Diversity and distribution of landscape types in Norway

Abstract

Norwegian landscapes are changing at an increasingly rapid rate, and systematically structured information about observable landscape variation is required for knowledge-based management of landscape diversity. Here we present the first version of a complete, area-covering, evidence-based landscape-type map of Norway, simultaneously addressing geo-ecological, bio-ecological and land-use related variation at the landscape level. We do so by applying map algebra operations on publicly available geographical data sets with full areal coverage for Norway. The type system used in the mapping is supported by systematically structured empirical evidence. We present the results of the mapping procedure, including the geographical distribution and descriptive statistics (abundance and areal coverage) for each of the identified landscape types. We identify nine major landscape types based on coarse-scale landform variation and, within the six inland and coastal major types, 284 minor landscape types are defined based on the composition of geo-ecological, bio-ecological, and land use-related landscape properties. The results provide new insights into the geography of Norwegian marine, coastal and inland landscapes. We discuss potential errors, uncertainties and limitations of the landscape-type maps, and address the potential value of this new tool for research, management and planning purposes.