Rit (Vísindafélag Íslendinga) - 01.08.1930, Síða 5

5
nemoralis, Deschampsia cæspitosa, D. flexuosa and Festuca
rubra were most abundant.
These vegetation- groups, which have already been men-
tioned, covered the forestless tracts of land, but now ITl turn
to the forest-vegetation itself, which, as aforementioned, was
the only forms of vegatation I found time to examine closely.
The Forest of Ásólfsstaðir.
This forest, as mentioned above, is in the valley through
which Hvammsá flows. The forest-land is not continuous, but
frequently dissected, both by fairly deep ravines, of which
several are forest-grown, and in places by landslips from the
mountain slopes. These are forestless, but have scanty clayep-
flat-vegetation. Besides this, there are fairly big clearances in
the forest, mostly covered with heather-vegetation.
The forest is mostly a low and stunted copsewood of
various density. In some places it is hard to break through,
but in others sparse and far between the branches. The
height is also uneven. Up in the mountain slopes the copse-
wood was frequently not more than ab. 1 metre in height,
but there were also places where it was 2 or 3 metres, and
I even measured several branches reaching over 4 metres.
On the whole, the copsewood was stunfed and showed traces
of heavy snow masses and grazing. The slopes are very arid.
Above the forest the Grimmia heath and the fell-fields begin
immediately; in some places the forest-turfs were left close
to denuded pafches, but this occurred with greater frequency
in the forest of Skriðufell. In the lowland the copsewood
was higher, mostly ab. 2 metres, and in oíher places even
more, in Vatnsás the forest is fairly high and erect.
As mentioned before, I used the circling method of Prof.
Raunkiær, cf. p. 2. I chose the circling-stations in copsewood
of medium density and in different altitudes, the lowest on
the Iowland beyond Hvammsá, but the others in the
mountain slope above Ásólfsstaðir, at the bottom of Skóggil
and at the top of Stórólfshlíð. Here follows a table showing
the resuits of the circlings.