Swedish Scandes Research Articles

Mt. Åreskutan Nunatak: An Arboreal “Roadmap” to the Paleobiogeograpy of the Swedish Scandes and a Possible Pointer Towards a Future Revival of a Richer and More Biodiverse Mountainscape

Mt. Åreskutan Nunatak: An Arboreal “Roadmap” to the Paleobiogeograpy of the Swedish Scandes and a Possible Pointer Towards a Future Revival of a Richer and More Biodiverse Mountainscape

Subalpine ”pinification”: Early signs of a pending and distinct biogeographic shift in the Swedish Scandes: Review and updates

This study focuses, by in situ records and long-term observations, on recent (post-Litte Ice Age), arboreal change in a mountain birch dominated (Betula pubescens ssp. czerepanovii) valley in the Swedish Scandes. During the early Holocene thermal optimum and up to the onset of the mid-Holocene Neoglaciation, Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) dominated the tree cover of this valley and formed the treeline ecotone adjacent to the early alpine tundra. Subsequently, and consistent with progressive cooling until the late 19th century, prevailing pine stands demised and opened for landscape-level expansion of birch and spruce (Picea abies). A short and distinct break in that process took place by the Medieval Climate warming phase, about 1000-800 years before present. Subsequently, during pre-industrial time, temperatures reached their lowest levels of the entire post-glacial period. This was the so-called Little Ice Age, which ended the long-term Holocene cooling. That cold-climate epoque was broken by the late-19th and early 20th century. Thereafter and up to the present-day, temperatures in the study region (summer and winter) have increased by slightly less than 2 °C. As a consequence, treelines of all species have advanced by a maximum of more than 200 altitudinal meters. Pine displays the most persistent expansion, particularly over the past few decades. “Falangist” occurrences appear in the pure birch forest, tens of kilometers and hundreds of meters, respectively, beyond and above the outposts by the early 20th century. Occasionally, scattered young pine trees now grow close to the birch forest limit and somewhat above. In particular, at sites where pine stands demised during the Little Ice Age, c. AD. 1300-1850, prolific regeneration and insignificant winter mortality are recorded over the past 15 years. In comparison, birch and spruce provide no analogous signs of recent expansion. It may be hypothesized that unabated climate warming and corresponding arboreal progression will profoundly transform the plant cover of this valley, and others alike, into the same pine-dominated state that prevailed during the early Holocene. In other words, a new biogeographic zonation pattern may be on the rise, with pine back as the dominant subalpine species. This option is focused by continued monitoring.

Herbivore–shrub interactions influence ecosystem respiration and biogenic volatile organic compound composition in the subarctic

Abstract. Arctic ecosystems are warming nearly 4 times faster than the global average, which is resulting in plant community shifts and subsequent changes in biogeochemical processes such as gaseous fluxes. Additionally, herbivores shape plant communities and thereby may alter the magnitude and composition of ecosystem respiration and biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) emissions. Here we determine the effect of large mammalian herbivores on ecosystem respiration and BVOC emissions in two southern and two northern sites in Swedish Scandes, encompassing mountain birch (LOMB) and shrub heath (LORI) communities in the south and low-herb meadow (RIGA) and shrub heath (RIRI) communities in the north. Herbivory significantly altered BVOC composition between sites and decreased ecosystem respiration at RIGA. The difference in graminoid cover was found to have a large effect on ecosystem respiration between sites as RIGA, with the highest cover, had 35 % higher emissions than the next highest-emitting site (LOMB). Additionally, LOMB had the highest emissions of terpenes, with the northern sites having significantly lower emissions. Differences between sites were primarily due to differences in exclosure effects and soil temperature and the prevalence of different shrub growth forms. Our results suggest that herbivory has a significant effect on trace gas fluxes in a productive meadow community and that differences between communities may be driven by differences in shrub composition.

