Post-fire vegetation of the Montane natural subregion of Jasper National Park

Abstract

Ecological Land Classification information gathered in the mid to late 1970s was used to predict post-fire vegetation for the Montane natural subregion of Jasper National Park. Percentage similarity indices (SI) between vegetation types based on understory species composition and cover, calculated distances ( D) generated from altitude, nutrient and moisture, broad patterns of vegetation canopy based on moisture regimes, canonical correspondence analysis (CCA), and cluster analysis were used. Of the 33 Montane plant communities, grassland, low shrub and shrub communities were considered to regenerate after fire. Nineteen percent of the area was predicted as Potentilla fruticosa/ Arctostaphylos uva-ursi/ Galium boreale (L1), and 33% of the area as Pinus contorta var. latifolia/ Shepherdia canadensis/ Aster conspicuus (C6) or Pinus contorta var. latifolia/ Shepherdia canadensis/ Linnaea borealis (C19) after fire. Dominant post-fire understory species were Juniperus communis, Sherpherdia canadensis, Rosa acicularis, Elymus innovatus and Linnaea borealis. Some closed canopy forests were assumed to open after fire, while other communities reverted to closed canopy pine forests.