Revegetation in Arctic and Subarctic North America. A Literature Review

• Main Authors: Johnson, Larry, Van Cleve, Keith
• Other Authors: COLD REGIONS RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING LAB HANOVER NH
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1976
• Subjects: Biology; Ecology; *ALASKA; *ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT; *VEGETATION; HAZARDS; TREES; CLIMATE; ARCTIC REGIONS; GRASSES; FERTILIZERS; PERMAFROST; SEEDING; SUBARCTIC REGIONS; Revegetation; Arctic; permafrost; Subarctic; Thermokarst; Alaska
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA027406; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA027406

A literature review of revegetation and biological aspects of restoration research was completed for arctic and subarctic North America. Although there is a great deal of climatic variation in this region it is generally characterized by extreme conditions, such as a short growing season and permafrost. Most of the revegetation research has been undertaken in the last six years as a result of increased natural resource development. The primary goal has been erosion control, with aesthetics, minimization of thermokarst, and production of browse as other objectives. Revegetation and long-term restoration methods depend upon such variables as the site conditions, nutrient regime (especially as this is influenced by the climatic conditions in the Arctic and Subarctic), plant adaptations, and the selection of native or introduced species. Technologies which have been developed to meet these conditions primarily include seedbed preparation, use of seed mixes, and fertilization and seeding methods. Most of the research has focused on the use of agronomic grasses and legumes. These are selected on the basis of a number of factors, such as cold hardiness and growth form prior to evaluation in the laboratory and the field. The most successful species to date have been Arctared fescue and Nugget bluegrass in the Arctic, while these two as well as creeping red fescue, meadow foxtail, Frontier reed canarygrass, Durar hard fescue, slender wheatgrass, and Icelandic poa did well in the Subarctic. Similar methods have been attempted to a more limited extent with evaluation of native herbaceous and woody species which seem promising on the basis of natural succession studies.