Recent and Past Arboreal Change: Observational and Retrospective Studies Within a Subalpine, Birch-Dominated (Betula Pubescens Ssp. Czerepanovii) Mountain Valley in the Southern Swedish Scandes-Responses to Climate Change and Land Use

Multi-scale observations and reconstructions of treeline and associated plant cover changes are reviewed in this study. The main focus is on the dynamics of the treeline ecotone within a mountain valley in the southern Swedish Scandes. This area is well-researched for more than 100 years, with a background of historical studies covering the entire Holocene epoch. Trees were present on ice-free nunataks already during the Late-Glacial, 17 000-13 000 cal. a BP. Mountain birch (Betula pubescens ssp. czerepanovii), Norway spruce (Picea abies) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) then grew 400-700 m higher than their current treelines, indicative of summer temperatures 3 °C higher than present. In addition, the tree flora contained Siberian larch (Larix sibirica) and broad-leaf thermophilic and deciduous species, Quercus robur, Corylus avellana, Ulmus glabra and Alnus glutinosa. Eventually, the climate turned cooler, particularly enhanced around 5000 cal. a BP. This course of change initiated the Neoglacial period, when thermophilic species were extirpated. Concomitantly, mountain birch forest and spruce benefitted from this course of change. Pine, on the other hand was disfavored and regressed in the treeline elevation and general abundance on the landscape. These trends continued until the Mediaeval period AD 1000-1300, when temperature raised above present-day standards and the pine treeline locally shifted upslope by at least 100 m. This favourable epoch was discontinued quite abruptly by resurgence of Neoglacial cooling; the “Little Ice Age”, which prevailed until the late 19th century. Widespread glacier expansion, high-elevation arboreal decline and treeline retraction then occurred. With a gentle onset in the late 19th century or somewhat earlier, a modern and still prevailing warming period was accentuated by the late 1930s. Subsequently, slight cooling prevailed for 3-4 decades, whereupon warming was resumed with short interruptions until the present day. One distinct short-term cooling-conditioned setback occurred during the 1980s. Transient permafrost formed close to the treeline, and locally some treeline recession took place. Thereafter, warming has re-occurred and glaciers and permafrost have receded. Treeline rise and densification of the treeline ecotone are once again active processes in the mountainscape. Currently, most conspicuous is a process of pine reclamation of local ground lost during the Little Ice Age. Hereabouts, seed regeneration, still virtually without winter injuries, is taking place at an unprecedented rate and abundance. Mountain birch is gaining ground in snow rich depressions in the birch belt and is currently regressing in exposed and snow-poor sections of the local topography. Current biotic changes within the treeline ecotone are well within the ranges of inferred natural variabilty during the postglacial period.

Early Holocene presence of Norway spruce (Picea abies) on a high mountain nunatak in the Swedish Scandes: A further contribution to the biotic composition of the first deglaciated landscape and a link between past and present

A megafossil wood remnant of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) was retrieved from a high-elevation nunatak in the southern Swedish Scandes. The site was nearly 600 m higher than the present-day treeline. These circumstances comply with analogous earlier recoveries, indicating presence of spruce at high elevations in the Scandes, several thousands of years prior to inferences made by pollen analysis. Radiocarbon-dating yielded a median age of 9300 cal a BP. This result adds firm detail and adheres to ongoing reappraisal of the structure and biodiversity of the late-glacial and early Holocene mountain landscape, in the light of growing megafossil and molecular genetic evidence.

Treeline Ecotone Progression and Stability: Time Series Analysis of Individual Photographic Data 1973-2021 in the Swedish Scandes

Positional and population change of the alpine treeline ecotone were studied at a site (isolated low-fell) in the Swedish Scandes. Methods included early-20th century records and subsequent re-visitations, including repeat photography, up to 2021. Substantial temperature rise (summer and winter) during the past 100 years, has left the elevational forest border virtually unchanged. However, the treelines, i.e. scattered solitary trees >2 m tall, of mountain birch (Betula pubescens ssp. czerepanovii) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) have risen by maximum 70 and 65 m, respectively since the early 20th century, in contrast to inertia of Norway spruce (Picea abies). Hitherto, pine appears as the most successful species, particularly in the light of the relatively large numbers of new trees established around the elevated treeline and the proliferous regeneration in the treeline ecotone during the past few decades. Presumably, a subalpine pine belt may eventually replace the sparse birch belt in the snow-poor SE-facing slope, in accordance with regional tendencies. Climate warming has reduced the snow cover duration on the NE-facing slope, to the benefit of mountain birch. Possibly, closed birch stands will evolve here. The study mountain displays a spectrum of different local habitat types, with contrasting quantitative and qualitative responses to climate change, representative of prevailing regional treeline ecotone dynamics. Important and complex constraints to projections of treeline growth and rise, in response to alleged future climate warming, include geomorphology, herbivory and snow pack.

