Four Decades of Plant Community Change in the Alpine Tundra of Southwest Yukon,Canada |
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Authors: | Ryan K Danby Saewan Koh David S Hik Larry W Price |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Geography and School of Environmental Studies, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada;(2) Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E9, Canada;(3) Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E9, Canada;(4) Department of Geography, Portland State University, Portland, OR, USA |
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Abstract: | Repeat measurements from long-term plots provide precise data for studying plant community change. In 2010, we visited a remote
location in Yukon, Canada, where a detailed survey of alpine tundra communities was conducted in 1968. Plant community composition
was resurveyed on the same four slopes using the same methods as the original study. Species richness and diversity increased
significantly over the 42 years and non-metric multidimensional scaling indicated that community composition had also changed
significantly. However, the direction and magnitude of change varied with aspect. Dominant species were not replaced or eliminated
but, instead, declined in relative importance. Fine-scale changes in vegetation were evident from repeat photography and dendro-ecological
analysis of erect shrubs, supporting the community-level analysis. The period of study corresponds to a mean annual temperature
increase of 2°C, suggesting that climate warming has influenced these changes. |
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Keywords: | Tundra Yukon Climate change Arctic–alpine Community ecology |
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