Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T03:56:46.358Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Damage and Recovery of Tundra Vegetation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

Patrick J. Webber  and
Jack D. Ives
Patrick J. Webber
Affiliation:
Associate Professor, Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, and Department of Environmental, Population, and Organismic Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, U.S.A.
Jack D. Ives
Affiliation:
Director, Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, and Professor, Department of Geography, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, U.S.A.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

This paper makes a series of broad recommendations concerning the understanding of damage and recovery of tundra vegetation. It deals primarily with arctic vegetation and with principles rather than specific recommendations or instructions for restoration. Actual procedures for restoration or revegetation, although practised, are still in their experimental stages.

Despite this lack of established methods in tundra vegetation restoration, much can be done to help offset some of the worst effects of the present surge of economic development that is occurring in certain sectors of the Arctic. First, a rational assessment of types and extent of damage that is likely to accrue from different kinds and degrees of impact should be attempted, based on existing experience and theory. This should be accompanied by similar assessments of degrees and rates of recovery.

Type
Main Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 5 , Issue 3 , Autumn 1978 , pp. 171 - 182
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 1978

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alexandrova, (Aleksandrova) V. D. (1970). The vegetation of the tundra zones in the USSR and data about its productivity. Pp. 93–114 in Productivity and Conservation in Northern Circumpolar Lands (Ed. Fuller, W. A. & Kevan, P. G.). International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, Morges, Switzerland, Publ. N.S. 16, 344 pp.Google Scholar
Babb, T. A. & Bliss, L. C. (1974). Susceptibility To Environmental Impact In The Queen Elizabeth Islands. Arctic, 27(3), Pp. 234–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barnett, D. M., Edlund, S. A. & Dredge, L. A. (1977). Terrain characterization and evaluation: an example from eastern Melville Island. Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 76–23, 18 pp.Google Scholar
Barnett, D. M., Edlund, S. A. & Hodgson, D. A. (1975). Sensitivity of surface materials and vegetation to disturbance in the Queen Elizabeth Islands: an approach and commentary. Arctic, 28(1), pp. 74–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bechtel, Inc. (1975). Winter Trail Restoration Report (Yukon River to Prudhoe Bay). Bechtel, Incorporated, Project 10771, Alyeska Project Services, Fort Wainwright, Alaska 99716: 36 pp., mimeogr.Google Scholar
Bell, K. L. & Bliss, L. C. (1973). Alpine disturbance studies: Olympic National Park, USA. Biol. Conserv., 5(1), pp.25–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beschel, R. E. (1966). Hummocks and their vegetation in the High Arctic. Pp. 13–20 in Proceedings of the First International Permafrost Conference 1963. (NRC Publ. 1287.) National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C.: 563 pp.Google Scholar
Billings, W. D. (1964). Plants, Man, and the Ecosystem. Wadsworth, Belmont, California: x + 160 pp.Google Scholar
Billings, W. D. (1973). Arctic and alpine vegetations: similarities, differences, and susceptibility to disturbance. BioScience, 23, pp. 697–704.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Billings, W. D. (1974). Environment: Concept and reality. Pp. 9–35 in Handbook of Vegetation Science Part IV: Vegetation and Environment (Ed. Strain, B. R. & Billings, W. D.). Junk, The Hague, Netherlands: 193 pp.Google Scholar
Bliss, L. C. (1970a). A biologist explains why we must plan now to protect the Arctic. Science Forum (Canada), 3(3), pp. 3–8.Google Scholar
Bliss, L. C. (1970 b). Oil and the ecology of the Arctic. Trans. Roy. Soc. Can., 4th Series, VII, pp. 1–12 [in Bliss et al., 1970].Google Scholar
