STRUCTURE OF ERIOPHOR UM TUSSOCK TUNDRA ECOSYSTEM IN NORTHERN YUKON TERRITORY, CANADA

• Main Author: Satoru Kojima
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Canada; Yukon; Empetrum nigrum; permafrost; Rubus chamaemorus; Tundra
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.513.3380; http://polaris.nipr.ac.jp/~penguin/polarbiosci/issues/pdf/1996-Kojima.pdf

Abstract: Vegetation structure and soil profile characteristics of Eriophorum tus-sock tundra in northern Yukon Territory, Canada, were studied. Based on twenty sample plots, a vegetation synthesis table was constructed. Constancy and average cover values were calculated for all the vascular plant species. The following species, Eriophorum vaginatum, Ledum decumbens, Betula glandulosa, Vaccinium vitis-idaea, Empetrum nigrum, Rubus chamaemorus, Carex lugens and Salix pulchra, showed constancy class more than IV and, thus, characterized the tussock tundra vegetation. Soils were underlain permafrost at the depth of 37.4 cm on average. The thickness of the active layer varied substantially according to the kind of vegetation on it. Under Eriophorum tussocks it was thick (50-60 cm) whereas it was shallow (30-40 cm) under Sphagnum mats. Horizonation was simple and consisted of only a peat layer (Of, Om) and mineral horizon (Cz). The thickness of the peat layer was 23.0 cm on average. The total amount of organic carbon accumulated in the tussock tundra was estimated to be 13.32 kgC/m2. Assuming that peat formation in the area started at the beginning of the Holocene and continued to the present for the past 10000 years, the annual rate of peat accretion was estimated to be 0.023 mm, far less than the rates generally reported for northern peatlands. 1.