Changes in the structure and heterogeneity of vegetation and microsite environments with the chronosequence of primary succession on a glacier foreland in Ellesmere Island, high arctic Canada
Abstract Primary plant succession was investigated on a well‐vegetated glacier foreland on Ellesmere Island in high arctic Canada. A field survey was carried out on four glacier moraines differing in time after deglaciation to assess vegetation development and microsite modification in the chronoseq...
Published in: | Ecological Research |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Wiley
2007
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11284-007-0388-6 http://www.springerlink.com/index/pdf/10.1007/s11284-007-0388-6 |
id |
crwiley:10.1007/s11284-007-0388-6 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crwiley:10.1007/s11284-007-0388-6 2024-05-19T07:35:23+00:00 Changes in the structure and heterogeneity of vegetation and microsite environments with the chronosequence of primary succession on a glacier foreland in Ellesmere Island, high arctic Canada Mori, Akira S. Osono, Takashi Uchida, Masaki Kanda, Hiroshi 2007 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11284-007-0388-6 http://www.springerlink.com/index/pdf/10.1007/s11284-007-0388-6 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Ecological Research volume 23, issue 2, page 363-370 ISSN 0912-3814 1440-1703 journal-article 2007 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-007-0388-6 2024-04-25T08:26:48Z Abstract Primary plant succession was investigated on a well‐vegetated glacier foreland on Ellesmere Island in high arctic Canada. A field survey was carried out on four glacier moraines differing in time after deglaciation to assess vegetation development and microsite modification in the chronosequence of succession. The results showed evidence of directional succession without species replacement, which is atypical in the high arctic, reflecting the exceptionally long time vegetation development. During this successional process, Salix arctica dominated throughout all moraines. The population structures of S. arctica on these moraines implied the population growth of this species with progressing succession. The population density of S. arctica reflected the abundance of vascular plants, suggesting that development of the plant community might be related to structural changes and the growth of constituting populations. Through such growths of the population and the whole community with progressing succession, the spatial heterogeneity of vegetation gradually declines. Moreover, this vegetation homogenization is accompanied by changes in the spatial heterogeneity of microsite environments, suggesting significant plant effects on the modification of microsite environments. Accordingly, it was concluded that the directional primary succession observed on this glacier foreland is characterized by the initial sporadic colonization of plants, subsequent population growths, and the community assembly of vascular plants, accompanied by microsite modification. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Ellesmere Island glacier* Wiley Online Library Ecological Research 23 2 363 370 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Wiley Online Library |
op_collection_id |
crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract Primary plant succession was investigated on a well‐vegetated glacier foreland on Ellesmere Island in high arctic Canada. A field survey was carried out on four glacier moraines differing in time after deglaciation to assess vegetation development and microsite modification in the chronosequence of succession. The results showed evidence of directional succession without species replacement, which is atypical in the high arctic, reflecting the exceptionally long time vegetation development. During this successional process, Salix arctica dominated throughout all moraines. The population structures of S. arctica on these moraines implied the population growth of this species with progressing succession. The population density of S. arctica reflected the abundance of vascular plants, suggesting that development of the plant community might be related to structural changes and the growth of constituting populations. Through such growths of the population and the whole community with progressing succession, the spatial heterogeneity of vegetation gradually declines. Moreover, this vegetation homogenization is accompanied by changes in the spatial heterogeneity of microsite environments, suggesting significant plant effects on the modification of microsite environments. Accordingly, it was concluded that the directional primary succession observed on this glacier foreland is characterized by the initial sporadic colonization of plants, subsequent population growths, and the community assembly of vascular plants, accompanied by microsite modification. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Mori, Akira S. Osono, Takashi Uchida, Masaki Kanda, Hiroshi |
spellingShingle |
Mori, Akira S. Osono, Takashi Uchida, Masaki Kanda, Hiroshi Changes in the structure and heterogeneity of vegetation and microsite environments with the chronosequence of primary succession on a glacier foreland in Ellesmere Island, high arctic Canada |
author_facet |
Mori, Akira S. Osono, Takashi Uchida, Masaki Kanda, Hiroshi |
author_sort |
Mori, Akira S. |
title |
Changes in the structure and heterogeneity of vegetation and microsite environments with the chronosequence of primary succession on a glacier foreland in Ellesmere Island, high arctic Canada |
title_short |
Changes in the structure and heterogeneity of vegetation and microsite environments with the chronosequence of primary succession on a glacier foreland in Ellesmere Island, high arctic Canada |
title_full |
Changes in the structure and heterogeneity of vegetation and microsite environments with the chronosequence of primary succession on a glacier foreland in Ellesmere Island, high arctic Canada |
title_fullStr |
Changes in the structure and heterogeneity of vegetation and microsite environments with the chronosequence of primary succession on a glacier foreland in Ellesmere Island, high arctic Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
Changes in the structure and heterogeneity of vegetation and microsite environments with the chronosequence of primary succession on a glacier foreland in Ellesmere Island, high arctic Canada |
title_sort |
changes in the structure and heterogeneity of vegetation and microsite environments with the chronosequence of primary succession on a glacier foreland in ellesmere island, high arctic canada |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2007 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11284-007-0388-6 http://www.springerlink.com/index/pdf/10.1007/s11284-007-0388-6 |
genre |
Arctic Ellesmere Island glacier* |
genre_facet |
Arctic Ellesmere Island glacier* |
op_source |
Ecological Research volume 23, issue 2, page 363-370 ISSN 0912-3814 1440-1703 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-007-0388-6 |
container_title |
Ecological Research |
container_volume |
23 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
363 |
op_container_end_page |
370 |
_version_ |
1799474016443957248 |