Praealpine Spruce (Picea Abies) Forest Dynamics During the Current Post-Little Ice Age Climate Era: A Case in the Swedish Scandes

This study focuses on structural change of a praealpine stand of Norway spruce (Picea abies), in a context of centennial climate warming, in the Swedish Scandes. Progressive stand building followed on the discontinuation of the Little Ice Age by the late 19th century. A distinct hiatus of this process occurred during the 1980s, as a consequence of exceptionally cold winters with a sparse snow cover, particularly 1886/87. Extensive defoliation, caused by frost desiccation and fine root mortality, followed and culminated 1994 and 1995. Subsequently, climate warming resumed and stand foliation increased steadily up to the present day, when the forest appears equally healthy as prior to the 1980s. Hereby, recent spruce stand evolution adds to current progressive climate-mediated restructuring of upper montane forests.

Recent spruce (Picea abies) treeline ecotonal progression since the late1980s in the Swedish Scandes-a repeat photographic narration and analysis

This study reports a case of climate-mediated transformation and physiognomic progression of the Norway spruce (Picea abies) treeline ecotone since the mid-1990s in the Swedish Scandes. The methods include repeat photography and foliation estimates of old-established clonal spruces. An air and soil temperature nadir by the 1980s had caused extensive needle and shoot mortality, evident at the landscape-scale. Subsequent winter and summer temperature rises induced a striking canopy recovery, including densification and vertical growth. Release from low soil temperature stress appears as instrumental for canopy progression and shift from stunted growth to erect tree forms. Seed-based regeneration of new individuals has been virtually nil and the ecotone appears to be spatially stable. Ongoing ecotonal shifts has the character of growth form transformations in accordance with climatic conjunctures.

Soil temperatures at the birch treeline (Betula pubsescens ssp. czerepanovii) - a 21-year record in the Swedish Scandes and a contribution to general treeline theory

This study addresses the issue of climate control of the elevational treeline, foremost the role of soil temperatures. During the period 1999 to 2020, soil temperatures were recorded over the year at a depth of 10 cm in a sparse stand (Betula pubescens ssp. czerepanovii) within the upper treeline ecotone of the Swedish Scandes. Over the years 2010 to 2020, the birch stand was repeatedly photographed. This endeavor, in combination with measurements of the tree heights provided an apprehension of individual responses to recent climate variability. This view was taken a step further by analyzing tree-ring patterns more than 100 years back in time. A main result was that the obtained growing season soil temperature of 7.1±0.7 degrees Celsius (°C) is well in accordance with earlier estimates of a global minimum threshold for tree growth at the treeline. Soil temperature was 2.7 °C lower than ambient air temperature. The tree-ring chronology displayed steadily increasing growth between 1880 and the late 1930s. It may be inferred that up to the latter date, the concerned birches were climatically suppressed specimens, entirely snow-covered during the winter. Thereafter, growth progression towards tree-size was initiated from the early 1940s and onwards, in response to climate warming. This process appears to be still in progress as temperatures remain fairly high.

One Hundred Years Later and in a Warmer Climate – A Case of Ecotonal Treeline Change in the Swedish Scandes

This paper accounts for a case of substantial transformation of the treeline ecotone (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) in the Swedish Scandes. Duringthe past 100 years, coinciding with summer warming by 1. ...

Shrinking glaciers and ice patches disclose megafossil trees and provide a vision of the Late-glacial and Early post-glacial subalpine/alpine landscape in the Swedish Scandes – review and perspective

