Vegetation Succession and Environmental Conditions following Catastrophic Lake Drainage in Old Crow Flats, Yukon
Increases in the frequency and magnitude of disturbances associated with the thawing of ice-rich permafrost highlight the need to understand long-term vegetation succession in permafrost environments. This study uses field sampling and remote sensing to explore vegetation development and soil condit...
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2017
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.14430/arctic4646 http://arctic.journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/arctic/index.php/arctic/article/viewFile/4646/4843 |
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crarcticinstna:10.14430/arctic4646 2024-09-30T14:27:33+00:00 Vegetation Succession and Environmental Conditions following Catastrophic Lake Drainage in Old Crow Flats, Yukon Lantz, Trevor C. 2017 http://dx.doi.org/10.14430/arctic4646 http://arctic.journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/arctic/index.php/arctic/article/viewFile/4646/4843 unknown The Arctic Institute of North America http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ARCTIC volume 70, issue 2, page 177 ISSN 1923-1245 0004-0843 journal-article 2017 crarcticinstna https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic4646 2024-09-03T04:00:33Z Increases in the frequency and magnitude of disturbances associated with the thawing of ice-rich permafrost highlight the need to understand long-term vegetation succession in permafrost environments. This study uses field sampling and remote sensing to explore vegetation development and soil conditions following catastrophic lake drainage in Old Crow Flats (OCF). The data presented show that vegetation on drained lake basins in OCF is characterized by two distinct assemblages: tall willow stands and sedge swards. Field sampling indicates that these alternative successional trajectories result from variation in soil moisture following drainage. Increased willow mortality on older drained basins suggests that intraspecific competition drives self-thinning in shrub thickets. This finding, combined with data from paleoecological studies and contemporary vegetation in OCF, suggests that willow stands on drained lake basins are seral communities. These results also indicate that the increase in number of catastrophic drainages that occurred between 1972 and 2010 will alter regional vegetation in ways that affect wildlife habitat, permafrost conditions, and local hydrology. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Ice Old Crow permafrost Yukon Arctic Institute of North America Old Crow Flats ENVELOPE(-139.755,-139.755,68.083,68.083) Yukon ARCTIC 70 2 177 |
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Arctic Institute of North America |
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description |
Increases in the frequency and magnitude of disturbances associated with the thawing of ice-rich permafrost highlight the need to understand long-term vegetation succession in permafrost environments. This study uses field sampling and remote sensing to explore vegetation development and soil conditions following catastrophic lake drainage in Old Crow Flats (OCF). The data presented show that vegetation on drained lake basins in OCF is characterized by two distinct assemblages: tall willow stands and sedge swards. Field sampling indicates that these alternative successional trajectories result from variation in soil moisture following drainage. Increased willow mortality on older drained basins suggests that intraspecific competition drives self-thinning in shrub thickets. This finding, combined with data from paleoecological studies and contemporary vegetation in OCF, suggests that willow stands on drained lake basins are seral communities. These results also indicate that the increase in number of catastrophic drainages that occurred between 1972 and 2010 will alter regional vegetation in ways that affect wildlife habitat, permafrost conditions, and local hydrology. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lantz, Trevor C. |
spellingShingle |
Lantz, Trevor C. Vegetation Succession and Environmental Conditions following Catastrophic Lake Drainage in Old Crow Flats, Yukon |
author_facet |
Lantz, Trevor C. |
author_sort |
Lantz, Trevor C. |
title |
Vegetation Succession and Environmental Conditions following Catastrophic Lake Drainage in Old Crow Flats, Yukon |
title_short |
Vegetation Succession and Environmental Conditions following Catastrophic Lake Drainage in Old Crow Flats, Yukon |
title_full |
Vegetation Succession and Environmental Conditions following Catastrophic Lake Drainage in Old Crow Flats, Yukon |
title_fullStr |
Vegetation Succession and Environmental Conditions following Catastrophic Lake Drainage in Old Crow Flats, Yukon |
title_full_unstemmed |
Vegetation Succession and Environmental Conditions following Catastrophic Lake Drainage in Old Crow Flats, Yukon |
title_sort |
vegetation succession and environmental conditions following catastrophic lake drainage in old crow flats, yukon |
publisher |
The Arctic Institute of North America |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.14430/arctic4646 http://arctic.journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/arctic/index.php/arctic/article/viewFile/4646/4843 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-139.755,-139.755,68.083,68.083) |
geographic |
Old Crow Flats Yukon |
geographic_facet |
Old Crow Flats Yukon |
genre |
Arctic Ice Old Crow permafrost Yukon |
genre_facet |
Arctic Ice Old Crow permafrost Yukon |
op_source |
ARCTIC volume 70, issue 2, page 177 ISSN 1923-1245 0004-0843 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic4646 |
container_title |
ARCTIC |
container_volume |
70 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
177 |
_version_ |
1811633626549321728 |