European grasslands overview: Nordic region

Abstract

The Nordic countries stretch over a large geographic area and, hence, conditions for plant growth vary considerably across the region. The western regions along the North Atlantic Ocean enjoy a mild maritime climate whereas continental climate prevails in the eastern part. Temperature variations have implications for the length of the growing season and Accumulated Day Degrees, thus influencing the timing and number of harvests in different areas across the region. Grasslands in the Nordic region are a diverse group and their relative importance differs greatly across countries. Thus, natural grasslands are extensive in Iceland and play an important role for livestock production, whereas they are much less significant in the other countries. Semi-natural grasslands are used for grazing but they are also important for maintaining biodiversity and landscape types. Forage for winter fodder and dairy in summer is obtained from cultivated grasslands of which short-term leys dominate in the southern regions. Milk and beef is the dominant produce, particularly in Denmark, whereas lamb and horse meat is a significant part of the production in Iceland. The expected climate change at northern latitudes will result in a longer growing season and higher temperatures during the growing season, both of which may lead to increased biomass production potential. However, new types of stresses may offset the potential gain. This will have various implications for adapting forage cultivars to the changing conditions both through breeding and different management schemes.

Keywords

agricultural production; climate; forage mixtures; local adaptation; soil

Published in

Grassland Science in Europe
2014, volume: 19, pages: 15-28
Title: EGF at 50: The Future of European Grasslands. Proceedings of the 25th General Meeting of the European Grassland Federation Aberystwyth, Wales 7-11 September 2014
Publisher: Organising Committee of the 25th General Meeting of the European Grassland Federation, IBERS

Conference

EGF at 50: The Future of European Grasslands

SLU Authors

• Frankow-Lindberg, Bodil

  • Department of Crop Production Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Agricultural Science

Publication identifier

• ISBN: 978-0-9926940-1-2

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/64423