Bliss, L. C. & Cantlon, J. E. (1957). Succession on river alluvium in northern Alaska. Amer. Midi. Nat., 58, pp. 452–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bliss, L. C., Pruitt, W. O., Hemstock, R. A. Jr, Hare, F. K., Ives, J. D. & Mckay, G. A. (1970). The tundra environment: a symposium of Section III of the Royal Society of Canada, Winnipeg, 3 06 1970. Trans. Roy. Soc. Can., 4th Series, VII, pp. 1–50.Google Scholar
Bliss, L. C. & Wein, R. W. (1972 a). Ecological problems associated with arctic oil and gas development. Pp. 65–77 in Prodeedings, Canadian Northern Pipeline Research Conference, 2–4 February 1972. (Tech. Memo. 104 (NRCC 12498).) National Research Council of Canada, Associate Committee on Geotechnical Research, Ottawa: 331 pp.Google Scholar
Bliss, L. C. & Wein, R. W. (1972 b). Plant community responses to disturbances in the western Canadian Arctic. Can. J. Bot., 50, pp. 1,097–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Böcher, T. W., Holmen, K. & Jakobsen, K. (1968). The Flora of Greenland. Haase, P., Copenhagen, Denmark: 312 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Bryson, R. A., Wendland, W. M., Ives, J. D. & Andrews, J. T. (1969). Radiocarbon isochrones on the disintegration of the Laurentide Ice-sheet. Arct. Alp. Res., 1(1), pp. 1–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Churchill, E. D. & Hanson, H. C. (1958). The concept of climax in arctic and alpine vegetation. Bot. Rev., 24, pp. 127–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cook, C. W. (1976). Surface-mine rehabilitation in the American west. Environmental Conservation, 3(3), pp. 179–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dabbs, D. L., Friesen, W. & Mitchell, S. (1974). Pipeline Revegetation. (Arctic Gas Biol. Rep. Vol. 2.) Canadian Arctic Gas Study Ltd, Calgary, Alberta: 67 pp.Google Scholar
Dansereau, P. (1954). Studies on central Baffin vegetation: I, Bray Island. Vegetatio, 5 & 6, pp. 329–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davidsson, I. (1967). The immigration and naturalization of flowering plants in Iceland since 1900. Soc. Sci. IsL, Greinar IV, 3, pp. 1–36.Google Scholar
Dorogostaiskaya, E. V. (1972). Somye Rasteniya Kraynego Severa SSSR. [Weedy Plants of the Far North of the USSR. –in Russian.] Nauka, Leningrad, USSR: [not available for checking].Google Scholar
Dunbar, M. J. (1968). Ecological Development in Polar Regions. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: 119 pp.Google Scholar
Dunbar, M. J. (1973). Stability and fragility in arctic ecosystems. Arctic, 26(3), pp. 179–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Everett, K. R. (1975). Soil and landform associations at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska: A soils map of the Tundra Biome area. Pp. 53–9 in Ecological Investigations of the Tundra Biome in the Prudhoe Bay Region, Alaska (Ed. Brown, J.). Biological Papers of the Univ. of Alaska, Special Report No. 2: 215 pp.Google Scholar
Everett, K. R. & Parkinson, R. J. (1977). Soil and landform associations, Prudhoe Bay area, Alaska. Arct. Alp. Res., 9, pp. 1–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Everett, K. R., Webber, P. J., Walker, D. A., Parkinson, R. J. & Brown, J. (in press). A geoecological mapping scheme for Alaskan coastal tundra. Proceedings Third International Conference on Permafrost, 03 1978, National Research Council of Canada: 6 pp. [proofs].Google Scholar
Friederichs, K. (1927). Grundsätzliches über die Lebenseinheiten höherer Ordnung und den ökologischen Einheitsfaktor. Die Naturwissenschaften, 15, pp. 153–7, 182–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Golovkin, B. N. (1973). Pereselenie travianistykh mnogoletnikov na poliarnyi sever. [Transplanting Herbaceous Perennials to the Arctic North.–in Russian] Nauka, Leningrad, USSR: 266 pp.Google Scholar
Griggs, R. F. (1934). The problem of arctic vegetation. Wash. Acad. Sci., 24, pp. 153–75.Google Scholar
Hernandez, H. (1972). Surface disturbance and natural plant recolonization in the Mackenzie Delta region. Pp. 143–74 in Botanical Studies of Natural and Man-modified Habitats in the Eastern Mackenzie Delta Region and the Arctic Islands (Ed. Bliss, L. C. & Wein, R. W.). (Arctic Land Use Research (ALUR) Report 72–73–74.) Canada, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development: 162 pp.Google Scholar
