Investigating landscape change and ecological restoration: an integrated approach using historical ecology and GIS in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta
This thesis examines landscape change from 1889 to the present within the foothills-parkland ecoregion of Waterton Lakes National Park (WLNP) in southwestern Alberta, Canada. Land cover dynamics are explored qualitatively and quantitatively using Geographical Information Systems and a combination of...
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ftuvicpubl:oai:dspace.library.uvic.ca:1828/37 2023-05-15T16:16:34+02:00 Investigating landscape change and ecological restoration: an integrated approach using historical ecology and GIS in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta Levesque, Lisa Marie Higgs, Eric Keller, Peter 2005 4346759 bytes application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/1828/37 English en eng http://hdl.handle.net/1828/37 Available for worldwide web landscape change repeat photography GIS historical ecology Waterton Lakes National Park Alberta aspen Populus tremuloides (Michx.) vegetation dynamics Rocky Mountains bison fire ecology land survey records foothills-parkland fescue prairie Environmental sciences Geography Thesis 2005 ftuvicpubl 2022-05-19T06:13:31Z This thesis examines landscape change from 1889 to the present within the foothills-parkland ecoregion of Waterton Lakes National Park (WLNP) in southwestern Alberta, Canada. Land cover dynamics are explored qualitatively and quantitatively using Geographical Information Systems and a combination of historical and contemporary data sources including: (1) Dominion Land Survey (DLS) transect records (1889), (2) repeat oblique photographs (1914 and 2004) and repeat aerial photography (1939 and 1999). Results indicate a consistent increase in woody vegetation cover, particularly aspen forest cover, within the foothills-parkland since 1889, largely at the expense of native grasslands. The primary drivers of these changes likely include: climatic influences, changes to the historical grazing regime, the suppression of natural fire cycles and the cessation of First Nations’ land management practices. This research illustrates the value of integrating multiple historical data sources for studying landscape change in the Canadian Rockies, and explores the implications of this change for ecological restoration in the foothills-parkland of WLNP. Thesis First Nations University of Victoria (Canada): UVicDSpace Canada Parkland ENVELOPE(-120.570,-120.570,55.917,55.917) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Victoria (Canada): UVicDSpace |
op_collection_id |
ftuvicpubl |
language |
English |
topic |
landscape change repeat photography GIS historical ecology Waterton Lakes National Park Alberta aspen Populus tremuloides (Michx.) vegetation dynamics Rocky Mountains bison fire ecology land survey records foothills-parkland fescue prairie Environmental sciences Geography |
spellingShingle |
landscape change repeat photography GIS historical ecology Waterton Lakes National Park Alberta aspen Populus tremuloides (Michx.) vegetation dynamics Rocky Mountains bison fire ecology land survey records foothills-parkland fescue prairie Environmental sciences Geography Levesque, Lisa Marie Investigating landscape change and ecological restoration: an integrated approach using historical ecology and GIS in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta |
topic_facet |
landscape change repeat photography GIS historical ecology Waterton Lakes National Park Alberta aspen Populus tremuloides (Michx.) vegetation dynamics Rocky Mountains bison fire ecology land survey records foothills-parkland fescue prairie Environmental sciences Geography |
description |
This thesis examines landscape change from 1889 to the present within the foothills-parkland ecoregion of Waterton Lakes National Park (WLNP) in southwestern Alberta, Canada. Land cover dynamics are explored qualitatively and quantitatively using Geographical Information Systems and a combination of historical and contemporary data sources including: (1) Dominion Land Survey (DLS) transect records (1889), (2) repeat oblique photographs (1914 and 2004) and repeat aerial photography (1939 and 1999). Results indicate a consistent increase in woody vegetation cover, particularly aspen forest cover, within the foothills-parkland since 1889, largely at the expense of native grasslands. The primary drivers of these changes likely include: climatic influences, changes to the historical grazing regime, the suppression of natural fire cycles and the cessation of First Nations’ land management practices. This research illustrates the value of integrating multiple historical data sources for studying landscape change in the Canadian Rockies, and explores the implications of this change for ecological restoration in the foothills-parkland of WLNP. |
author2 |
Higgs, Eric Keller, Peter |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Levesque, Lisa Marie |
author_facet |
Levesque, Lisa Marie |
author_sort |
Levesque, Lisa Marie |
title |
Investigating landscape change and ecological restoration: an integrated approach using historical ecology and GIS in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta |
title_short |
Investigating landscape change and ecological restoration: an integrated approach using historical ecology and GIS in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta |
title_full |
Investigating landscape change and ecological restoration: an integrated approach using historical ecology and GIS in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta |
title_fullStr |
Investigating landscape change and ecological restoration: an integrated approach using historical ecology and GIS in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta |
title_full_unstemmed |
Investigating landscape change and ecological restoration: an integrated approach using historical ecology and GIS in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta |
title_sort |
investigating landscape change and ecological restoration: an integrated approach using historical ecology and gis in waterton lakes national park, alberta |
publishDate |
2005 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1828/37 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-120.570,-120.570,55.917,55.917) |
geographic |
Canada Parkland |
geographic_facet |
Canada Parkland |
genre |
First Nations |
genre_facet |
First Nations |
op_relation |
http://hdl.handle.net/1828/37 |
op_rights |
Available for worldwide web |
_version_ |
1766002421705736192 |