Aerial biomass distribution in an undisturbed and disturbed subarctic bog

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Botany
• Main Authors: Sims, R. A., Stewart, J. M.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1981
• Subjects: Plant Science; Subarctic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/b81-110; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/b81-110

During powerline construction, a portion of a wooded (Picea mariana) peat plateau in northern Manitoba was stripped of surface vegetation. Seven years later, aerial biomass of plants recolonizing the surface of the disturbed area was estimated to be 2098 kg ha −1 , only 26.4% of the undisturbed portion's aerial biomass of 7939 kg ha −1 .Tree biomass represented 28.7% of the aboveground biomass of the wooded plateau. The relative proportions of photosynthetic phytomass increased from 17% in the wooded to 53% in the disturbed area. Major ericaceous species (Ledum groenlandicum, Chamaedaphne calyculata, and Kalmia polifolia) responded after disturbance by increasing reproductive effort and the ratio of photosynthetic to woody tissue.Permafrost subsidence in the disturbed portion was not evident in the period since vegetation removal, although surface erosion of peat was visible and could be expected to increase in the next several years.