Subarctic and alpine tree line dynamics during the last 400 years in north‐western and central Canada

Abstract Aim The objectives of this study were to: (1) identify episodes of establishment and mortality of young and mature trees at several sites at the alpine tree line in the western Northwest Territories and the latitudinal tree line in northern Manitoba; (2) infer changes in the structure and l...

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Published in:Journal of Biogeography
Main Authors: Mamet, Steven D., Kershaw, G. Peter
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2011
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2011.02642.x
https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1365-2699.2011.02642.x
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spelling crwiley:10.1111/j.1365-2699.2011.02642.x 2024-06-02T08:05:22+00:00 Subarctic and alpine tree line dynamics during the last 400 years in north‐western and central Canada Mamet, Steven D. Kershaw, G. Peter 2011 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2011.02642.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1365-2699.2011.02642.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2011.02642.x en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Journal of Biogeography volume 39, issue 5, page 855-868 ISSN 0305-0270 1365-2699 journal-article 2011 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2011.02642.x 2024-05-03T11:15:42Z Abstract Aim The objectives of this study were to: (1) identify episodes of establishment and mortality of young and mature trees at several sites at the alpine tree line in the western Northwest Territories and the latitudinal tree line in northern Manitoba; (2) infer changes in the structure and location of the tree line from patterns of establishment; (3) evaluate any relationship between these changes and climate; and (4) investigate sources of variability between sampling sites and study areas. Location Taiga Cordillera of the western Mackenzie Mountains in the Northwest Territories, and the western Hudson Bay Lowlands in northern Manitoba, Canada. Methods Recent tree line dynamics were examined at six climatically similar sites: three in the western Mackenzie Mountains and three around Churchill, Manitoba. Dendroecological techniques were employed to construct static age distributions of species present at each site. Static age structures, residuals from modelled age distributions, and reconstructions of dynamic stand density were used to identify patterns of establishment and mortality and to compare these to changes in climate. Results Tree line locations advanced and stand density increased during the early‐to‐mid‐20th century around Churchill, although responses were not uniform across sites or species. Results were less conclusive in the Mackenzie Mountains, although the tree line probably advanced during the late 18th century, and stand infilling occurred during the mid‐20th century. Correlation analyses with temperature suggest that conditions during establishment and particularly during recruitment are crucial for controlling tree line dynamics. Main conclusions Tree line advance and stand infilling have continued to the present at Churchill, while the tree line has stagnated in the western Mackenzie Mountains. The results of this study indicate that site‐ and species‐specific responses play a large role in determining the tree line response at multiple scales, illustrating the complexity of tree ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Churchill Hudson Bay Mackenzie mountains Northwest Territories Subarctic Taiga cordillera taiga Wiley Online Library Canada Hudson Hudson Bay Northwest Territories Journal of Biogeography 39 5 855 868
institution Open Polar
collection Wiley Online Library
op_collection_id crwiley
language English
description Abstract Aim The objectives of this study were to: (1) identify episodes of establishment and mortality of young and mature trees at several sites at the alpine tree line in the western Northwest Territories and the latitudinal tree line in northern Manitoba; (2) infer changes in the structure and location of the tree line from patterns of establishment; (3) evaluate any relationship between these changes and climate; and (4) investigate sources of variability between sampling sites and study areas. Location Taiga Cordillera of the western Mackenzie Mountains in the Northwest Territories, and the western Hudson Bay Lowlands in northern Manitoba, Canada. Methods Recent tree line dynamics were examined at six climatically similar sites: three in the western Mackenzie Mountains and three around Churchill, Manitoba. Dendroecological techniques were employed to construct static age distributions of species present at each site. Static age structures, residuals from modelled age distributions, and reconstructions of dynamic stand density were used to identify patterns of establishment and mortality and to compare these to changes in climate. Results Tree line locations advanced and stand density increased during the early‐to‐mid‐20th century around Churchill, although responses were not uniform across sites or species. Results were less conclusive in the Mackenzie Mountains, although the tree line probably advanced during the late 18th century, and stand infilling occurred during the mid‐20th century. Correlation analyses with temperature suggest that conditions during establishment and particularly during recruitment are crucial for controlling tree line dynamics. Main conclusions Tree line advance and stand infilling have continued to the present at Churchill, while the tree line has stagnated in the western Mackenzie Mountains. The results of this study indicate that site‐ and species‐specific responses play a large role in determining the tree line response at multiple scales, illustrating the complexity of tree ...
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Mamet, Steven D.
Kershaw, G. Peter
spellingShingle Mamet, Steven D.
Kershaw, G. Peter
Subarctic and alpine tree line dynamics during the last 400 years in north‐western and central Canada
author_facet Mamet, Steven D.
Kershaw, G. Peter
author_sort Mamet, Steven D.
title Subarctic and alpine tree line dynamics during the last 400 years in north‐western and central Canada
title_short Subarctic and alpine tree line dynamics during the last 400 years in north‐western and central Canada
title_full Subarctic and alpine tree line dynamics during the last 400 years in north‐western and central Canada
title_fullStr Subarctic and alpine tree line dynamics during the last 400 years in north‐western and central Canada
title_full_unstemmed Subarctic and alpine tree line dynamics during the last 400 years in north‐western and central Canada
title_sort subarctic and alpine tree line dynamics during the last 400 years in north‐western and central canada
publisher Wiley
publishDate 2011
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2011.02642.x
https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1365-2699.2011.02642.x
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2011.02642.x
geographic Canada
Hudson
Hudson Bay
Northwest Territories
geographic_facet Canada
Hudson
Hudson Bay
Northwest Territories
genre Churchill
Hudson Bay
Mackenzie mountains
Northwest Territories
Subarctic
Taiga cordillera
taiga
genre_facet Churchill
Hudson Bay
Mackenzie mountains
Northwest Territories
Subarctic
Taiga cordillera
taiga
op_source Journal of Biogeography
volume 39, issue 5, page 855-868
ISSN 0305-0270 1365-2699
op_rights http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2011.02642.x
container_title Journal of Biogeography
container_volume 39
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