Hernandez, H. (1973). Natural plant recolonization of surficial disturbances, Tuktoyaktuk Peninsula region, Northwest Territories. Can. J. Bot., 51, pp. 2,177–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ives, J. D. (1970). Arctic tundra: how fragile? A geomorphologist's point of view. Trans. Roy. Soc. Can., 4th Series, VII, pp. 39–42 [in Bliss et al., 1970].Google Scholar
Ives, J. D. (1974). Impact of motor vehicles on the tundra environments. Pp. 907–10 in Arctic and Alpine Environments (Ed. Ives, J. D. & Barry, R. G.). Methuen, London, England: 999 pp.Google Scholar
Ives, J. D. (in press). Remarks on the stability of timberline. Erdwissenschaftliche Forschung. Franz Steiner, Wiesbaden.Google Scholar
Ives, J. D., Nichols, H. & Short, S. (1976). Glacial history and palaeoecology of northeastern Nouveau-Quebec and northern Labrador. Arctic, 29(1), pp. 48–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ives, J. D. & Stites, A. (Eds) (1975). UNESCO Programme on Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Project 6: Proceedings of the Boulder Workshop, 07 1974, Colorado. INSTAAR Spec. Publ.: 122 pp.Google Scholar
Johnson, L. & Cleve, K. Van (1976). Revegetation in Arctic and Subarctic North America: A Literature Review. (USA CRREL Res. Rep. 76–15.) U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, Hanover, New Hampshire: 32 pp.Google Scholar
Johnson, L., Brown, J. & Quinn, W. (1975). Revegetation and Erosion Control Observations Along the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. 1975 construction season. (USA CRREL Intern. Rep.) U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, Hanover, New Hampshire: 23 pp.Google Scholar
Kallio, P. & Veum, A. K. (1975). Analysis of precipitation of Fennoscandian tundra sites. Pp. 332–8 in Fennoscandian Tundra Ecosystems Part I: Plants and Microorganisms (Ed. Wielgolaski, F. E.). Springer-Verlag, New York: 366 pp.Google Scholar
Kevan, P. G. (1971). Vehicle Tracks on High Arctic Tundra: An 11-years Case-history Around Hazen Camp, Ellesmere Island, N.W.T. (Hazen 41.) Defense Research Board of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario: 17 pp.Google Scholar
Komárková, Vera & Webber, P. J. (1978). An alpine vegetation map of Niwot Ridge, Colorado. Arct. Alp. Res., 10(1), pp. 1–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kryuchkov, V. V. (1976). Sensitive Subarctic (Chutkaia subarktika). Nauka, Moscow; 137 pp.Google Scholar
Löve, Á. & Löve, D. (1975). Cytotaxonomical Atlas of the Arctic Flora. Cramer, Vaduz, Liechtenstein: xxiii + 598 pp.Google Scholar
McCown, B. H. (1972). Proceedings of the symposium on the impact of oil resource development on northern plant communities. Occ. Publ. on Northern Life No. 1, Inst. of Arctic Biology, Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska: 95 pp.Google Scholar
Mackay, J. R. (1970). Disturbance to the tundra and forest tundra environment. Can. Geotech. J., 7, pp. 420–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marr, J. W., Buckner, D. L. & Johnson, D. L. (1974). Ecological modification of alpine tundra by pipeline construction. Pp. 10–23 in Revegetation of High-altitude Disturbed Lands (Ed. Berg, W. A., Brown, J. A. & Cuany, R. L.). (Information Series No. 10.) Environmental Resources Centre, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado: 89 pp.Google Scholar
Matveeva, N. V., Polozova, T. G., Blagodatskikh, L. S. & Dorogostaiskaya, E. V. (1973). [A brief essay on the vegetation in the vicinity of the Taimyr Biogeocoenological Station.] [Kratkii ocherk rastitel'nosti okrestnostei taimyrskogo biogeotsenologicheskogo statsionara.–in Russian.] Pp. 7–49 in Biogeocenoses of Taimyr Tundra and Their Productivity (Biogeotsenozy Taimyrskoi tundry i ikh produktivnost'), vol. 2 (Ed. Tikhomirov, B. A. & Matveeva, N. V.). Nauka, Leningrad, USSR: 204 pp.Google Scholar
May, D. E. (1976). The response of Alpine Tundra Vegetation in Colorado to Environmental Variation. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado: 164 pp.Google Scholar
Mitchell, W. W. (1973). Using native plant resources for conservation. Agroborealis, 5, pp. 24–5.Google Scholar
Mitchell, W. W. (1977). Arctic revegetation research. Northeast by East, 2(3), pp. 1–6.Google Scholar
Mitchell, W. W., McKendrick, J. D., Wooding, F. J. & Barzee, M. A. (1974). Agronomists on the banks of the Sagavanirktok. Agroborealis, 6(1), pp. 33–5.Google Scholar
