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The Montane Vegetation of Jasper National Park

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The Montane Vegetation of Jasper National Park University of Alberta Eighty Years of Change: The Montane Vegetation of Jasper National Park Jeanine Marie Rhemtulla O A thesis subrnitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfilhnent of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Forest Biology and Management Department of Renewable Resources Edmonton, AIberta Spring 1999 National tibrary Bibliothèque nationale 1+1 ofmada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue Wellingîon Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada Your ale Voue reference Our Ne Notre reldrence The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive Licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microfom, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/nlm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts f?om it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. ABSTRACT Changes in vegetation patterns fkom 1915 to the present in the montane ecoregion of Jasper National Park, Canada, were examined. Repeat photography of a series of 19 15 swey photographs was completed. Vegetation in the paired images was analyzed both qualitatively and through the development of a new quantitative method for interpreting oblique photographs. Maps of vegetation cover in 1949 and 1991 were constmcted fiom aerial photographs, overlaid and analyzed with G.I. S. software. Results indicate a shift towards late successional vegetation types and an increase in crown ciosure in coniferous stands. Grasslands, shmb, young tree growth, and open forests have decreased in extent, and closed canopy forests have becorne more prevalent. Changes in human activity. including interventions in the fire regime, are likely largely responsible. The results of the work may help to define historical reference conditions and to help establish restoration goals for the montane ecoregion of the park. It's been a wild ride, and 1 owe much to those who have joined me dong the way. First, to my supervisory cornmittee: Ellen Macdonald, the supervisor with incredibte patience, Ron Hall who never tired of answering my million questions, Peter Murphy, who was always ready with a fascinating historical anecdote, and Suzanne Bayley, who provided a breath of fksh air at the end. To the crew on the Culture, Ecology, Restoration Project with whom 1 spent my summers in Jasper chewing over ideas and climbing momtains: JOUrion, Mike Norton, Cindy DUflIilgan, Adele Laramee, Am Ronald, Claire Sanders, Nicki Miller, Erin Rafuse, Ian MacLaren, Sandy Campbell, and Tim Martin among others. To the fohat Jasper National Park, who were always interested in the work: Kim Forster (the amazing librarian!), Jeff Anderson, Brian Wallace, George Mercer, Peter Ache, and Eck Kubian. To my fellow forestry fiends: Pete Presant, Jon Stuart-Smith, George Petersen, Car1 Burgess, Karen Harper, and Barb Sanders, who were always ready with slightly cynical and always hilarious commentary. To those who listened to it all, over and over again: the inhabitants of Muse House, Adele, Ramona and Arnahl, and the garage they never built, and, of course, my farnily. It wouldn't have been possible without the fmancial support provided by NSERC (Post- graduate scholarship), The CER Project, Foothills Mode1 Forest, The Faculîy of Graduate Studies (Sir Walter John Scholarship) and the Department of Renewable Resources (Graduate Research Assistantship). And to Eric Higgs, mentor and great niend, without whom this project would never have been started, much less completed. Thanks for al1 those leisurely rambles through the woods. And fhally, to the wiid space that is Jasper National Park, where 1 learned so much when 1 remembered to Men, that it might survive our attempt to understand it. My deepest gratitude to al1 - I'm looking forward to the day our paths cross again. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Background .................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Vegetation of the Montane Ecoregion ....................... ... ........................................... 3 1.3 The Ecology of Change ............................................................................................... 5 1.4 A Iandscape of change ................................ ........ ......................................................... 8 1-5 Methods in Forest History Research .................. ..... ............................................ 9 1.6 Research Objectives ................................................................................................... 11 1.7 Literature Cited ......................................................................................................... 12 Chapter 2: Repeating the Bridgland Suwey: Tracing vegetation change through historical photographs Introduction ............. .. .............................................................................................. 17 Study Site ................................................................................................................... 19 Methods............ .. .................................................................................................... 21 2.3.1 Data Acquisition ................................................................................................. 21 2.3.2 Data Analysis ...................................................................................................... 23 2.4 Resdts ........................................................................................................................ 24 2.4.1 Qualitative analysis ............................................................................................. 24 2.4.2 Quantitative analysis ........................................................................................... 48 2.5 Discussion and Conclusions ...................................................................................... 51 2.6 Literature Cited .......................................................................................................... 56 Chapter 3: A View From Above: Mapping vegetation change through aerial photographs 3.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 58 3.1 Study Site ................................................................................................................... 59 3.2 Methods ..................... ... ......................................................................................... 60 3.2.1 Airphoto Interpretation ....................................................................................... 60 3.2.2 Ground-mithing .................................................................................................. 61 3.2.3 Map creation ....................................................................................................... 62 3.2.4 Spatial and Statistical Interpretation ................................................................... 62 11 3.3 Results ........................................................................................................................63 3.4 Discussion and Conclusions ......................................................................................78 3.4.1 General Trends of Change .................................................................................. 78 3.4.2 Forest Encroachment .......................................................................................... 79 3.4.3 Changes in forest structure and composition .................................................... 80 3.4.4 Increase in Homogeneity .................................................................................... 82 3.4.5 Conclusions .......... ........................................................................................... 82 3.5 Literature Cited ........................................................................................................ 83 Chapter 4: Bringing the Past to Bear on the Future 4.0 Eighty Years of Change ............................................................................................. 85 4.0.1 Evaluating the Oblique Photo Interpretation Methodology ............... ............... 86 4.0.2 Combining the two data sets ..................... ..................................................... 88 4.1 Drivers of Change ..................................... ... .............................................................. 89 4.1.1 Anthropogenic Activity ...................................................................................... 89 4.1.2 Fire ................................................................................................................. 91 4.2 The Implications of Continued Fire Exclusion .......................................................... 93 4.3 Does the past rellect the futwe? ...... .... ......... .. ... .. ...-..
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