A preliminary assessment of the influence of adjacent land-use on growth-form composition of vegetation in small Newfoundland basin bogs

• Main Author: Granger, Jean Elizabeth
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Memorial University of Newfoundland 2019
• Subjects: Canada; Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://research.library.mun.ca/13884/; https://research.library.mun.ca/13884/1/thesis.pdf

Anthropogenic land-use in wetland-adjacent landscapes has been demonstrated to alter wetland ecology in several ways, including changes to vegetation composition. However, comparatively little of this kind of research has been dedicated to bog wetlands specifically. The purpose of this study was to examine if vegetation growth-form composition in small basin bogs is influenced by different types of adjacent land-use throughout the St. John’s region of Newfoundland, Canada. The results provide evidence that overall vegetation composition in small basin bogs are different depending on adjacent land-use (pasture, urban, or natural) and graminoid growth-form vegetation specifically decreases in bogs next to pasture land-use. Additional studies of a similar nature, particularly those implementing remote sensing methods, may provide further evidence to strengthen this relationship in the future.