Monsen, S. B. (1975). Selecting plants to rehabilitate disturbed areas. Pp. 76–90 in Improved Range Plants (Ed. Campbell, R. S. & Herbel, C. H.). (Range Symp. Ser. 1.) Society for Range Management, Denver, Colorado: [not available for checking].Google Scholar
National Academy of Sciences (1974). Rehabilitation Potential of Western Coal Lands. Ballinger, Cambridge, Massachusetts: 198 pp.Google Scholar
Nichols, H. (1975). The time perspective in northern ecology: palynology and the history of the Canadian boreal forest. Pp. 157–65 in Proceedings of the Circumpolar Conference onNorthern Ecology, Ottawa, 15–18 09 1975. National Research Council of Canada: I, pp. 157–65.Google Scholar
Nichols, H (1976). Historical aspects of the northern Canadian treeline. Arctic, 29, pp. 38–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Osburn, W. S. (1958). Ecology of Winter Snow-free Areas of the Alpine Tundra of Niwot Ridge, Boulder County, Colorado. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado: 77 pp.Google Scholar
Osburn, W. S. (1967). Ecological concentration of nuclear fallout in a Colorado mountain watershed. Pp. 675–709 in Radioecological Concentration Processes (Ed. Arberg, B. & Hungate, F. P.). Pergamon Press, New York, N.Y.: [not available for checking].CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Osburn, W. S. (1974). The impact of technology: Large-scale examples. Pp. 925–51 in Arctic and Alpine Environments (Ed. Ives, J. D. & Barry, R. G.). Methuen, London, England: 999 pp.Google Scholar
Pedersen, A. (1972). Adventitious plants and cultivated plants in Greenland. Medd. om Gronland, 178(7), pp. 1–99.Google Scholar
Polunin, N. (1934). The vegetation of Akpatok Island, Part I. J. Ecol., 22, pp. 337–95, illustr.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polunin, N. (1948). Botany of the Canadian Eastern Arctic: Part III, Vegetation and Ecology. (Nat. Mus. Can. Bull. No. 104.) Canada, Department of Mines and Resources, Ottawa: 304 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Polunin, N. (1959). Circumpolar Arctic Flora. Clarendon Press, Oxford, England: xxviii + 514 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Porsild, M. P. (1932). Alien plants and apophytes of Greenland. Medd. om Gronland, XCII(1), pp. 1–94.Google Scholar
Prest, V. K. (1970). Quaternary geology of Canada. Pp. 676–764 in Geology and Economic Minerals of Canada (Ed. Douglas, R. J. W.). Canada, Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, Ottawa, Ontario: 838 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raup, H. M. (1951). Vegetation and cryoplanation. Ohio J. Set, 51(3), pp. 105–16.Google Scholar
Rickard, W. E. & Brown, J. (1974). Effects of off-road vehicles on the tundra landscape. Environmental Conservation, 1(1), pp. 55–62, illustr.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Savile, D. B. O. (1960). Limitations of the competitive exclusion principle. Science, 132, p. 1,761.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schiechtl, H. M. (1973). Sicherungsarbeiten im Landschaftsban: Grundlagen lebende Baustoffe Methoden. Verlag G. D. W. Callwey, Munich, Germany: 244 pp.Google Scholar
Schultz, A. M. (1964). The nutrient recovery hypothesis for arctic microtine cycles: II, Ecosystem variables in relation to arctic microtine cycles. Pp. 57–68 in Grazing in Terrestrial and Marine Environments (Ed. Crisp, D. J.). Blackwell Scientific Publ., Oxford, England: 322 pp.Google Scholar
Sterrett, K. F. (1976). The Arctic Environment and the Arctic Surface-effect Vehicle. (USA CRREL Rep. 76–1.) U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, Hanover, New Hampshire: 28 pp.Google Scholar
Teas, H. J. (1977). Ecology and restoration of mangrove shorelines in Florida. Environmental Conservation, 4(1), pp. 51–8, illustr.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, D. Q. (1955). The ecology and Population Dynamics of the Brown Lemming (Lemmus trimucronatus) at Point Barrow, Alaska. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri: 137 pp.Google Scholar
Thorhaug, Anitra (1977). Symposium on restoration of major plant communities in the United States. Environmental Conservation, 4(1), pp. 49–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thorhaug, Anitra & Austin, C. B. (1976). Restoration of seagrasses, with economic analysis. Environmental Conservation, 3(4), pp. 259–67, illustr.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tüxen, R. (1947). Der Pflanzensoziologische Garten in Hannover und seine bisherige Entwicklung. Jahresber. Nat. Ges. Hannover 1942–1947, pp. 113–287.Google Scholar
