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High Arctic Vegetation Change Mediated by Hydrological Conditions

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High Arctic Vegetation Change Mediated by Hydrological Conditions Ecosystems https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-020-00506-7 Ó 2020 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature High Arctic Vegetation Change Mediated by Hydrological Conditions T. Kiyo F. Campbell,1* Trevor C. Lantz,1 Robert H. Fraser,2 and Danica Hogan3 1School of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria, PO Box 1700 STN CSC, Victoria, British Columbia V8W 2Y2, Canada; 2Centre for Mapping and Earth Observation Canada, Natural Resources Canada, 560 Rochester Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1S 5K2, Canada; 3Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Wildlife Service, Nova Plaza. 5019 – 52nd Street, PO Box 2310, Yellowknife, Northern Territory X1A 2P7, Canada ABSTRACT Increasing air temperatures are driving widespread ing productivity levels can be attributed to changes to Arctic vegetation. In the high Arctic, increasing biomass of the plant communities in these changes are patchy and the causes of both upland and lowland habitats. Our analysis heterogeneity are not well understood. In this also shows that the magnitude of greening is study, we explore the determinants of high Arctic mediated by terrain characteristics related to soil vegetation change over the last three decades on moisture. Shifts in tundra vegetation will impact Banks Island, Northwest Territories. We used wildlife habitat quality, surface energy balance, Landsat imagery (1984–2014) to map long-term permafrost dynamics, and the carbon cycle; addi- trends in vegetation productivity and regional tional research is needed to explore the effects of spatial data to investigate the relationships between more productive vegetation communities on these trends in productivity and terrain position. Field processes in the high Arctic. sampling investigated vegetation community com- position in different habitat types. Our analysis Key words: Climate change; Landsat; Remote shows that vegetation productivity changes are sensing; Primary production; Tundra ecosystems; substantial on Banks Island, where productivity has Protected areas. increased across about 80% of the study area. Ris- HIGHLIGHTS Greening trends are more common in upland habitats than in lowland habitats. The magnitude of greening is strongly influenced Vegetation productivity is increasing across the by moisture conditions. Banks Island, NT, high Arctic ecosystem. INTRODUCTION Received 3 October 2019; accepted 5 April 2020 Rapidly warming temperatures are driving wide- Electronic supplementary material: The online version of this article spread changes to vegetation in many Arctic re- (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-020-00506-7) contains supplementary gions (Kaplan and New 2006; Lantz and others material, which is available to authorized users. 2010; Myers-Smith and others 2011; Fraser and Author Contributions TKFC and TCL took part in conceptualization and design; TKFC, TCL, and RHF performed research; TKFC analyzed others 2014a; Ju and Masek 2016). Plot-based data; TKFC, TCL, RHF, and DH contributed to methods; and TKFC, TCL, studies in the high Arctic show that vegetation RHF, and DH wrote the manuscript. productivity is increasing (Hudson and Henry 2009; *Corresponding author; e-mail: [email protected] T. K. F. Campbell and others Hill and Henry 2011), but remote sensing studies sponses to climate change (Fraser and others 2018; indicate that changes are regionally variable, with Campbell and others 2018). Over the last few extensive greening (increases in satellite-derived decades, lowland areas across Banks Island have vegetation productivity), browning (decreases in experienced a decline in surface water through the satellite-derived vegetation productivity), and sta- drying of shallow tundra ponds (Campbell and bility (no change in vegetation productivity) evi- others 2018), whereas upland areas have shown an dent across the high Arctic (Guay and others 2014; increase in surface water driven by the develop- Ju and Masek 2016; Edwards and Treitz 2017). ment of new ice-wedge melt ponds (Fraser and Heterogeneity in productivity trends is likely re- others 2018). A paleoecological study of high Arctic lated to continental differences in temperature wetlands during a period of mid-twentieth-century (Raynolds and others 2008; Reichle and others warming also showed changes in moisture and 2018), but landscape-scale differences in biophysi- vegetation conditions that depended on wetland cal variables (for example, soil moisture, surface type (Sim and others 2019). Given the magnitude water, vegetation type, snow conditions, and her- of the recent hydrological changes on Banks Island, bivory) may be contributing to the variation in shifting