Fróðskaparrit - 31.12.2000, Page 45

EITT YVIRLIT YVIR FØROYSK PLANTUSAMFELØG
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ing slopes. These areas are heavily grazed.
Plant species have found shelter in steep ar-
eas inaccessible to sheep where they are not
grazed.
The grass slopes occur both in heather-
moor and grass-moor. The alpine associa-
tion, Carex binervis - Luzula silvatica, has
a close affinity to heather-moor and also to
the steep cliff vegetation on grass slopes,
with Eriophorum angustifolium as the
dominant species, in addition to the two
mentioned above. This association is rich
in the common grass slope species and has
a ground carpet rich in mosses like Poly-
trichum commune and Rhytidiadelphus
loreus. For the true grassland association,
called Anthoxanthum - Agrostis capillaris,
Ostenfeld (1905-1908) described two fa-
cies, the Agrostis cappilaris facies and the
Anthoxanthum odoratum facies.
Hobbs and Averis (1991) also studied
Faroese lowland grass vegetation and
found that it was similar to the British Fes-
tuca - Agrostis - Galium association, the
Holcus - Trifolium (sub-association), and
the Anthoxantum odoratum - Geranium
sylvaticum association in hay meadow.
Hobbs and Averis (1991) divided the
grassland into two main types, one species-
poor type and one species-rich grassland.
They found the Faroese grassland variable
and difficult to classify. For the species-
poor grassland, they found similarities to
the British Festuca -Agrostis - Galium as-
sociation, Luzula - Rhydodiadelphus sub-
association. For the species-rich grassland,
they found that the following British asso-
ciations were similar to what they found in
the Faroe Islands: Festuca ovina — Agrostis
capillaris — Thymus praecox association
and the Festuca ovina - Alchemilla alpina
— Silene acaulis association. Hansen
(1967) also described the last two associa-
tions. In the Faroe Islands, Festuca vivipa-
ra is dominant instead of Festuca ovina,
which is not found in the Faroe Islands.
The difference between the British and the
Faroese associations is that the Faroese as-
sociations have more mosses, fewer vascu-
lar plants, and more oceanic species. Grass-
moor vegetation is found on humic, peaty
soil, which contains a moderate proportion
of water. The soil here varies between rel-
atively dry, saturated, and flooded. The
dominant species are Nardus stricta, Jun-
cus squarrosus, and Scirpus caespitosus.
Ostenfeld (1905-1908) and Hansen (1967)
described the Nardus - Scirpus - Juncus -
Hylocomium association with three facies,
described by Ostenfeld (1905-1908), Nar-
dus facie.v, Scirpus caespitosus facies, and
Juncus squarrosus facies. He also de-
scribed the Nardus-Racomitrium associa-
tion, which is a transition zone between the
grass-moor and the Racomitrium heath.
Hobbs and Averis (1991) found that the
Faroese vegetation was similar to the mon-
tane Nardus stricta - Carex bigelowii asso-
ciation, Nardus - Racomitrium sub-associ-
ation, except that the Faroese association
has more oceanic bryophytes like Mastigo-
phora woodsii, Campylopus atrovirens,
and Breutelia chrysocomae.
Mire Vegetation
With increasing moisture, the dominating
species change from Nardus stricta, Juncus
squarrosus, and Scirpus cespitosus to