Tüxen, R. (1955). Experimentelle Pflanzensoziologie. Arch. Soc. Vanamo, 9 (Suppl.), pp. 381–6.Google Scholar
UNESCO (1974). Programme on Man and the Biosphere (MAB), Working Group on Project 6: Impact of Human Activities on Mountain and Tundra Ecosystems, Lillehammer, 20–23 November 1973, Final Report. (MAB Report 14.) UNESCO, Paris: 132 pp.Google Scholar
Vital, A. D. (1976). Root systems of sodding plants and their significance for restoration of vegetational cover damaged during economic development of lands. Pp. 11–2 in Selected Abstracts from Symposium on Environmental Protection in Relation to Economic Development of Permafrost Regions (Ed. Melnikov, P. I.). (USA CRREL Draft Translation 518.) U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, Hanover, New Hampshire: 79 pp.Google Scholar
Walker, D. A. (1977). The Analysis of the Effectiveness of a Television Scanning Densitometer for Indicating Geobotanical Features in an Ice-wedge Polygon Complex at Barrow, Alaska. Unpublished M.A. thesis, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado: 129 pp.Google Scholar
Walker, D. A., Webber, P. J. & Everett, K. B. (1978). The Effects of Low-pressure Wheeled Vehicles on Plant Communities and Soils at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. (USA CRREL Spec. Rep. 77–17.) U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, Hanover, New Hampshire: 49 pp.Google Scholar
Webber, P. J. (1970). The evangel of the wholeness of the ecosystem. Pp. 44–6 in Proceedings of the 16th Annual Meeting of the Institute of Environmental Sciences, April 1970, Boston, Massachusetts (Ed. Lillywhite, M. M. & Martin, C.). Institute of Environmental Sciences, Mount Prospect, Illinois: 60 pp.Google Scholar
Webber, P. J. (1974). Tundra primary productivity. Pp. 445–73 in Arctic and Alpine Environments (Ed. Ives, J. D. & Barry, R. G.). Methuen, London, England: 999 pp.Google Scholar
Webber, P. J., Emerick, J. C, May, D. C. E. & Komarkova, V. (1976). The impact of increased snowfall on alpine vegetation. Pp. 201–64 in Ecological Impacts of Snowpack Augmentation in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado (Ed. Steinhoff, H. W. & Ives, J. D.). (Final Report of the San Juan Ecology Project.) (CSU-FNR-7052–1.) Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado: 489 pp.Google Scholar
Webber, P. J. & Walker, D. A. (1975). Vegetation and landscape analysis at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska: A vegetation map of the Tundra Biome study area. Pp. 80–91 in Ecological Investigations of the Tundra Biome in the Prudhoe Bay Region, Alaska (Ed. Brown, J.). Biological Papers of the University of Alaska, Special Report No. 2: 215 pp.Google Scholar
Wein, R. W. (1975). Vegetation Recovery in Arctic Tundra and Forest-tundra After Fire. (Arctic Land Use Research (ALUR) Report 74–75–62.) Canada, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Ottawa, Ontario: 115 pp.Google Scholar
Whittaker, R. H. (1967). Gradient analysis of vegetation. Biol. Rev., 42, pp. 207–64CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wielgolaski, F. E. (1975). Comparison of plant structure in grazed and ungrazed tundra meadows. Pp. 86–93 in Fennoscandian Tundra Ecosystems Part I: Plants and Microorganisms (Ed. Wielgolaski, F. E.). Springer-Verlag, New York, N.Y.: 366 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilimovsky, N. J. & Wolfe, J. N. (Ed.) (1966). Environment of the Cape Thompson Region, Alaska. United States Atomic Energy Commission, Division of Technical Information, Oak Ridge, Tennessee: 1,250 pp.Google Scholar
Willard, B. E. & Marr, J. W. (1970). Effects of human activities on alpine tundra ecosystems in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Biol. Conserv., 2(4), pp. 258–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Younkin, W. E. (1972). Revegetation studies of disturbances in the Mackenzie Delta region. Pp. 175–229 in Botanical Studies of Natural and Man-modified Habitats in the Eastern Mackenzie Delta Region and the Arctic Islands (Ed. Bliss, L. C. & Wein, R. W.). (Arctic Land Use Research (ALUR) Report 72–73–14.) Canada, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Ottawa, Ontario: 162 pp.Google Scholar