Primary plant succession on the Twin Glacier foreland, Alexandra Fjord, Ellesmere Island, Canadian high Arctic ...

• Main Author: Jones, Glenda A.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2009
• Subjects: Arctic; Ellesmere Island; Luzula confusa
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0099147; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0099147

Primary plant succession was examined on the foreland of the retreating Twin Glacier at Alexandra Fjord, Ellesmere Island. The position of the glacial front was monitored directly from 1980 to 1995 (except 1986-1991), and airphotos show the position of the glacier in 1959. Hence, there was an excellent opportunity to study primary succession where there was adequate chronological control. Presently, a well preserved pre-Little Ice Age plant community and organically rich (paleo) soil are being released from the Twin Glacier, in addition to glacio-fluvial sediments, rendering this foreland study unique. A terrain age scheme was developed using direct retreat measurements, airphotos and Salix aging. The relationship between the clump diameters of Luzula confusa and terrain age was determined to provide an alternative to lichenometry. Vegetation cover was assessed in 1994 and 1995 using a stratified random design. TWINSPAN and canonical correspondence analysis (detrended and non-detrended) were used together to ...