Agricultural Landscape of Southern Öland, Sweden
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ToRo61
N 56° 23.000 E 016° 26.000
33V E 588503 N 6249666
The southern part of the island of Öland in the Baltic Sea is dominated by a vast limestone plateau - The Stora Alvaret - the largest alvar in Europe
Waymark Code: WMEV27
Location: Kalmar, Sweden
Date Posted: 07/08/2012
Views: 17
Human beings have lived here for some five thousand years and adapted their way of life to the physical constraints of the island. As a consequence, the landscape is unique, with abundant evidence of continuous human settlement from prehistoric times to the present day.
An alvar is a biological environment based on a limestone plain with thin or no soil and, as a result, sparse grassland vegetation. Often flooded in the spring, and droughted in mid summer, alvars support a distinctive group of prairie-like plants.
The Stora Alvaret is a limestone barren plain on the island of Öland, Sweden. Because of the thin soil mantle and high pH levels, a great assortment of vegetation is found including numerous rare species. Stora Alvaret has been designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO due to its extraordinary biodiversity and prehistory. The area of this formation exceeds 260 square kilometres (100 sq mi), making it the largest such expanse in Europe and comprising over one fourth of the land area of the island.
Type: Natural
Reference number: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/968
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