University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies Legacy Theses 2001 Modeling plant diversity and post-fire regeneration in a 31-year-old burn-Vermilion Pass, Canadian Rockies Chernoff, Gregory William Chernoff, G. W. (2001). Modeling plant diversity and post-fire regeneration in a 31-year-old burn-Vermilion Pass, Canadian Rockies (Unpublished master's thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. doi:10.11575/PRISM/22043 http://hdl.handle.net/1880/41211 master thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Modeling Plant Diversity and Post-Fire Regeneration in a 31 -Year-Old Bum - Vermilion Pass, Canadian Rockies Gregory William Chemoff A THESIS SUBMITIED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY CALGARY, ALBERTA AUGUST 2001 8Gregory Wliarn Chemoff 2001 National Library BibliotMque nationale 1+1 OfCanada du Canada uisitions and Acquisitions el 7.Bi tographic Services services bibliographiques 395 W.llircgkn Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON KIA ON4 OltawaON K1AON4 CPMdQ - The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive pennettant a la National Lidnary of Canada to Bibiioth&quenationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduke, pr&er, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette these sous paper or electronic formats. la fonne de microfiche/film, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format electronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriW du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui proege cette these. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent Stre imprimes reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. In response to a recognized need for improved understanding of the regenerative response of vegetation to fire, this thesis describes the composition and patterns of distribution of plant communities in a 2,430ha subalpine area in the Vermilion Pass, Canadian Rockies, which burned in July, 1968. Phnt community composition and distribution is modeled through a multi-stage process that incorporates field and ancillary data through an integration of rnulivariate statistics (cluster analysis), GIs and geostatistics (DEM-derivation of site characteristics, spatial interpolation), and remote sensing (maximum likelihood classification) methods. The result is a map of the current (1 999) distribution of plant communities in the Vermilion bum, which is used to compare plant communities in terms of composition, location in Vermilion Pass, and site preference. This thesis is intended as the second stage in a longitudinal study, which will record the vegetative regeneration of the Vermilion bum through a complete fire cycle. iii Numerous people and organizations were of tremendous help throughout the course of this research. I would like to express my humblest and most sincere thanks to: P Pa& Canada - especially Rob Walker and Dave Gilbride at the KootenayNoholLake Louise Field Office in Radium, for support in the form of a warm and dry place to stay during field season, digital data and other resources, and a grant that enabled the hiring of a field assistant. P The Province of Alberta and the Faculty of Graduate Studies. who contributed research grants to this thesis research. P The entire Department of Geography at the University of Calgary, but especially the following people: Dr. Mryka Hall-Beyer (thesis supemisor), Dr. Damn Sjogren, Dr. Wayne Strong, Dr. Nigel Waters, Dr. Clarence Woudsma, Dr. Stuart Hanis, Ms. Medina Deuling, and Mr. Robin Poitras. P Richard Norman, field assistant extraordinaire, for smiling in the face of rain, cold, and adversity, bringing the cookies, eating 'hungn for supper every night, continuing on his own after Ifell off a log and sprained my ankle, knitting nice toques, and working four months before receiving a pay cheque. P Mollie Ferris, for her support, patience, kindness, and love. P All the rest of my family and friends who have offered encouragement, kinship, community and support. Dedicaed to the whitebark pine, Ltre wolverine, and ihe western Indian paintbrush, and to the modher of us all. TABLE OF CONTENTS Approval Page ...........................................................................................................ii Abstract ............... ......................................................................... ......................... iii Acknowledgements ................................................................................................ iv Dedication ...............................................................................................................v Table of Contents .......................................................................... ....................... vi ... List of Tables ........................................................................................................... VIII List of Figures .. .. .. .. .. ix List of Equations ...... .. xii ... Epigraph .. .. .. .. .. xln CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 2 - BACKGROUND ............................................. ..................... ................ 4 CHAPTER 3 - LITERATURE REVIEW .... .. .... .. .... .. ........... .. .... ..... .. ........... 10 3.1 - Subalpine Forest Fire Ecology .. ... .. .... ........ .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 10 3.2 - Modeling Composition and Distribution of Vegetation .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. 12 3.3 - Past Vegetation Studies in and Around Vermilion Pass ........ ..... .... ... .. .. .. ........ .. 17 3.4 - Literature Review Summary .. .... ... ... ......... ..... ..... .. .... .... .. .. .. .. 26 CHAPTER 4 - METHODS ........................................ .................. ..................... 27 4.1 - Field Data Collection, Input and Verif'ition .. .. .. .. 27 4.2 - Cluster Analysis .. .. 30 4.3 - Incorporation of Spatial Data .. .. .. 33 4.4 - Identification of Diagnostic Species .. 39 4.5 - Modeling Distributions of Diagnostic Species ......................... .............. .......... 44 vi 4.6 .Modeling Distribution of Plant Communities ................................................ 52 CHAPTER 5 .RESULTS ............................... .... ........................................................ 57 5.1 .Field Data Set ......................................................................................57 5.2 .Cluster Analysis ..................................................................................... 58 5.3 .Incorporation of Spatial Data ................................................................... 59 5.4 .Identification of Diagnostic Species ............................................................. 61 5.5 .Modeling Distributions of Diagnostic Species ............................................ 71 5.6 .Modeling Distribution of Plant Communities ................................................... 83 CHAPTER 6 = DISCUSSION ........................................................................................ 85 6.1 .The Plant Communities of the Vermilion Bum .............................................. 85 6.2 .Critique of the Model ........................................................................... 117 6.3 = Suggestions for Further Research .............................................................. 122 CHAPTER 7 .CONCLUSION .................................................................................. 127 REFERENCES ................................................................................................... 130 APPENDIX 1 .Data and Software Used in this Thesis ......................................................136 APPENDIX 2 = Model Flow Chart ................................................................................ 137 APPENDIX 3 .Cartographic Model ..............................................................................138 APPENDIX 4 .Instrument Used for Recording of Field Data ............................................. 141 APPENDIX 5 .Complete list of Species Identified in the Vermilion Bum ............................. 142 APPENDIX 6 .Summary of Plant Spedes Composition by Cluster ..................................... 145 APPENDIX 7 .DEM-Derived Ancillary Data Layers ......................................................... 156 APPENDIX 8 .Summary Statistics for Tree Spedes ....................................................... 163 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 .Lower Subalpine Ecmites of Vermilion Pass ....................................................18 Table 3.2 .Upper Subalpine Ecosites of Vermilion Pass ....................................................19 Table 5.1 .Summary of Main Features of Field Data Set ................................................... 51 Table 5.2 .Plant Communities of the Vermilion Bum ........................................................59 Table 5.3 .Correlation