Pattern, composition and resource selection of terrestrial vertebrates across the Yukon forest to tundra transition

• Main Author: Pretzlaw, Troy.
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: McGill University 2006
• Subjects: Mammals > Habitat > Yukon; Ecotones > Yukon; Taigas > Yukon; Tundras > Yukon; Yukon; taiga; Tundra
• Online Access: http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=101166

Ecotones are gradients of change between expanses of similar species composition. These regions often mark co-occurring range limits for several species, and thus are ideal for elucidating ecological and biogeographical phenomena. The forest to tundra transition (FTT) is one of the world's most prominent ecotones, but remains poorly studied especially with regard to vertebrate species occurrence. Vertebrate diversity, ecological structure and resource selection were characterized across the Yukon FTT using diversity metrics, ordination, hierarchical clustering, and resource modeling. The FTT represents an abrupt drop in vertebrate species richness within the more gradual, continental scale diversity gradient. Despite the patchiness and complexity in vegetative structure over this ecotone, the terrestrial vertebrate community is divisible into boreal, taiga, and tundra compartments. Most species conform to resource associations reported closer to the core of their range, generating remarkably consistent habitat and species associations despite a complex patchwork of contrasting habitat types.