Recently, I have been reading more and more articles saying that Alaskan lupines (Lupinus nootkatensis) are hindering the growth of trees in Iceland. Unfortunately, however, I could not find any valid reasons why this is so? The story goes that in 1945, the then director of the forest service brought two spoonfuls of seeds from Alaska to amfortify the nutrient-poor Icelandic soil, stop erosion in Iceland and prevent sandstorms. After all I know, lupines draw nitrogen from the air and store it in the soil. So why is that not good for native tree species, such as birch or larch?
Icelander here. I think lupines are great! Large parts of my country have been eroded by wind so there’s no topsoil, just sand. We need hardy plants like lupines to start growing, bind the topsoil and make the area habitable for other plants, and eventually trees.
Some people are very much against lupine because it’s an invasive species and often grows where it isn’t supposed to. But I think building that top soil is a necessary start and lupines are some of the most effective plants at doing that.
Large swathes of the southeast coast have been transformed from a desert to beautiful lupine fields in just the last few years. And now I see trees popping up in places where there were none only a few years ago. It makes me hopeful for the future of Iceland.
Thank you very much for your insights as an islander. 🙏🏼 Very interesting! Do you know what kind of trees there are growing now? And were you able to observe a natural decline of lupines, provided that in one place the soil was supplied with enough nitrogen at some point, so that other plants could repress the lupines?
The government is currently funding a huge reforestation project around the country. The goal is to plant only native species such as birch, larch, poplar and different species of pine trees. You can find more information about the project at skogur.is.