CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
Search Results
Author : Brisebois, S.; and Gajewski, K.
Date : 2007.
Title : Recent vegetation change at treeline in northwestern Québec.
Publication : CANQUA Ottawa 2007. Canadian Quaternary Association Conference, June 4-8, 2007. Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Issue :
Page(s) :
Abstract
A better understanding of our ecosystem response in the face of the changing climate can be provided by observing past environments. The tree line of northern Québec represents a wide ecotone between the boreal forest and the arctic tundra. Independently from its latitudinal movement through time, it is important to consider the changes occurring within this ecotone in response to climate change. A palaeoecological study of a 210Pb dated lake sediment core from the forest-tundra of northern Québec offers a high-resolution pollen record of the past 300 years. Analyses of the pollen composition and influx from the core allow a reconstruction of changes in the regional vegetation cover through time. Results from the pollen analysis suggest a change in pollen production and vegetation structure following the end of the Little Ice Age (LIA), which ended around 1850. The total pollen influx increased during this time period, corresponding to the warmer temperatures following the LIA. Other high-resolution pollen diagrams from the region also show changes in pollen production during the Medieval Warm Period, Little Ice Age and recent warming. The pollen diagram also presents evidence of a rapid change in vegetation structure following a major 20th century forest fire in the region. This suggest that high-resolution pollen diagrams can allow the detection of regional-scale ecological processes occurring through time and even forest regeneration following disturbances.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology