Editing Geography of Norway (section)

====Middle Boreal====
{{Unsourced section|date=December 2023}}[[File:Elsfjord F.JPG|thumb|In most of Norway, the middle boreal zone is dominated by spruce forest, but with some agriculture as well. September in [[Elsfjord]], [[Vefsn Municipality]].]]

The typical closed-canopy forest of the Middle Boreal (MB) zone is dominated by boreal plant species. The MB vegetation covers a total of 20% of the total land area. Norway spruce is the dominant tree in large areas in the interior of Østlandet, Sørlandet, Trøndelag, and Helgeland and the MB and SB spruce forests are the commercially most important in Norway. Spruce does not grow naturally north of Saltfjell in mid-[[Nordland]] (the Siberian spruce variant occurs in the Pasvik valley), due to mountain ranges blocking their advance, but is often planted in MB areas further north for economic reasons, contributing to a different landscape. Birch is usually dominant in these northern areas; but pine, aspen, rowan, [[Prunus padus|bird cherry]] and grey alder are also common. This MB birch is often a cross between [[silver birch]] and [[downy birch]] and is taller ({{convert|6–12|m}}) than the birch growing near the tree line. Conifers will grow taller. Some alpine plants grow in the MB zone; nemoral species are rare. The [[understory]] (undergrowth) is usually well developed if the forest is not too dense. Many plants do not grow further north: grey alder, silver birch, [[Galium verum|yellow bedstraw]], [[Rubus idaeus|raspberry]], [[Artemisia vulgaris|mugwort]], and ''[[Myrica gale]]'' are examples of species in this zone that do not grow further north or higher up. MB is located at an altitude of {{convert|400–750|m}} in Østlandet, up to {{convert|800|m}} in the southern valleys, {{convert|300–600|m}} ({{convert|800|m}} at the head of the long fjords) on the southwest coast, and {{convert|180–450|m}} in Trøndelag ({{convert|700|m}} in the interior, as at Røros and [[Oppdal Municipality]]). Further north, MB is common in the lowland: up to {{convert|100|m}} above sea level in Lofoten and Vesterålen, {{convert|200|m}} at [[Narvik (town)|Narvik]], {{convert|100|m}} at Tromsø, {{convert|130–200|m}} in inland valleys in Troms, and the lowland at the head of [[Altafjord]] is the most northerly area of any size—small pockets exist at [[Porsanger Municipality]] and [[Sør-Varanger Municipality]]. This is usually the most northerly area with some farming activity, and [[barley]] was traditionally grown even as far north as [[Alta Municipality]].