ZOOM

The ongoing loss of nature or nature crisis has elevated the focus on conservation, but also the need for restauration of nature and semi natural anthropogenic landscapes, such as coastal heathlands. This heathland landscape is declared threatened as part of the habitat EU-directive because it represents cultural heritage legacies throughout the coastal regions of Europe. It is possible to restore degraded and afforested heathlands, but restoration interventions are often labour-intensive and costly, and the outcome of specific restoration actions are not well documented. We assess the efficiency of restoring coastal heathlands through natural succession (i.e. “passive restoration”) after removal of spruce plantations. The study was replicated on two neighbouring islands in a Nature reserve in Western Norway, and low-intensity free-range sheep grazing was implemented as part of the reserve management plan. The heathland redeveloped nicely on one of the islands, whereas one the other it took a very different direction in the vegetational development (succession). Differences in land-use and soil conditions may explain the successional trajectories on the two islands.