Shrinking glaciers and ice patches disclose megafossil trees and provide a vision of the Late-glacial and Early post-glacial subalpine/alpine landscape in the Swedish Scandes – review and perspective Leif Kullman, Lisa Öberg Abstract Extensive glacier recession has prevailed for almost 100 years in the Scandes and other parts of the world. At the lower fringe and forefields of shrinking alpine glaciers and ice patches, a plethora of ancient tree remnants is recovered. This is presumably the first time of exposure since burialby ice thousands of years ago. These remains represent prior stands of virtually all boreal tree species, currently growing in northern Scandinavia. As a consequence, a previously unexpected and patchily treed high-mountain landscape emerges, in some cases 600-700 m higher than present-day treelines. This difference in treeline positions between then and now (corrected for land uplift) indicates that summer temperatures have declined by about 3 °C since the early Holocenetreeline maximum. Radiocarbon-dating reveals that the age of the tree remnants ranges between c. 16 800 and 2000 cal. yr BP. Initially,the high-mountainpeaks stood out asnunataks in a surrounding for long glaciated landscape at lower elevations. As the ice sheet gradually shrinked, glacier cirques and hollows became filled with tree groves, in a matrix of alpine tundra. In addition to Betulapubescens ssp. czerepanovii, Piceaabies and Pinussylvestris, these high-elevation enclaves contained tree species, previously unknown to such high positions and so early. These are Piceaabies and a species currently considered as exotic to Scandinavia, namely Larixsibirica. In response to gradual climate cooling since the middle Holocene, the tree stands declined and dead trees were eventually entombed by glacier ice, which is currently disintegrating. Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/jns.v8n2a1

A One Hundred -Year Study of the Upper Limit of Tree Growth (Terminus Arboreus) in the Swedish Scandes– Updated and Illustrated Change in an Historical Perspective

A One Hundred -Year Study of the Upper Limit of Tree Growth (Terminus Arboreus) in the Swedish Scandes– Updated and Illustrated Change in an Historical Perspective

A Review and Analysis of Factual Change on the Max Rise of the Swedish Scandes Treeline, in Relation to Climate Change over the Past 100 Years

A Review and Analysis of Factual Change on the Max Rise of the Swedish Scandes Treeline, in Relation to Climate Change over the Past 100 Years

Pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) Penetration towards the Head of the Handolan Valley: Recent Reversal of Long- Term Retrogressional Trend-Contrasting Responses to Climate Change of Tree-and Forest Line

Pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) Penetration towards the Head of the Handolan Valley: Recent Reversal of Long- Term Retrogressional Trend-Contrasting Responses to Climate Change of Tree-and Forest Line With a climate-change perspective, this study focuses on the recent history and performance of the much separated pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) tree and forest lines in a mountain valley in the southern Swedish Scandes. Historical records define quite accurately these “lines” by the early 20th century and mid-1970s. Their subsequent dynamic performances have been surveyed up to the present day. Both lines are currently positioned within the subalpine mountain birch forest belt (Betula pubescens ssp. czerepanovii). Consequently, their past, present and future changes rely on the evolution of the birch forest matrix. Between the early 20th century and the mid- 1970s, the position of the pine forest- and tree lines remained fairly stable.

Higher-than-present Medieval pine (Pinus sylvestris) treeline along the Swedish Scandes

The upper treeline of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) is renowned as a sensitive indicator of climate change and variability. By use of megafossil tree remains, preserved exposed on the ground surface, treeline shift over the past millennium was investigated at multiple sites along the Scandes in northern Sweden. Difference in thermal level between the present and the Medieval period, about AD 1000-1200, is a central, although controversial, aspect concerning the detection and attribution of anthropogenic climate warming. Radiocarbon-dated megafossil pines revealed that the treeline was consistently positioned as much as 115 m higher during the Medieval period than today (AD 2000-2010), after a century of warming and substantial treeline upshift. Drawing on the last-mentioned figure, and a lapse rate of 0.6oC/100 m, it may be inferred that Medieval summer temperatures were about 0.7 oC warmer than much of the past 100 years. Extensive pine mortality and treeline descent after the Medieval warming peak reflect substantially depressed temperatures during the Little Ice Age. Warmer-than-present conditions during the Medieval period concur with temperature reconstructions from different parts of northern Fennoscandia, northwestern Russia and Greenland. Modern warming has not been sufficient to restore Medieval treelines. Against this background, there is little reason to view further modest warming as unnatural.

