Recent Vegetation Change (1980–2013) in the Tundra Ecosystems of the Tuktoyaktuk Coastlands, NWT, Canada

Abstract

ABSTRACTChange detection studies using remote sensing and plot-based sampling show that Arctic vegetation is changing. Most studies have focused on the proliferation of tall shrubs, but increased productivity in areas where shrub cover is low suggests that other functional groups may also be changing. To investigate vegetation change across the Tuktoyaktuk Coastlands we analyzed high-resolution repeat air photos from 1980 and 2013. Thirty-eight image pairs were used to estimate changes in the cover of six functional groups (tall shrub, dwarf shrub, non-tussock-forming sedge, tussock-forming sedge, moss, and lichen). The spatial extent of our airphotos allowed us to investigate changes across four terrain types (high-center polygonal terrain, low-center polygonal terrain, shrub tundra, and tussock tundra). Our analysis shows that all four terrain types experienced absolute increases in shrub cover (+7.71% to 11.98%), with the expansion of dwarf shrubs playing an especially important role in regional change. Significant declines in lichen cover were also observed. While the consistency of shrub encroachment across terrain types suggests that changes were facilitated by shifts in broad-scale processes like temperature or precipitation, our data also indicate that differences in the magnitude of change were mediated by community structure and the availability of suitable microsites.