Habitat types

The Natural Science Institute of Iceland defines and classifies habitat types in Iceland, in accordance with international procedure for habitat types classification. Classifying natural habitat types is a necessary foundation for wise land-use planning, environmental conservation, and sustainable use of natural resources.

The habitat types map shows the distribution of 105 terrestrial, freshwater, and coastal habitat types in Iceland. Mapping of habitat types relies mainly on remote sensing, using satellite images from RapidEye, SPOT, and LANDSAT, in addition to aerial photography. Fieldwork was organised and carried out by employees of the IINH and its partners in 1999–2016, representing a major part of the mapping process. Existing geospatial data was also used for the project, including vegetation maps, digital elevation models (DEMs), hydrography data, precipitation data, and data on the extent of lava fields, forests, and cultivated land. The accuracy of the map corresponds to a scale of 1:25,000.

For more detailed breakdown of how natural habitat types in Iceland are defined and classified, see Vistgerðir á Íslandi (Fjölrit Náttúrufræðistofnunar No. 54, in Icelandic with English summary, PDF format) and fact sheets on individual habitat types on this website.

The Institute gladly accepts feedback and comments on its habitat types maps. Please contact us by email at natt@natt.is.