Drivers of tall shrub proliferation adjacent to the Dempster Highway, Northwest Territories, Canada
Arctic ecosystems are undergoing rapid changes as a result of climate warming and more frequent disturbances. Disturbances can have particularly large effects on high-latitude ecosystems when ecosystem structure and function is controlled by strong feedbacks between soil conditions, vegetation, and...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2016-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/4/045006 |
| _version_ | 1797748567275732992 |
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| author | Emily A Cameron Trevor C Lantz |
| author_facet | Emily A Cameron Trevor C Lantz |
| author_sort | Emily A Cameron |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Arctic ecosystems are undergoing rapid changes as a result of climate warming and more frequent disturbances. Disturbances can have particularly large effects on high-latitude ecosystems when ecosystem structure and function is controlled by strong feedbacks between soil conditions, vegetation, and ground thermal regime. In this study we investigated the impact of road construction and maintenance on vegetation structure and biomass along the Dempster Highway where it crosses the Peel Plateau in the Northwest Territories. To explore drivers of tall shrub proliferation and to quantify shrub proliferation in this region of continuous permafrost, greyscale air photos (1975) and Quickbird satellite imagery (2008) were used to map landcover change within two 0.6 km ^2 belts next to the road and two 0.6 km ^2 belts 500 m away from the road. Maps showing areas where: 1) tall shrubs expanded, and 2) dwarf shrub tundra resisted invasion were then used to select field sites where a suite of biophysical variables were measured. Rapid tall shrub proliferation and greater biomass adjacent to the road indicate that disturbance can facilitate vegetation change in tundra environments. Our field data also suggests that increased shrub proliferation adjacent to the road was caused by greater soil moisture. Tall shrub proliferation adjacent to the road occurred at lower elevation sites characterized by wetter soils with thicker organic layers. Areas that resisted tall shrub encroachment were located at higher elevations and had drier soils with thin organic layers. Our observations also support previous work illustrating that tall shrub expansion next to the highway promotes strong positive feedbacks to ongoing shrub growth and proliferation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:07:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-806120640e1e485988f6ff50afe3076c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:07:38Z |
| publishDate | 2016-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-806120640e1e485988f6ff50afe3076c2023-08-09T14:18:27ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262016-01-0111404500610.1088/1748-9326/11/4/045006Drivers of tall shrub proliferation adjacent to the Dempster Highway, Northwest Territories, CanadaEmily A Cameron0Trevor C Lantz1School of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria , CanadaSchool of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria , CanadaArctic ecosystems are undergoing rapid changes as a result of climate warming and more frequent disturbances. Disturbances can have particularly large effects on high-latitude ecosystems when ecosystem structure and function is controlled by strong feedbacks between soil conditions, vegetation, and ground thermal regime. In this study we investigated the impact of road construction and maintenance on vegetation structure and biomass along the Dempster Highway where it crosses the Peel Plateau in the Northwest Territories. To explore drivers of tall shrub proliferation and to quantify shrub proliferation in this region of continuous permafrost, greyscale air photos (1975) and Quickbird satellite imagery (2008) were used to map landcover change within two 0.6 km ^2 belts next to the road and two 0.6 km ^2 belts 500 m away from the road. Maps showing areas where: 1) tall shrubs expanded, and 2) dwarf shrub tundra resisted invasion were then used to select field sites where a suite of biophysical variables were measured. Rapid tall shrub proliferation and greater biomass adjacent to the road indicate that disturbance can facilitate vegetation change in tundra environments. Our field data also suggests that increased shrub proliferation adjacent to the road was caused by greater soil moisture. Tall shrub proliferation adjacent to the road occurred at lower elevation sites characterized by wetter soils with thicker organic layers. Areas that resisted tall shrub encroachment were located at higher elevations and had drier soils with thin organic layers. Our observations also support previous work illustrating that tall shrub expansion next to the highway promotes strong positive feedbacks to ongoing shrub growth and proliferation.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/4/045006shrub tundraglobal changedisturbanceLow Arcticgreen alderbiomass |
| spellingShingle | Emily A Cameron Trevor C Lantz Drivers of tall shrub proliferation adjacent to the Dempster Highway, Northwest Territories, Canada Environmental Research Letters shrub tundra global change disturbance Low Arctic green alder biomass |
| title | Drivers of tall shrub proliferation adjacent to the Dempster Highway, Northwest Territories, Canada |
| title_full | Drivers of tall shrub proliferation adjacent to the Dempster Highway, Northwest Territories, Canada |
| title_fullStr | Drivers of tall shrub proliferation adjacent to the Dempster Highway, Northwest Territories, Canada |
| title_full_unstemmed | Drivers of tall shrub proliferation adjacent to the Dempster Highway, Northwest Territories, Canada |
| title_short | Drivers of tall shrub proliferation adjacent to the Dempster Highway, Northwest Territories, Canada |
| title_sort | drivers of tall shrub proliferation adjacent to the dempster highway northwest territories canada |
| topic | shrub tundra global change disturbance Low Arctic green alder biomass |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/4/045006 |
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