Arctic–alpine blockfields in the northern Swedish Scandes: late Quaternary – not Neogene

Abstract. Autochthonous blockfield mantles may indicate alpine surfaces that have not been glacially eroded. These surfaces may therefore serve as markers against which to determine Quaternary erosion volumes in adjacent glacially eroded sectors. To explore these potential utilities, chemical weathering features, erosion rates, and regolith residence durations of mountain blockfields are investigated in the northern Swedish Scandes. This is done, firstly, by assessing the intensity of regolith chemical weathering along altitudinal transects descending from three blockfield-mantled summits. Clay / silt ratios, secondary mineral assemblages, and imaging of chemical etching of primary mineral grains in fine matrix are each used for this purpose. Secondly, erosion rates and regolith residence durations of two of the summits are inferred from concentrations of in situ-produced cosmogenic 10Be and 26Al in quartz at the blockfield surfaces. An interpretative model is adopted that includes temporal variations in nuclide production rates through surface burial by glacial ice and glacial isostasy-induced elevation changes of the blockfield surfaces. Together, our data indicate that these blockfields are not derived from remnants of intensely weathered Neogene weathering profiles, as is commonly considered. Evidence for this interpretation includes minor chemical weathering in each of the three examined blockfields, despite consistent variability according to slope position. In addition, average erosion rates of ~16.2 and ~6.7 mm ka−1, calculated for the two blockfield-mantled summits, are low but of sufficient magnitude to remove present blockfield mantles, of up to a few metres in thickness, within a late Quaternary time frame. Hence, blockfield mantles appear to be replenished by regolith formation through, primarily physical, weathering processes that have operated during the Quaternary. The persistence of autochthonous blockfields over multiple glacial–interglacial cycles confirms their importance as key markers of surfaces that were not glacially eroded through, at least, the late Quaternary. However, presently blockfield-mantled surfaces may potentially be subjected to large spatial variations in erosion rates, and their Neogene regolith mantles may have been comprehensively eroded during the late Pliocene and early Pleistocene. Their role as markers by which to estimate glacial erosion volumes in surrounding landscape elements therefore remains uncertain.

Treeline (Pinus sylvestris) landscape evolution in the Swedish Scandes – a 40-year demographic effort viewed in a broader temporal context

The article reports the outcome of long-term demographic monitoring of elevational treeline ecotonal stands of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) in the southern Swedish Scandes. Annual censuses were undertaken of recruitment, mortality, growth, seed viability, and causes of mortality during the period 1973–2012 in a set of 18 permanent plots. A net gain in total population size occurred over the study period as the result of periodic fluctuations in recruitment and mortality, broadly congruent with annual variations in summer and winter temperatures. Summer temperatures affected seed viability, establishment, and height growth. Winter temperatures exerted an impact foremost by changing the incidence of winter desiccation injury. As a result of infilling, pine has become a more prominent and vital component of the landscape around the forest limit, which has advanced insignificantly into the bordering mountain birch forest. The results highlight a rigid climate-forest disequilibrium and falsify models suggesting extensive and swift expansion of the treeline ecotone and closed forest at the expense of alpine tundra in response to anticipated future warming during the present century. The balance of evidence suggests that patchy forest expansion is likely to occur at a very slow (plurisecular) pace, given that climate warming prevails.

