Arctic Vegetation Change
In the mid-1990s Indigenous observers around the circumpolar-north began to describe shifts in vegetation, including increased tree and shrub abundance and height. These changes are concerning because they are likely to impact animal habitat quality, increase fire frequency, and alter key ecological processes (e.g. surface energy balance, carbon storage, and ground temperatures). Research in the Arctic Landscape Ecology Lab combines remote sensing and ground-based sampling to determine the causes of tundra vegetation change and document its rate and extent. We also explore the impacts of vegetation change on ecological processes, infrastructure, and animal habitat. Our work shows that upright and dwarf shrubs are expanding rapidly in many areas of the Western Arctic and causing widespread reductions in the abundance of lichen1, 2, 3, 4 Our research indicates that regional vegetation change is being driven by warming air temperatures, but is strongly mediated by soil moisture and other edaphic factors 2, 5, 6, 7. It also shows that disturbances including fire, permafrost thaw, flooding, and roads can significantly alter northern plant communities 8, 9, 10, 11, 6, 12.
terrain

Vegetation change on the Tuktoyaktuk Peninsula, NWT from 1980 to 2013.
Working with partners at the Cumulative Impact Monitoring Program (CIMP) in the Northwest Territories we developed a protocol to monitor vegetation that can be implemented by a range of participants. The long-term goal of this program is to establish a network of sites that will serve as a baseline against which to measure changes. Since 2010, we have worked with a range of partners to describe the vegetation at over 118 sites using this protocol ( Map of Sites). We are also working with research partners at the Canada Centre for Mapping and Earth Observation and the NWT Centre for Geomatics to explore the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to track northern vegetation change 13. A sampling guidebook describing the procedures we use and blank datasheets are available below.

Vegetation change on the Tuktoyaktuk Peninsula, NWT from 1980 to 2013.
fieldguide

Please click on the guidebook cover to the left to download the vegetation monitoring protocol that has been implemented by numerous organizations and communities throughout the NWT.
Data sheets are available in PDF format below.


Active Layer Data Sheet
Berry Plots Data Sheet
Community Composition Data Sheet
Functional Groups Data Sheet
Sample Collection Chits
Site Description Data Sheet
Trees Data Sheet

 

References

1. Moffat, N.D.,T.C, Lantz, R.H. Fraser, and I. Olthof. (2016). Recent vegetation change (1980-2013) in the tundra ecosystems of the Tuktoyaktuk Coastlands, NWT, Canada. Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research. 48: 581-597. PDF

2. Cameron, E.A. and Lantz, T.C. (2016). Drivers of tall shrub proliferation adjacent to the Dempster Highway, Northwest Territories, Canada. Environmental Research Letters. 114: 045006. PDF

Fraser, R.H., Lantz, T.C., Olthof, I., Kokelj, S.V., and Sims, R.A. (2014). Warming-induced shrub expansion and lichen decline in the western Canadian Arctic. Ecosystems. 17: 1151-1168. PDF

4. Lantz, T.C., Marsh, P. and Kokelj, S.V. (2013). Recent shrub proliferation in the Mackenzie Delta Uplands and microclimatic implications. Ecosystems. 16: 47-59. doi:10.1007/s10021-012-9595-2. PDF

5. Myers-Smith, I.H., Elmendorf, S.C., Beck, P.S.A., Wilmking, M., Hallinger, M., Blok, D., Tape, K.D., Rayback, S.A., Macias-Fauria, M., Forbes, J.D.M. Speed, N. Boulanger-Lapointe, C. Rixen, E. Lévesque, N.M. Schmidt, B.C., Baittinger, C., Trant, A.J., Hermanutz, L., Collier, L.S., Dawes, M.A., Lantz, T.C., Weijers, S., Jørgensen, R.H., Buchwal, A., Buras, A., Naito, A.T., Ravolainen, V., Schaepman-Strub, G., Wheeler, J., Wipf, S., Guay, K., Hik D.S.,& M.Vellend. (2015). Climate sensitivity of shrub growth across the tundra biome. Nature Climate Change 5: 887-891. 10.1038/nclimate2697. PDF

6. Lantz, T.C., Gergel, S.E. and Henry, G.H.R. 2010. Response of green alder (Alnus viridis subsp. fruticosa) patch dynamics and plant community composition to fire and regional temperature in north-western Canada. Journal of Biogeography. 37: 1597-1610. PDF

7. Lantz, T.C., Gergel, S.E. and Kokelj, S.V. 2010. Spatial heterogeneity in the shrub tundra ecotone in the Mackenzie Delta Region, Northwest Territories: Implications for Arctic environmental change. Ecosystems. doi: 10.1007/s10021-009-9310-0. PDF

8. Cameron, E.A. and Lantz, T.C. (2017). Persistent changes to ecosystems following winter road construction and abandonment in an area of discontinuous permafrost, Nahanni National Park Reserve, Northwest Territories, Canada. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research. 49(2): 259-276. PDF

9. Lantz, T.C. (2017). Vegetation succession and environmental conditions following catastrophic lake drainage in Old Crow Flats, Yukon. Arctic. 70(2):177-189. doi:10.14430/arctic4646. PDF

10. Lantz, T.C. and Turner, K.W. (2015). Changes in lake area in response to thermokarst processes and climate in Old Crow Flats, Yukon. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences. PDF

11. Gill, H.K., Lantz, T.C., O’Neill, B., and Kokelj, S.V. (2014). Cumulative impacts and feedbacks of a gravel road on shrub tundra ecosystems in the Peel Plateau, Northwest Territories, Canada. Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research. 46: 947-961. PDF

12. Lantz, T.C., Kokelj, S.V., Gergel, S.E. and Henry, G.H.R. (2009). Relative impacts of disturbance and temperature: persistent long-term changes in microenvironment and vegetation in retrogressive thaw slumps. Global Change Biology. 15: 1664-1675. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.01917.x. PDF

13. Fraser, R. H., Olthof, I., Lantz, T. C., & Schmitt, C. (2016). UAV photogrammetry for mapping vegetation in the low-Arctic. Arctic Science, 2(3): 79-102. PDF