Patterns and Drivers of Change in the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index in Nunavik (Québec, Canada) over the Period 1984–2020
Altered temperature and precipitation regimes associated with climate change generally result in improved conditions for plant growth. For Arctic and sub-Arctic ecosystems, this new climatic context promotes an increase in primary productivity, a phenomenon often referred to as “greening”. Although...
Published in: | Atmosphere |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , |
Format: | Text |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
2023
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14071115 |
id |
ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2073-4433/14/7/1115/ |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2073-4433/14/7/1115/ 2023-08-20T04:03:57+02:00 Patterns and Drivers of Change in the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index in Nunavik (Québec, Canada) over the Period 1984–2020 Anna Gaspard Martin Simard Stéphane Boudreau agris 2023-07-05 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14071115 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Biometeorology https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/atmos14071115 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Atmosphere; Volume 14; Issue 7; Pages: 1115 climate change latitudinal gradient NDVI plant communities primary productivity Text 2023 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14071115 2023-08-01T10:45:13Z Altered temperature and precipitation regimes associated with climate change generally result in improved conditions for plant growth. For Arctic and sub-Arctic ecosystems, this new climatic context promotes an increase in primary productivity, a phenomenon often referred to as “greening”. Although this phenomenon has been widely documented at the circumpolar scale, little information is available at the scale of plant communities, the basic unit of the Arctic and sub-Arctic landscape mosaic. The objectives of this study were (1) to quantify the variation of NDVI within the different plant communities of Nunavik (Québec, QC, Canada) in order to identify which ones contributed the most to the greening and (2) to identify the climatic and biophysical drivers of the greening. To do so, we used Landsat imagery to produce a time series of summer NDVI for the period 1984 to 2020. A fine-resolution map of Northern Québec vegetation was then overlaid on the time series of NDVI imagery and on maps of surficial deposits, topography, and gridded climate data to obtain information at the plant community level. We found that greening was more important in shrub-dominated communities, particularly near the tree line. Summer temperature, fall and winter precipitation, and surficial deposits were identified as drivers of greening. Through utilizing detailed vegetation maps to accurately quantify changes in Nunavik’s plant communities, this study provides valuable insights into the dynamics of the region’s ecosystem under rapid climate change. Text Arctic Climate change Nunavik MDPI Open Access Publishing Arctic Nunavik Canada Atmosphere 14 7 1115 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
MDPI Open Access Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftmdpi |
language |
English |
topic |
climate change latitudinal gradient NDVI plant communities primary productivity |
spellingShingle |
climate change latitudinal gradient NDVI plant communities primary productivity Anna Gaspard Martin Simard Stéphane Boudreau Patterns and Drivers of Change in the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index in Nunavik (Québec, Canada) over the Period 1984–2020 |
topic_facet |
climate change latitudinal gradient NDVI plant communities primary productivity |
description |
Altered temperature and precipitation regimes associated with climate change generally result in improved conditions for plant growth. For Arctic and sub-Arctic ecosystems, this new climatic context promotes an increase in primary productivity, a phenomenon often referred to as “greening”. Although this phenomenon has been widely documented at the circumpolar scale, little information is available at the scale of plant communities, the basic unit of the Arctic and sub-Arctic landscape mosaic. The objectives of this study were (1) to quantify the variation of NDVI within the different plant communities of Nunavik (Québec, QC, Canada) in order to identify which ones contributed the most to the greening and (2) to identify the climatic and biophysical drivers of the greening. To do so, we used Landsat imagery to produce a time series of summer NDVI for the period 1984 to 2020. A fine-resolution map of Northern Québec vegetation was then overlaid on the time series of NDVI imagery and on maps of surficial deposits, topography, and gridded climate data to obtain information at the plant community level. We found that greening was more important in shrub-dominated communities, particularly near the tree line. Summer temperature, fall and winter precipitation, and surficial deposits were identified as drivers of greening. Through utilizing detailed vegetation maps to accurately quantify changes in Nunavik’s plant communities, this study provides valuable insights into the dynamics of the region’s ecosystem under rapid climate change. |
format |
Text |
author |
Anna Gaspard Martin Simard Stéphane Boudreau |
author_facet |
Anna Gaspard Martin Simard Stéphane Boudreau |
author_sort |
Anna Gaspard |
title |
Patterns and Drivers of Change in the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index in Nunavik (Québec, Canada) over the Period 1984–2020 |
title_short |
Patterns and Drivers of Change in the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index in Nunavik (Québec, Canada) over the Period 1984–2020 |
title_full |
Patterns and Drivers of Change in the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index in Nunavik (Québec, Canada) over the Period 1984–2020 |
title_fullStr |
Patterns and Drivers of Change in the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index in Nunavik (Québec, Canada) over the Period 1984–2020 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Patterns and Drivers of Change in the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index in Nunavik (Québec, Canada) over the Period 1984–2020 |
title_sort |
patterns and drivers of change in the normalized difference vegetation index in nunavik (québec, canada) over the period 1984–2020 |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14071115 |
op_coverage |
agris |
geographic |
Arctic Nunavik Canada |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Nunavik Canada |
genre |
Arctic Climate change Nunavik |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change Nunavik |
op_source |
Atmosphere; Volume 14; Issue 7; Pages: 1115 |
op_relation |
Biometeorology https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/atmos14071115 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14071115 |
container_title |
Atmosphere |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
1115 |
_version_ |
1774714409087664128 |