The present flora and vegetation of the moraines of the Klutlan Glacier, Yukon Territory, Canada: a study in plant succession

Auteur :
BIRKS, H. J. B.

Description :
The flora and vegetation of six ice-cored moraines of the Klutlan Glacier were analyzed in 65 plots by European plant-sociological techniques. The age of each plot was estimated from annual growth rings of shrubs or trees in the plots. Nine major vegetation types are distinguished: Crepis nana, Dryas drummondii, Hedysarum mackenzii, Hedysarum-Salix, Salix-Shepherdia canadensis, Picea-Salix, Picea-Arctostaphylos, Picea-Ledum, and Picea-Rhytidium. These contain plants aged 2-6, 9-23, 10-20, 24-30, 32-58, 58-80, 96-178, 177-240, and >163->339yr, respectively, and reflect a vegetational succession related to moraine age and stability. Changes in species diversity and soil development, particularly humus accumulation, parallel the vegetational succession. This succession differs from patterns of revegetation of deglaciated landscapes in Alaska and British Columbia today and in Minnesota in late-Wisconsin times because of differences in climate, plant migration, and local ecology.


Type de document :
Article de périodique

Source :
Quaternary research New York, 1980, vol. 14, n°. 1, p. 60-86, Références bibliographiques : 53 réf.

Date :
1980