A new article was published in issue 29/2016 of the scientific journal Icelandic Agricultural Sciences and can be accessed at http://www.ias.is/landbunadur/wgsamvef.nsf/key2/bsinaawuad.html
The article is called "Avian abundance and communities in areas revegetated with exotic versus native plant species"And is by Brynja Davíðsdóttir, Tómas Grétar Gunnarsson, Guðmund Halldórsson and Bjarni Diðrik Sigurðsson.
The authors studied the effects of different land reclamation measures on the density and species composition of birds and on the number of small animals. In 26 places in the country were compared; a) uncultivated area, b) restoration of peatlands and c) land that had been replanted with Alaska lupine. There was a great difference in the number of birds between vegetations. On uncultivated land, there were an average of 31 birds per square kilometer, 337 on reclaimed peatlands and 627 on land that had been replanted with lupine. As there were more birds, there were also more small animals that are important birds' food.
The restoration of peatlands was mostly about wading birds, a species that is declining worldwide, but in lupins there was more about more common species. Heiðlóa and lóuþræll were the most common species in the restoration of peatlands, but horsetail and tufted duck in lupine. The density of some bird species seemed to depend on the level of development of land reclamation areas. This study shows that land reclamation increases the biodiversity of animal species, but different land reclamation measures lead to different ecosystem developments.