Wooden horns wrapped in coiled birch bark (Norwegian: lur) have a long history in Norway, dating back at least to the 7th century AD. By the Vikings, they were used for various signalling purposes, e.g. during battles. More recent uses are generally peaceful—to celebrate the opening of fairs, announce bishop visitations etc. In the 19th century, playing such instruments was as a popular past-time ...

Heracleum persicum was introduced to Norway as an ornamental in the 1830′s. Towards the end of the 19th century, it started spreading outside gardens, later to become a frequent sight in the major towns and settlements of North Norway – and a veritable pest plant. During the last 100 years or so, a substantial ethnobotanical tradition related to the species has evolved, demonstrating that folk ...

The impact of invasion on diversity varies widely and remains elusive. Despite the con- siderable attempts to understand mechanisms of biological invasion, it is largely un- known whether some communities’ characteristics promote biological invasion, or whether some inherent characteristics of invaders enable them to ...

Andøya on the NW coast of Norway is a key site for understanding the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) in northern Europe. Controversy has arisen concerning the local conditions, especially about the timing and extent of local glacial cover, maximum July temperatures and whether pine and/or spruce could have grown there. We reviewed all existing data and add newly analysed ancient sedimentary DNA ...

Background In their quest to understand and interpret nature, people have frequently sought religious or divine origins for plant species and their characteristics. Less often, historical events or persons are involved. This study comprises eleven cases of the latter kind, all claiming that plant species have been introduced by foreigners or at least from foreign lands. Methods Based on literature ...

Sparse, incomplete and inappropriate historical records of invasive species often hamper invasive species management interventions. Population genetic analyses of invaders might provide a suitable context for the identification of their source populations and possible introduction routes. Here, we describe the population genetics of Heracleum persicum Desf. ex Fisch and trace its route of introduction ...

The effects of climate change on species richness are debated but can be informed by the past. Here, we generated a sedimentary ancient DNA dataset covering 10 lakes and applied novel methods for data harmonization. We assessed the impact of Holocene climate changes and nutrients on terrestrial plant richness in northern Fennoscandia. We find that richness increased steeply during the rapidly warming ...

<i>Senecio pseudoarnica</i> was first reported from Norway in 2006, based on a surprise find at the outer-coast island of Sandøya in Tromsø, Troms. Originally interpreted as a case of long-distance dispersal from North America, it soon turned out that species had received human help in crossing the Atlantic. Seeds had been imported from Alaska to Balsfjord, Troms, by a garden enthusiast, who had ...