page_title: Geography of Norway
section_title: Tundra
hierarchical_section_title: Geography of Norway / Flora / Tundra
caption_attribution_description: Muskox (Ovibos moschatus), picture taken on 30 August 2004 in Dovrefjell National Park, Norway
context_page_description: Norway is a country located in Northern Europe on the northern and western parts of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The majority of the country borders water, including the Skagerrak inlet to the south, the North Sea to the southwest, the North Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Barents Sea to the north. It has a land border with Sweden to the east and a shorter border with Finland and an even shorter border with Russia to the northeast.
  Norway has an elongated shape, one of the longest and most rugged coastlines in the world, and some 50,000 islands off its much indented coastline. It is one of the world's northernmost countries, and it is one of Europe's most mountainous countries, with large areas dominated by the Scandinavian Mountains. The country's average elevation is 460 metres, and 32 percent of the mainland is located above the tree line. Its country-length chain of peaks is geologically continuous with the mountains of Scotland, Ireland, and, after crossing under the Atlantic Ocean, the Appalachian Mountains of North America. Geologists hold that all these formed a single range prior to the breakup of the ancient supercontinent Pangaea.
context_section_description: Alpine tundra is common in Norway, covering a total of 32% of the land area (excluding Svalbard and Jan Mayen) and belonging to the Scandinavian Montane Birch forest and grasslands ecoregion (PA1110). The area closest to the tree line (low alpine) has continuous plant cover, with willow species such as Salix glauca, S. lanata, and S. lapponum (0.5 metres (1 ft 8 in) tall); blueberry, common juniper, and twinflower are also common. The low alpine area was traditionally used as summer pasture, and in part still is. This zone reaches an elevation of 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) in Jotunheimen, including most of Hardangervidda; 1,300 metres (4,300 ft) in eastern Trollheimen; and about 800 metres (2,600 ft) at Narvik and the Lyngen Alps. Higher up (mid-alpine tundra) the plants become smaller; mosses and lichens are more predominant; and plants still cover most of the ground, even if snowfields lasting into mid-summer and permafrost are common. At the highest elevations (high-alpine tundra) the ground is dominated by bare rock, snow, and glaciers, with few plants.
  The highest weather station in Norway—Fanaråken in Luster, at 2,062 metres (6,765 ft)—has barely three months of above freezing temperatures and a July average of 2.7 °C (36.9 °F). Still, glacier buttercup has been found only 100 metres (330 ft) below the summit of Galdhøpiggen, and mosses and lichens have been found at the summit.
  In northeastern Finnmark (northern half of the Varanger Peninsula and the Nordkinn Peninsula) is a small lowland tundra area which is often considered part of the Kola Peninsula tundra ecoregion (PA1106). Svalbard and Jan Mayen have tundra vegetation except for areas covered by glaciers; and some areas, such as the cliffs at southern Bear Island, are fertilized by seabird colonies. This tundra is often considered part of the Arctic Desert ecoregion (PA1101). The lushest areas on these Arctic islands are sheltered fjord areas at Spitsbergen; they have the highest summer temperatures and the very dry climate makes for little snow and thus comparatively early snowmelt. The short growing season and the permafrost underneath the active layer provide enough moisture. Plants include dwarf birch, cloudberry, Svalbard poppy, and harebell.
  A warmer climate would push the vegetation zones significantly northwards and to higher elevations.
caption: Muskox in the low alpine tundra at Dovrefjell
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