moisture conditions could be creating vegetation responses to warming (Kotanen and diverging vegetation productivity trends among Jefferies 1997; Myers-Smith and others 2015; Ca- terrain types. meron and Lantz 2016; Martin and others 2017; In this study, we combined the analysis of Bjorkman and others 2019; Sim and others 2019). moderate resolution (30 m) Landsat satellite ima- Satellite-derived trends can also be influenced by gery (1984–2014) and regional spatial data with the interaction between the biophysical variation field sampling of vegetation communities to of a landscape and the spectral, spatial, and tem- examine the regional scale determinants of high poral resolution of the data being used (Campbell Arctic vegetation change over the last three dec- and others 2018; Myers-Smith and others 2020). ades. We hypothesized that: (1) changes in vege- Understanding the factors controlling high Arctic tation productivity would differ by habitat vegetation change is important because shifts in characteristics and topographic conditions and (2) vegetation will impact wildlife habitat quality, changes in moisture would be positively associated surface energy balance, permafrost dynamics, and with trends in vegetation productivity. the carbon cycle (Harding and others 2002; Chapin and others 2005; Gornall and others 2007; Fraser STUDY AREA and others 2014a; Fisher and others 2016). In high Arctic ecosystems, topographic position is Banks Island is the westernmost island in the a primary determinant of soil moisture and plant Canadian Arctic Archipelago and part of the Inu- community composition and productivity (Barrett vialuit Settlement Region in the Northwest Terri- and Teeri 1973; Bliss 1977; Woo and Young 1997, tories. The community of Sachs Harbour is the only 2006; Ecosystem Classification Group 2013; Becker permanent settlement on the island, with a popu- and others 2016). Upland terrain (for example, lation of approximately 100 residents. Located steep slopes, hilltops, and plateaus) has low soil within the northern or high Arctic ecozone, this moisture, vegetation cover, and organic soil area has a harsh climate with a mean annual development relative to poorly drained lowland temperature of - 12.8 °C at Sachs Harbour. Sum- terrain (for example, flats, alluvial terraces, or areas mers are short, with average daily temperatures adjacent to water bodies) (Bliss 1977; Hines and rising above freezing for only 3 months of the year, others 2010; Ecosystem Classification Group 2013). peaking at 6.6 °C in July. Average annual precipi- Upland plant communities are often sparsely veg- tation is 151.5 mm, with 38% falling as rain be- etated by prostrate dwarf shrubs and sedges, tween June and September (Environment and whereas lowland communities are dominated by Climate Change Canada 2019). Mean annual hydrophilic sedges, grasses, and mosses (Cody temperature has increased by 3.5 °C since 1956, 2000; CAVM Team 2003). These large differences while summer precipitation and maximum snow in soil and vegetation conditions suggest that water equivalent before spring melt have changed topographic position is likely to influence the nat- minimally (Fraser and others 2018; Mudryk and ure of climate-driven vegetation change in the high others 2018). Arctic. This study focuses on Banks Island Migratory Recent studies on Banks Island, Northwest Ter- Bird Sanctuary No. 1 (BIMBS1), which covers ritories, show that upland and lowland terrain 20,517 km2 of the southwestern side of the island types have exhibited different hydrological re- (Figure 1) and is the second-largest federally pro- Hydrology-Mediated Vegetation Change Figure 1. Map of Banks Island Migratory Bird Sanctuary No. 1, showing habitat types from the land cover classification by Hines and others (2010). Inset map at the upper left corner shows the study area on Banks Island outlined with a red box (Color figure online). tected migratory bird sanctuary in Canada (Hines BIMBS1 was created in 1961 to protect migratory and others 2010; Ecosystem Classification Group birds and their habitat on Banks Island. BIMBS1 2013). BIMBS1 is characterized by gently rolling provides important nesting habitat for many uplands intersected by numerous west flowing migratory birds, including lesser snow geese (Chen rivers with wide floodplains. Alluvial terraces in caerulescens caerulescens), black brant (Branta bernicla river valleys are dotted with thousands of shallow nigricans), and king eiders (Somateria spectabilis). The ponds and have nearly continuous vegetation main nesting colony for over 95% of the western cover dominated by sedges, grasses, and mosses Arctic lesser snow goose population is located at the (Hines and others 2010; Ecosystem Classification confluence of the Egg and Big Rivers, within the Group 2013). Upland areas are occupied by sparse migratory bird sanctuary (Hines and others 2010; to continuous
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