Potential insolation and plant communities through treeline in the Lower Anderson River valley, N.W.T., Canada
department or school: Science, Faculty of
department or school: Botany, Department of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Kesting, Stephan Fritz
issued: 2009-02-06T21:26:50Z
issued: 1996
related degree: Master of Science - MSc
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: The Lower Anderson River Valley was chosen as a study area to investigate the effects of slope, aspect, and insolation on plant community composition and distribution through the treeline ecotone. Seventy-one plant communities were surveyed; abiotic measurements included soil temperature and depth to frozen soil. Soil samples were taken and later analyzed for pH, conductivity, and particle size distribution. TWINSPAN, a divisive clustering algorithm, defined 4 basic community-types for study area: Tundra, Forest, Steppe, and Sparse. Except for Sparse these community-types have quite discrete distributions along a potential insolation gradient. Sparse communitytypes are associated with acidic, high conductivity soils near smoking bituminous shale deposits. Equivalent latitude, a variable expressing potential insolation relative to flat surfaces at given latitudes, explained about 7 times more of the variance in Detrended Correspondence Analysis axis 1 scores than latitude alone. N Canonical Correlation Analysis was employed to further investigate the relationship of plant community composition to the measured environmental variables. The most important trend underlying plant community composition was found to be a potential insolation-soil temperature gradient. Anderson River Steppe is the eastern-most example described to date of so-called 'arctic steppe', which is thought to have been much more extensive in Beringia during the Wisconsin glacial maximum. Steppe communities occurred primarily on southfacing slopes and occupied at least 560 hectares/kilometer along the Lower Anderson River. Three major northward range extensions were associated with species found in south-facing Steppe.
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/4222
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format: application/pdf
note: POTENTIAL INSOLATION AND PLANT COMMUNITIES THROUGH TREELINE IN THE LOWER ANDERSON RIVER VALLEY, N.W.T., CANADA. S T E P H A N FRITZ RESTING B . S c , M c G i l l University, 1993 A THESIS S U B M I T T E D IN P A R T I A L F U L F I L L M E N T OF T H E REQUIREMENTS FOR T H E D E G R E E OF M A S T E R OF SCIENCE i n T H E F A C U L T Y OF G R A D U A T E STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF B O T A N Y We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA January 1996 © Stephan Fritz Resting, 1996 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department The University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada DE-6 (2/88) A B S T R A C T The Lower Anderson River Va l l ey was chosen as a study area to investigate the effects of slope, aspect, and insolation on plant community composit ion and distribution through the treeline ecotone. Seventy-one plant communities were surveyed; abiotic measurements included soi l temperature and depth to frozen soi l . So i l samples were taken and later analyzed for p H , conductivity, and particle size distribution. T W I N S P A N , a divis ive clustering algorithm, defined 4 basic community-types for study area: Tundra, Forest, Steppe, and Sparse. Except for Sparse these community-types have quite discrete distributions along a potential insolation gradient. Sparse community-types are associated with acidic, high conductivity soils near smoking bituminous shale deposits. Equivalent latitude, a variable expressing potential insolation relative to fl…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 1996-05
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0086979
language: eng
degree discipline: Botany
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
scholar level: Graduate
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/4222