Plant–Environment Interactions in the Low Arctic Torngat Mountains of Labrador
Abstract The eastern Canadian Subarctic and Arctic are experiencing significant environmental change with widespread implications for the people, plants, and animals living there. In this study, we integrate 10 years of research at the Nakvak Brook watershed in Torngat Mountains National Park of Can...
Published in: | Ecosystems |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
2020
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10021-020-00577-6 https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10021-020-00577-6.pdf https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10021-020-00577-6/fulltext.html |
id |
crspringernat:10.1007/s10021-020-00577-6 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crspringernat:10.1007/s10021-020-00577-6 2023-05-15T15:00:04+02:00 Plant–Environment Interactions in the Low Arctic Torngat Mountains of Labrador Davis, Emma Trant, Andrew Hermanutz, Luise Way, Robert G. Lewkowicz, Antoni G. Siegwart Collier, Laura Cuerrier, Alain Whitaker, Darroch 2020 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10021-020-00577-6 https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10021-020-00577-6.pdf https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10021-020-00577-6/fulltext.html en eng Springer Science and Business Media LLC https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 CC-BY Ecosystems volume 24, issue 5, page 1038-1058 ISSN 1432-9840 1435-0629 Ecology Environmental Chemistry Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics journal-article 2020 crspringernat https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-020-00577-6 2022-01-04T09:41:43Z Abstract The eastern Canadian Subarctic and Arctic are experiencing significant environmental change with widespread implications for the people, plants, and animals living there. In this study, we integrate 10 years of research at the Nakvak Brook watershed in Torngat Mountains National Park of Canada, northern Labrador, to assess the sensitivity of ecological and geomorphological systems to regional climate warming. A time series of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index indicates that the area has undergone a significant greening trend over the past four decades. Analyses of shrub cross sections suggest that greening has been caused by a combination of rapid establishment and growth that began in the late 1990’s and coincided with warmer growing season temperatures. Recent (2010–2015) vegetation change has been subtle and heavily moderated by soil moisture status. Plant canopy height is greater in wet areas and has an insulating effect on ground surface temperatures during the winter, a consequence of snow trapping by shrub canopies. Observations of subsurface conditions indicate that the study site is best characterized as having discontinuous near-surface permafrost. The importance of subsurface conditions for above-ground vegetation depends on the geomorphological context, with plants in wet areas underlain by fine materials being the most likely to be growth-limited by permafrost, thus being potential hot-spots for future change. With the expectation of sustained climate change, loss of adjacent sea ice, and proximity to the forest-tundra ecotone, it is likely that the Torngat Mountains will continue to be an area of rapid environmental change in the coming decades. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Climate change Ice permafrost Sea ice Subarctic Torngat Mountains national park Tundra Springer Nature (via Crossref) Arctic Canada Nakvak Brook ENVELOPE(-63.313,-63.313,58.497,58.497) Torngat Mountains ENVELOPE(-63.665,-63.665,59.000,59.000) Ecosystems |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Springer Nature (via Crossref) |
op_collection_id |
crspringernat |
language |
English |
topic |
Ecology Environmental Chemistry Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
spellingShingle |
Ecology Environmental Chemistry Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Davis, Emma Trant, Andrew Hermanutz, Luise Way, Robert G. Lewkowicz, Antoni G. Siegwart Collier, Laura Cuerrier, Alain Whitaker, Darroch Plant–Environment Interactions in the Low Arctic Torngat Mountains of Labrador |
topic_facet |
Ecology Environmental Chemistry Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
description |
Abstract The eastern Canadian Subarctic and Arctic are experiencing significant environmental change with widespread implications for the people, plants, and animals living there. In this study, we integrate 10 years of research at the Nakvak Brook watershed in Torngat Mountains National Park of Canada, northern Labrador, to assess the sensitivity of ecological and geomorphological systems to regional climate warming. A time series of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index indicates that the area has undergone a significant greening trend over the past four decades. Analyses of shrub cross sections suggest that greening has been caused by a combination of rapid establishment and growth that began in the late 1990’s and coincided with warmer growing season temperatures. Recent (2010–2015) vegetation change has been subtle and heavily moderated by soil moisture status. Plant canopy height is greater in wet areas and has an insulating effect on ground surface temperatures during the winter, a consequence of snow trapping by shrub canopies. Observations of subsurface conditions indicate that the study site is best characterized as having discontinuous near-surface permafrost. The importance of subsurface conditions for above-ground vegetation depends on the geomorphological context, with plants in wet areas underlain by fine materials being the most likely to be growth-limited by permafrost, thus being potential hot-spots for future change. With the expectation of sustained climate change, loss of adjacent sea ice, and proximity to the forest-tundra ecotone, it is likely that the Torngat Mountains will continue to be an area of rapid environmental change in the coming decades. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Davis, Emma Trant, Andrew Hermanutz, Luise Way, Robert G. Lewkowicz, Antoni G. Siegwart Collier, Laura Cuerrier, Alain Whitaker, Darroch |
author_facet |
Davis, Emma Trant, Andrew Hermanutz, Luise Way, Robert G. Lewkowicz, Antoni G. Siegwart Collier, Laura Cuerrier, Alain Whitaker, Darroch |
author_sort |
Davis, Emma |
title |
Plant–Environment Interactions in the Low Arctic Torngat Mountains of Labrador |
title_short |
Plant–Environment Interactions in the Low Arctic Torngat Mountains of Labrador |
title_full |
Plant–Environment Interactions in the Low Arctic Torngat Mountains of Labrador |
title_fullStr |
Plant–Environment Interactions in the Low Arctic Torngat Mountains of Labrador |
title_full_unstemmed |
Plant–Environment Interactions in the Low Arctic Torngat Mountains of Labrador |
title_sort |
plant–environment interactions in the low arctic torngat mountains of labrador |
publisher |
Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10021-020-00577-6 https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10021-020-00577-6.pdf https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10021-020-00577-6/fulltext.html |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-63.313,-63.313,58.497,58.497) ENVELOPE(-63.665,-63.665,59.000,59.000) |
geographic |
Arctic Canada Nakvak Brook Torngat Mountains |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Canada Nakvak Brook Torngat Mountains |
genre |
Arctic Climate change Ice permafrost Sea ice Subarctic Torngat Mountains national park Tundra |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change Ice permafrost Sea ice Subarctic Torngat Mountains national park Tundra |
op_source |
Ecosystems volume 24, issue 5, page 1038-1058 ISSN 1432-9840 1435-0629 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-020-00577-6 |
container_title |
Ecosystems |
_version_ |
1766332183317839872 |