Page Sec1:24 - Labyrint 2013 - English Edition

Botanists have long debated as to wheth-
er or not certain plants were able to sur-
vive the last Ice Age in ­Scandinavia, and
so far it has been assumed that pine and
spruce were not among the survivors.
Now, new research shows that these spe-
cies may have existed in ­Norway as long
as 22,000 years ago.
“Our research reveals that it is very likely
that were trees in the northwest during
and immediately after the last Ice Age,”
says Ellen Elverland, a PhD candidate
at the Tromsø Museum - University
Museum, and one of many researchers
who participated in the study.
“We’re definitely not talking about a
forest here, but small stunted individuals
that managed to survive unfavourable
climatic periods. It’s possible that trees
migrated to Scandinavia much earlier
than we thought was possible,” she says.
Better able to tolerate climate
change
An understanding of the trees’ ability to
disperse and their adaptability to climate
is important to explain both the distri-
bution of the individual species, and to
help in predicting how ecosystems will
respond to climate change.
“This is very relevant in light of current
climate change, and will help us under-
stand how can we adapt to global warm-
ing in terms of exploitation of natural
resources and conservation of biological
diversity,” says Elverland.
“If some individuals of these trees were
able to survived the Ice Age in the north,
that means that we have underestimated
the ability of these species to survive at a
minimal level and their rate of disper-
sal,” she adds.
Elverland points out that the discovery
can have a significant economic impact
on forestry, for example.
“The unique genetic resources that have
been identified in spruce are important
Spruce and pine were able to survive the last
Ice Age in Norway, and thus have a much longer
history here than was previously thought,
according to a new study published in Science
magazine. These conifers are much hardier than
researchers believed, and will be able to tolerate
climate change more than previous research
suggested.
24 ••• Labyrint E/13 – University of Tromsø
Map over the area on Andøya where the sediment samples were collected. Samples were taken from Endlevatn lake. ©
Ellen Elverland and Tove Midtun, The University of Tromsø
Spruce and pine survived here: Researchers found DNA traces of spruce and pine from the last glacial period in Endletvatn, in
Andøya (in the background). Photo: Torbjørn Alm, UiT