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The Mountain Regions of IJapplandBy OLOF RUNEIntroductionLINNJEUS AND W AHLENBERG.-lt is hardly astoni::;hingthat l LrNNJEUS who on his journeys wasa keen observer in almost every respect was thefirst to discern the conspicuous vegetational beltsof the high mountains in Lappland. These phytogeographicalobservations by LINNJEUS have earlierbeen much overlooked probably due to the fact thatthey were published not in the famous Iter Lapponicumbut in his Flora Lapponica (1737). It isthe merit of G. E. Du RIETZ (1942c) to havepointed out the early achievements of LINNJEUSregarding the phytogeography of Lappland. AlthoughLrnNJEUS gave only incomplete descriptionsof the vegetational belts, Du RIETZ (op. c.)was able to identify them according to presentnomenclature.A comprehensive description of the differentregions or vegetational belts in the Swedish mountainswas first given by G. W .A.HLENBERG, the famousphytogeographer and explorer of Lappland. Hisideas were first published in a "Report on measurementsand observations to determine the heightand temperatures of the Lappish mountains" (translated)in 1808 and further developed in FloraLapponica (1812) and Flora Svecica .(1824-26).Lappland below the timberline was divided intofour forest regions, from east to west: Lapponia(regio) sylvatica inferior and superior, regio subsylvaticaand regio subalpina. W .A.HLENBERG undoubtedlyconsidered these regions as altitudinalbelts characterized by the successive substitutionof warmth-demanding lowland plants with hardysubalpine or alpine species.Above the timberline W AHLENBERG discernedthree regions:(1) Regio alpina inferior or alpes inferiores up toActa Phytogeogr. Suec. 50the limit of grey willow shrubs (Salix glauca andlapponum) . This region is often called the willowregion or the willow belt, names still used by zoologists(cf. KIL.A.NDER in this volume).(2) Regio alpina superior or alpes superiores(alpium jugum, alpes nivales) reaching up to thesnow limit.(3) Alpium cacumina glacialia, i.e. areas above thesnow limit (Flora Svecica).The main features of the regional division carriedout by W .AH;LENBERG seem to be valid even to-day.Later phytogeographers have contributed to animprovement of the system by re-defining theregions or completing the originally vague descriptionsand delimitations.Woo:qED REGIONS OR BELTS.-In Flora SvecicaW .A.HLENBERG combined regio sylvatica inferiorand superior into a regio sylvatica or abietina. Betweenthis spruce forest region and the regio subalpinaor betulina W .A.HLENBERG still kept a regiosubsylvatica, characterized by a more or less mixedpine-birch forest. This pine region of W .A.HLENBERGhowever exists only in northern Lappland and itsdesignation as a particular region has often beencalled in question. Thus, in 1846b N. J. ANDERSSONin his "Conspectus vegetationis Lapponiae" includedregio subsylvatica in regio sylvatica.The coniferous forests of the mountain areadiffer from those of the central parts of NorthSweden, being largely mixed with birch. In themountain area the coniferous trees-whether pineor spruce-form open stands. In the spruce thetapering stems are often stunted or broken, whereasin the pine, the stems are short but stout. Todistinguish the coniferous mountain-forest from thedense spruce forests at lower altitudes HEINTZE