The Where and When of Tundra Plants: Distribution and Phenology of Sub-Arctic Vegetation

• Main Author: Diepstraten, Rianne
• Other Authors: Musiani, Marco
• Format: Master Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Environmental Design 2017
• Subjects: Ecology; Remote Sensing; Environmental Sciences; Arctic; Northwest Territories; Climate change; Tundra
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11023/3860; https://doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/28424

Distribution and demography of wildlife populations are influenced by the distribution of food resources in space and time, particularly in ecosystems characterized by pronounced seasonality. In this thesis, I describe the spatiotemporal occurrence of vegetation in a 40,000 km2 study area in the Northwest Territories tundra by combining methods from vegetation science and remote sensing. First, I conduct a literature review and conclude that tundra vegetation is being relatively neglected in recent studies. I also create a new land cover classification that describes the biological and physical composition of the landscape. In addition, I establish phenology of plant species important for foraging and determine that temperature at the start of the season, aspect, and land cover type all influence the timing of plant development. Finally, I discuss how my findings can be applied to other studies about wildlife, vegetation, and climate change, and can inform wildlife management and conservation planning.