Limes Norrlandicus - Where the Taiga Starts

Limes Norrlandicus is a Swedish botanic border between the southern, temperate climate zone and the northern Taiga zone. It is defined to closely follow the northern limit of the oak trees at about latitude 60° North.

Örnsköldsvik is a town on the Baltic coast some 350 kilometers north of the traditional "Limes Norrlandicus". The town is surrounded by large pine and spruce woods, but recently more and more oak plants are spreading naturally. The origins are the many gardens of the town, but the fact that oak breeds naturally at this northern latitude may indicate that the Taiga Border is moving north due to a milder climate. Ornskoldsvik is probably the northernmost town of Sweden where the oak is common.

The panorama shows my daughter swinging in the oak of our garden just outside Örnsköldsvik. She likes very much to collect acorns in the autumn and we take good care of the newborn oak plants we find in the surroundings of our oak. They make us believe we live at a not so northern and not so extremely cold location. This Saturday, when I captured the pano, the temperature was just above 0°C and we got a first feeling of an approaching spring.

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Europe / Sweden

Lat: 63° 15' 41.04" N
Long: 18° 46' 38.1" E

Elevation: 32m

→ maps.google.com [EXT]

Precision is: High. Pinpoints the exact spot.

Nikon D70, Nikkor 10.5mm/f=2.8 Fisheye, Tripod, Panosaurus head

Limes Norrlandicus är gränsen mellan den tempererade zonen och den norra barrskogszonen (taiga). Den följer i stort sett ekens nordgräns.

Örnsköldsvik ligger 35 mil norr om den traditionella norrlandsgränsen, men på senare tid har ek börjat sprida sig mer och mer i naturen. Ursprunget är naturligtvis stadens trädgårdar, men fenomenet kan indikera att barrskogsgränsen håller på att vandra norrut pga ett mildare klimat.

Panoramat visar min dotter gungande i en ek i vår trädgård strax utanför Övik. Hon gillar att plocka ekollon på hösten, och vi tar väl hand om de späda ekplantor vi hittar runt vår ek. De får oss att tro att vi kanske inte bor på en fullt så nordlig och karg plats.