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Mosses and lichens: climate-related change

Related goal

The environment will be managed in a way that maintains the diversity of habitats and landscape types and ensures that there are viable populations of naturally-occurring species: this will ensure that biological diversity can continue to evolve.

Are we moving in the right direction?

Norway is monitoring moss cover at sites in all parts of the country. At monitoring sites in birch forest, lichens on birch trunks are also registered.

Moss cover in large parts of Norway has increased, and climate change is the most likely cause. The composition of lichen communities on birches has also changed; species with a northerly distribution have declined, whereas more southerly species have expanded. The results for lichens are interpreted as meaning that northerly species are being displaced northwards. Similar results have been obtained in the Netherlands, it has been found that several subtropical (thermophilic) species have increased in quantity and become more widespread, while more northerly species are declining.

The results are from Norway’s terrestrial monitoring programme.

Published by Directorate for Nature Management, 31.08.2009, 15:16.

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Environmental Directorates in Norway
E-mail: miljostatus@klif.no