贡嘎山雅家埂峨眉冷杉林线种群的时空动态

通过对贡嘎山雅家埂峨眉冷杉种群林线附近6个3000 m²样地(阴阳坡各3个)中峨眉冷杉(<em>Abies fabri Craib</em>)种群的定位调查,分析了过去100a间该区峨眉冷杉种群的时间-空间动态。结果表明:1)雅家埂林线附近峨眉冷杉种群密度在过去100 a(主要是近50 a)有显著的升高,但树线的海拔位置并无明显的爬升;2)阴阳坡林线格局存在显著的坡向分异:阴坡林线和树线的海拔高度显著高于阳坡(分别比阳坡高152.5 m和135.8 m),阳坡林线附近峨眉冷杉早期的生长速率在大于阴坡,但后期的生长速率却低于阴坡;3)热量(温度)控制假说不能完全解释雅家埂目前的树线格局,除气候因素之外,其它因素也限制了雅家梗地区树线位置的变化。;The high-altitude limit of forests, commonly referred to as the treeline, timberline, or forest line, represents one of the most obvious vegetation boundaries. In most cases, however, the transition from the uppermost closed montane forest to the treeless alpine vegetation is not a line, but an ecotone characterized by stand fragmentation and stuntedness. Owing to its high altitude and complex ecological dynamics, the alpine treeline ecotone is very sensitive to climate changes. This ecotone has accordingly been extensively studied, and a growing body of evidence has already revealed that treelines are moving upslope in the Swedish Scandes, North America, and Eurasia. Although there is some photographic evidence of a rapid treeline advance in the Hengduan Mountains on the southeastern Tibetan Plateau, its dynamics have not been studied in detail. To model how alpine forests will adapt under the predicted temperature increase, a thorough understanding of alpine treeline dynamics is essential. In this study, we chose Gongga Mountain (29°20'-30°20'N, 101°30'-102°15'E, 7556 m asl), a typical mountain in the Hengduan Mountains, southwest China, as our study area. Six rectangular plots (each 3000 m², 30 m × 100 m) were established within the natural alpine treeline ecotone on shady and sunny slopes of the Yajiageng area, on the eastern slope of Gongga Mountain. On the basis of a detailed study of the age and distribution of treeline trees (<em>Abies fabri</em>) in the alpine treeline ecotone, the spatial-temporal dynamics of the <em>A. fabri</em> population were analyzed over a 50-year period. The results suggested that the six study plots showed a similar pattern of regeneration dynamics, characterized by a gradually increased recruitment in the last 100 years and an abrupt increase in the last 50 years. However, the position of the treeline has moved only slightly and insignificantly upslope, despite the apparent warming on the east slope of Gongga Mountain. Moreover, we found that there were some differences in the spatial-temporal dynamics of the <em>A. fabri </em>population between the sunny and shady slope. The altitude of the timberline and treeline on the shady slope was (3770.4±6.6) m and (3771±7.7) m, respectively, whereas that on the sunny slope was (3617.9±10.0) m and (3635.7±7.8) m. The altitude of the timberline and treeline on the shady slope was significantly higher than that on sunny slope (152.5 m and 135.8 m for timberline and treeline, respectively). In addition, we also discovered that the growth rate of <em>A. fabri</em> on the shady slope was higher than that on the sunny slope during the early stage of tree growth (tree age below 110 years), but lower during the later stage of growth. Our results showed that the thermal limitation hypothesis alone could not explain the present treeline pattern in the Yajiageng area. In addition to temperature, other environmental factors might also affect the formation of the treeline in Yajiageng. Hence, in the case of non-climatic climax treelines, such as those in our study area, both climate-driven model projections of future treeline positions and the use of the treeline position for bioclimatic monitoring should be used with caution.

Recent cooling and dynamic responses of alpine summit floras in the southern Swedish Scandes

Changes in plant species richness on alpine summits in the southern Swedish Scandes were analyzed between 2004/2006 and 2012. This period experienced consistent summer and winter cooling and finalized with a cold and snow rich summer 2012. Re‐surveys of these summits had previously documented substantial increases in species numbers in concordance with climate warming since the mid‐20th century. Over the present study period, species richness decreased by 25–46%. The majority of lost species were those that had advanced upslope during the previous warm episode. Cooling since the mid 2000s and particularly the unusually short and snow‐rich growth period in 2012 caused a floristic retrogression. Taken together with extensive upshifts of many species during previous relative warm decades, recent downshifts highlight the large capability of certain alpine species to track their ecological niches as climate changes. The pivotal importance of unusually late‐lying snow in 2012, suggests that snow cover phenology exerts a more direct effect on the composition of the alpine flora than ambient temperatures. Dynamic modeling of future ecological landscape evolution needs to consider episodes of the kind reported here.

New evidence of solar variation in temperature proxies from Northern Fennoscandia

A new summer temperature proxy was built for northern Fennoscandia in AD 1000–2004 using parameters of tree growth from a large region, extending from the Swedish Scandes to the Kola Peninsula. It was found that century-scale (55–140year) cyclicity is present in this series during the entire time interval. This periodicity is highly significant and has a bi-modal structure, i.e. it consists of two oscillation modes, 55–100year and 100–140year variations. A comparison of the century-long variation in the northern Fennoscandian temperature proxy with the corresponding variations in Wolf numbers and concentration of cosmogenic 10Be in glacial ice shows that a probable cause of this periodicity is the modulation of regional climate by the secular solar cycle of Gleissberg. This is in line with the results obtained previously for a more limited part of the region (Finnish Lapland: 68–70°N, 20–30°E). Thus the reality of a link between long-term changes in solar activity and climate in Fennoscandia has been confirmed. Possible mechanisms of solar influence on the lower troposphere are discussed.