Abstract
AbstractGlobal warming observed nowadays causes an increase in geomorphic activity in polar regions. Within the areas influenced by cold climatic conditions, relief dynamics and vegetation development are the main landscape shaping processes. The study is limited to the Ebba Valley (78°43’N; 16°37’E) in central Spitsbergen (Svalbard), where geomorphologic observations and vegetation sampling were conducted in 2007. The valley was divided into three zones differentiated by dominating geomorphic activity and stability of deposits. The settlement and the evolution of plant cover have been documented there. The main factors that control well developed vegetation cover within raised marine terraces are frost heave and solifluction. In deeper parts of the valley, aeolian processes dominate and high differentiation of microsite conditions causes high variability in plant coverage. The area close to the Ebba glacier marginal zone is characterized by initial stages of plant colonisation where disturbance to vegetation is mainly caused by hydrological processes.
Highlights
The on-going climate change is expected to be most pronounced in high latitudes (ACIA 2004) and greatly affect tundra ecosystems (Forbes et al 2010), which are considered as vulnerable
Plant colonisation on newly exposed terrain is considered to be the main factor in stabilising glacier foreland deposits, but it was proved that the influence is reciprocal: habitat disturbances on glacier forelands play a significant role in determining the rate of colonisation, distribution of pioneer species, as well as high species diversity in the initial phase of succession (Matthews 1992, Komárková 1993, Prach and Rachlewicz 2012)
Such cycles may be accelerated due to climate change, and more attention should be paid to how arctic vegetation varies in relation to relief dynamics in various spatial scales and in changing environment (Prach et al 2012)
Summary
The on-going climate change is expected to be most pronounced in high latitudes (ACIA 2004) and greatly affect tundra ecosystems (Forbes et al 2010), which are considered as vulnerable. Current vegetation structure and relief shape represent temporary equilibria which are slowly developing and adapting to environmental stresses until the disturbance destroys them to different rates and initiates development of a new equilibrium state (Gutierrez and Fay 1980). Such cycles may be accelerated due to climate change, and more attention should be paid to how arctic vegetation varies in relation to relief dynamics in various spatial scales and in changing environment (Prach et al 2012)
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