Plant succession in the High Arctic : patterns & mechanisms ...

• Main Author: O'Kane, Katriina
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2018
• Subjects: Alexandra Fiord; Arctic; Ellesmere Island
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0365968; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0365968

Succession is defined as species change over time, and investigations into its nature over the past century have shown that it is a highly variable process, dependent on local environmental conditions and species pools. The High Arctic is a landscape currently experiencing rapid change, and the response of ecosystems to certain changes can be better predicted by understanding succession. However, little research has been conducted about succession in High Arctic environments. Consequently, in this thesis we investigate the patterns of and mechanisms behind plant succession at and around Alexandra Fiord, Ellesmere Island, in the Canadian High Arctic. In Chapter 2 we resurvey three glacial forelands originally surveyed 21 years ago to investigate patterns of primary succession. We find that species advance predictably in a directional manner towards the retreating glacial margin, however the rates and patterns of change are unique to each species, and species do not behave as well define communities. However, ...