Cover Image

Abstract

EcosphereVolume 14, Issue 2 e4117 COVER IMAGEOpen Access Cover Image First published: 07 February 2023 https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4117AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Graphical Abstract COVER PHOTO: Riparian corridors support mosaics of highly productive vegetation and barren surfaces that are dynamically linked to disturbance and successional processes. Retrospective comparisons of high-resolution imagery by Frost et al. (Ecosphere, Volume 14, Issue 1, Article e4344; doi: 10.1002/ecs2.4344) reveal that the cover of riparian vegetation such as feltleaf willow (Salix alaxensis) and dwarf fireweed (Chamerion latifolium), pictured here along upper Trail Creek in Alaska's Wrangell/St. Elias National Park & Preserve, have increased since the early 1980s along 12 widely separated rivers in national parklands of Interior Alaska. Widespread “greening” of these floodplains has occurred against a backdrop of changing climate, seasonal discharge and flood regime, and permafrost thaw in subarctic watersheds, with implications for ecosystem function and services. Increases in tall shrub cover have been disproportionately high in the upper portions of streams above the elevational treeline, consistent with recent shrubification in Arctic tundra ecosystems. Photo credit: Gerald V. Frost. Volume14, Issue2February 2023e4117 RelatedInformation