Vegetation re-establishment in polar “lichen-kill” landscapes: a case study of the Little Ice Age impact
It has been accepted that the extremely sparse vegetation currently observed in Canadian polar deserts is due to prevailing unfavourable climatic conditions, inhibiting plant establishment, growth and survival. Less considered in the literature is the additional antagonistic factor of episodic adver...
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Norwegian Polar Institute
1999
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Online Access: | https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2234 https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v18i2.6578 |
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ftjpolarres:oai:journals.openacademia.net:article/2234 2023-05-15T13:15:26+02:00 Vegetation re-establishment in polar “lichen-kill” landscapes: a case study of the Little Ice Age impact Lévesque, Esther Svoboda, Josef 1999-01-12 application/pdf https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2234 https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v18i2.6578 eng eng Norwegian Polar Institute https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2234/5485 https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2234 doi:10.3402/polar.v18i2.6578 Copyright (c) 2018 Polar Research Polar Research; Vol. 18 No. 2 (1999): Special issue: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Polar Aspects of Global Change; 221-228 1751-8369 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 1999 ftjpolarres https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v18i2.6578 2021-11-11T19:12:21Z It has been accepted that the extremely sparse vegetation currently observed in Canadian polar deserts is due to prevailing unfavourable climatic conditions, inhibiting plant establishment, growth and survival. Less considered in the literature is the additional antagonistic factor of episodic adverse climatic anomalies. Such was the most recent Little Ice Age (LIA) cooling which caused a setback to, or even largescale extinction of, high Arctic plant communities that had taken centuries to develop. The LIA brought about new glacial advances, expansion of permanent snow banks and formation of ice crusts over entire landscapes. The newly formed ice (and snow) killed the underlying vegetation, thus creating what is in the geological literature referred to as “lichen-kill zones.” In these zones the current plant diversity and abundance are exceedingly low and the plants are all relatively young and even-aged, factors which all point to their recent origin. Here we maintain that this vegetation has not yet reached equilibrium with the present prevailing climate and that it is still in an initial stage of succession. We present results of eight upland sites sampled in the vicinity of Alexandra Fiord Lowland, Ellesmere Island, Canada, to demonstrate the slow recolonization process that has been occurring within the last 100–150 years after the LIA termination. The widespread presence of the “lichen-kill” zones throughout the Canadian polar regions reflects the extent and destructive nature of even minor climatic cooling on vulnerable polar ecosystems. Article in Journal/Newspaper Alexandra Fiord Arctic Ellesmere Island Polar Research Polar Research (E-Journal) Arctic Ellesmere Island Canada Alexandra Fiord ENVELOPE(-75.797,-75.797,78.885,78.885) Polar Research 18 2 221 228 |
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Open Polar |
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Polar Research (E-Journal) |
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ftjpolarres |
language |
English |
description |
It has been accepted that the extremely sparse vegetation currently observed in Canadian polar deserts is due to prevailing unfavourable climatic conditions, inhibiting plant establishment, growth and survival. Less considered in the literature is the additional antagonistic factor of episodic adverse climatic anomalies. Such was the most recent Little Ice Age (LIA) cooling which caused a setback to, or even largescale extinction of, high Arctic plant communities that had taken centuries to develop. The LIA brought about new glacial advances, expansion of permanent snow banks and formation of ice crusts over entire landscapes. The newly formed ice (and snow) killed the underlying vegetation, thus creating what is in the geological literature referred to as “lichen-kill zones.” In these zones the current plant diversity and abundance are exceedingly low and the plants are all relatively young and even-aged, factors which all point to their recent origin. Here we maintain that this vegetation has not yet reached equilibrium with the present prevailing climate and that it is still in an initial stage of succession. We present results of eight upland sites sampled in the vicinity of Alexandra Fiord Lowland, Ellesmere Island, Canada, to demonstrate the slow recolonization process that has been occurring within the last 100–150 years after the LIA termination. The widespread presence of the “lichen-kill” zones throughout the Canadian polar regions reflects the extent and destructive nature of even minor climatic cooling on vulnerable polar ecosystems. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lévesque, Esther Svoboda, Josef |
spellingShingle |
Lévesque, Esther Svoboda, Josef Vegetation re-establishment in polar “lichen-kill” landscapes: a case study of the Little Ice Age impact |
author_facet |
Lévesque, Esther Svoboda, Josef |
author_sort |
Lévesque, Esther |
title |
Vegetation re-establishment in polar “lichen-kill” landscapes: a case study of the Little Ice Age impact |
title_short |
Vegetation re-establishment in polar “lichen-kill” landscapes: a case study of the Little Ice Age impact |
title_full |
Vegetation re-establishment in polar “lichen-kill” landscapes: a case study of the Little Ice Age impact |
title_fullStr |
Vegetation re-establishment in polar “lichen-kill” landscapes: a case study of the Little Ice Age impact |
title_full_unstemmed |
Vegetation re-establishment in polar “lichen-kill” landscapes: a case study of the Little Ice Age impact |
title_sort |
vegetation re-establishment in polar “lichen-kill” landscapes: a case study of the little ice age impact |
publisher |
Norwegian Polar Institute |
publishDate |
1999 |
url |
https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2234 https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v18i2.6578 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-75.797,-75.797,78.885,78.885) |
geographic |
Arctic Ellesmere Island Canada Alexandra Fiord |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Ellesmere Island Canada Alexandra Fiord |
genre |
Alexandra Fiord Arctic Ellesmere Island Polar Research |
genre_facet |
Alexandra Fiord Arctic Ellesmere Island Polar Research |
op_source |
Polar Research; Vol. 18 No. 2 (1999): Special issue: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Polar Aspects of Global Change; 221-228 1751-8369 |
op_relation |
https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2234/5485 https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2234 doi:10.3402/polar.v18i2.6578 |
op_rights |
Copyright (c) 2018 Polar Research |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v18i2.6578 |
container_title |
Polar Research |
container_volume |
18 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
221 |
op_container_end_page |
228 |
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1766268590876524544 |