- Library Home /
- Search Collections /
- Open Collections /
- Browse Collections /
- UBC Theses and Dissertations /
- The spatial relationships among vegetation phenology,...
Open Collections
UBC Theses and Dissertations
UBC Theses and Dissertations
The spatial relationships among vegetation phenology, plant community composition and environment at a High Arctic oasis Bean, David
Abstract
Environmental changes resulting from global warming are predicted to be most intense at high latitudes and this has considerable implications for the vegetation in the High Arctic. The relationships among plant community structure, diversity, phenology, and abiotic factors including snowmelt pattern, temperature, soil moisture and soil nutrients were studied at the Alexandra Fiord lowland (78° 53' N, 75° 55" W), a high arctic oasis on the east coast of Ellesmere Island. At each of 28 sampling points, vegetation was surveyed, soil was sampled, temperature was recorded by dataloggers and phenological observations were made on four dominant plant species throughout one growing season. Digital aerial photographs were used to study the pattern of snowmelt across the lowland. A geographic information system Was used to analyze the data from the discrete sampling points and relate them to the observed distribution of plant communities. Plant communities were analyzed using single linkage cluster analysis, principal components analysis and redundancy analysis including spatial information in the direct gradient analysis. Phenological development of Cassiope tetragona and Dryas integrifolia was strongly correlated to the temperature gradient across the lowland but Saxifraga oppositifolia and Salix arctica were not. The two former species flowered later in the season while the other two flowered shortly after snowmelt. The data were compared to an 8 year record of phenological observations at the site and Dryas was found to have a more pronounced response to temporal variability, whereas Cassiope had much more fixed timing for phenological development at a given place over time, while varying considerably across spatial gradients. Five major plant communities and two subtypes were defined. Moisture was found to be the most important environmental factor separating plant communities as is common these studies in the Arctic. Temperature was also an important factor in the indirect gradient analysis but this variable was highly spatially autocorrelated and much of the variation explained by temperature could be explained by spatial location information alone. The pattern of snowmelt did not vary at the same scale as the vegetation according to these results, and is thus not likely a major determinant of landscape-scale plant community distribution. The distribution seems more like a successional sequence resulting from differing times since the retreat of both Pleistocene and Little Ice Age glacier advances.
Item Metadata
Title |
The spatial relationships among vegetation phenology, plant community composition and environment at a High Arctic oasis
|
Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
|
Date Issued |
2002
|
Description |
Environmental changes resulting from global warming are predicted to be most intense at high
latitudes and this has considerable implications for the vegetation in the High Arctic. The
relationships among plant community structure, diversity, phenology, and abiotic factors
including snowmelt pattern, temperature, soil moisture and soil nutrients were studied at the
Alexandra Fiord lowland (78° 53' N, 75° 55" W), a high arctic oasis on the east coast of
Ellesmere Island. At each of 28 sampling points, vegetation was surveyed, soil was sampled,
temperature was recorded by dataloggers and phenological observations were made on four
dominant plant species throughout one growing season. Digital aerial photographs were used
to study the pattern of snowmelt across the lowland. A geographic information system Was
used to analyze the data from the discrete sampling points and relate them to the observed
distribution of plant communities. Plant communities were analyzed using single linkage cluster
analysis, principal components analysis and redundancy analysis including spatial information
in the direct gradient analysis.
Phenological development of Cassiope tetragona and Dryas integrifolia was strongly correlated
to the temperature gradient across the lowland but Saxifraga oppositifolia and Salix arctica
were not. The two former species flowered later in the season while the other two flowered
shortly after snowmelt. The data were compared to an 8 year record of phenological
observations at the site and Dryas was found to have a more pronounced response to temporal
variability, whereas Cassiope had much more fixed timing for phenological development at a
given place over time, while varying considerably across spatial gradients. Five major plant
communities and two subtypes were defined. Moisture was found to be the most important
environmental factor separating plant communities as is common these studies in the Arctic.
Temperature was also an important factor in the indirect gradient analysis but this variable was
highly spatially autocorrelated and much of the variation explained by temperature could be
explained by spatial location information alone. The pattern of snowmelt did not vary at the
same scale as the vegetation according to these results, and is thus not likely a major
determinant of landscape-scale plant community distribution. The distribution seems more like
a successional sequence resulting from differing times since the retreat of both Pleistocene and
Little Ice Age glacier advances.
|
Extent |
19587784 bytes
|
Genre | |
Type | |
File Format |
application/pdf
|
Language |
eng
|
Date Available |
2009-08-17
|
Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
|
Rights |
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
|
DOI |
10.14288/1.0090344
|
URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
|
Graduation Date |
2002-11
|
Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
|
Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
|
Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.