Geodiversity of high-latitude landscapes in northern Finland

Geodiversity is a rather new, emerging topic in earth science. There is now increased awareness of our need to understand patterns of geodiversity in different landscapes facing global change. In this study, we systematically inventoried geodiversity and topographical parameters in an area of 285 km2 in subarctic Finland. We quantified the spatial variation of geodiversity using four different measures and analysed the relationship between geodiversity and topography using a spatial grid system at a landscape scale (the size of the analysis window was 500 × 500 m). The number of different elements of geodiversity (total geodiversity) varied from 2 to 22 per grid cell. The spatial pattern of the total geodiversity, geomorphological process variability and geodiversity index were fairly similar, whereas of the other geodiversity measures, the measure of temporal diversity differed the most. Topographically, the high-diversity sites occurred in rather steep-sided valleys. Areas of high geodiversity reflect heterogeneous abiotic conditions where both erosion and accumulation processes play a major role in landscape development. The mapping of geodiversity may be indicative not only in the context of geomorphology, but also provide a focus for conservation initiatives. From a conservation point of view, the lack of wider knowledge of the distribution of geodiversity and its relationship to biodiversity hinders the protection of ecologically and geomorphologically valuable regions. Thus, we recommend that further studies focus on: (1) quantifying spatial patterns of geodiversity in different regions, (2) determining the key drivers that control the variability of geodiversity and (3) exploring the linkage between geodiversity and biodiversity.