Plants

The vegetation in Svalbard is strongly reliant on nutrients transported from sea to land. This explains the marked contrast between the lush vegetation beneath bird cliffs and in the surrounding terrain. Apart from marine nutrients, bedrock chemistry, snow cover, and availability of moisture in the soil are the most important factors for the plants in Svalbard’s three bioclimatic zones.

In Svalbard, the mid-Arctic zone is characterised by arctic bell heather, and in drier spots, mountain avens. Moister areas support grasses and woodrushes and the distinctive white cottongrass. Stony banks where the vegetation is discontinuous typically support scattered individuals of mountain avens and clusters of purple and tufted saxifrage, moss campion, and Svalbard poppy. High-Arctic tundra is dominated by low-growing polar willow along with mosses and lichens. In the polar desert zone, vegetation is extremely sparse: mainly lichens, mosses, and Svalbard poppy.

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Photo: Gijsbert Breedveld.