register many people from Alby travelling to the United States of America to begin a new life. Copies of both types of records are maintained at the Swedish Emigrant Institute in the city of Växjö. Demography and current aspect The 2006 population is estimated at 125 people. Like Öland as a whole, about 94 percent are Lutheran Protestant. More than 90 percent of the population are native Swedes, and the entire population is white. While most of the population is permanent, there are a few homes which are used only as summer holiday homes, mostly owned by Swedes who have a primary home elsewhere in the country. There is virtually no commercial land use in Alby as of 2006, nor is there a history of commercial land use. The village consists of single family residences, some of which are part of a farming operation. The sole exceptions to residential and agricultural uses are a bookstore/cafe building and a small museum, the latter of which is the original blacksmith's workshop. Flora and fauna The western fringe of Alby includes some grazing land and borders on the Stora Alvaret, the greatest expanse of alvar habitat in Europe. This unique geological formation is an almost level plateau. The Stora Alvaret has an extremely thin soil mantle, that creates conditions of unusual adaptation and hence leads to a host of rare plant species. The first documented scientific study of the biota of the eastern part of the Stora Alvaret occurred in the year 1741 with the visit of Linnaeus. He wrote of this unusual ecosystem: "It is noteworthy how some plants are able to thrive on the driest and most barren places of the alvar". The alvar here also supports rare species of butterflies, moths and other insects. Some relict species from the glacial age are among the flora palette of the Stora Alvaret. A wide variety of wildflowers and other plants are found on the limestone pavement ecosystem. Some of the species found include stonecrop, dropwort, Artemisia Öelandica (endemic to Öland), and kidney vetch. At the northwest of Alby is a seasonal wetland having vernal pools and corresponding diversity of wetland plants. The eastern part of Alby is a coastal plain leading to sand and shingle beaches. This sandy coastal plain supports a variety of native grasses and beach wildflowers different from the alvar species on Alby's west side. Avifauna on the beach