Current view: Text account
Site description (2000 baseline):
Site location and context
An extensive wetland by öxarfjördur bay, comprising rivers (fed by cold and thermal springs), freshwater and brackish marshes, streams, lakes and pools. The freshwater marshes are dominated by sedges (
Carex,
Eriophorum). Land-uses include grazing, fishing and fish-farming.
There is a good variety of other breeding waterfowl and waders.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Predation by introduced American mink
Mustela vison threatens waterbird populations. Nootka lupin
Lupinus nootkatensis, an introduced plant which is highly invasive, is a threat to the natural vegetation of the habitat. The pollution and development caused by fish-farming are potential problems, as is a plan to build a geothermal power-station. The area is on the list of sites of conservation interest in the Nature Conservation Register.
National None
International None
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Oxarfjordur (Iceland). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/oxarfjordur-iba-iceland on 23/11/2024.
