Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T12:54:30.290Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

NDVI, biomass, and landscape evolution of glaciated terrain in northern Alaska

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2009

D.A. Walker ,
N.A. Auerbach  and
M.M. Shippert
D.A. Walker
Affiliation:
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, Campus Box 450, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0450, USA
N.A. Auerbach
Affiliation:
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, Campus Box 450, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0450, USA
M.M. Shippert
Affiliation:
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, Campus Box 450, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0450, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The patterns of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) on three glacial surfaces of different ages in the vicinity of Toolik Lake, Alaska, were examined. NDVI was derived from SPOT multispectral digital data, and the images were stratified according to boundaries on glacial geology and vegetation maps. Ground-level measurements of NDVI from common vegetation types were also collected, using a portable spectrometer. Late Pleistocene glacial surfaces have lower image-NDVI than older Middle Pleistocene surfaces, and the mean NDVI is correlated with approximate time since deglaciation. The trends are related to differences in NDVI associated with vegetation growing on mineral vs peaty substrates. Nonacidic mineral substrates are more common on the younger landscapes, and acidic peaty soils are more common on the older surfaces. The field-NDVIs of acidic dry, moist, and wet tundra are consistently higher than those of corresponding nonacidic tundra types. These same trends are seen when the SPOT NDVI image is stratified according to vegetation boundaries appearing on two detailed vegetation maps in the region. Above-ground biomass of moist and wet acidic tundra is significantly greater than corresponding nonacidic types. Vegetation species composition was examined along two transects on the oldest and youngest glacial surfaces. Shrub cover is the most important factor affecting the spectral signatures and biomass. Older surfaces have greater cover of shrub-rich tussock tundra and shrub-filled water tracks, and the younger surfaces have more dry, well-drained sites with low biomass and relatively barren nonsorted circles and stripes. These trends are related to paludification and modification of the terrain by geomorphic and geochemical processes. Similar patterns of spectral reflectance have been noted in association with a variety of large-scale natural disturbances in northern Alaska. However, extrapolation of these results to much broader regions of the circumpolar Arctic will require the use of sensors covering larger areas, such as the AVHRR aboard the NOAA satellites.

Type
Articles
Information
Polar Record , Volume 31 , Issue 177 , April 1995 , pp. 169 - 178
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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

Aleksandrova, V.D. 1980. The Arctic and Antarctic: their division into geobotanical areas. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Auer, V. 1928. Some future problems of peat bog investigations in Canada. Commentations Forestales 1: 1–31.Google Scholar
Callahan, J.T. 1984. Long-term ecological research. BioScience 34: 363–367.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chapin, F.S. III, Fetcher, N., Kielland, K., Everett, K.R., and Linkins, A.E.. 1988. Productivity and nutrient cycling of Alaskan tundra: enhancement by flowing soil water. Ecology 69 (3): 693–702.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Colwell, J.E. 1973. Vegetation canopy reflectance. Remote Sensing of Environment 3: 175–183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eisner, W.R. 1991. Palynological analysis of a peat core from Imnavait Creek, the North Slope, Alaska. Arctic 44 (4): 279–282.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eisner, W.R., and Colinvaux, P.A.. 1990. A long pollen record from Ahaliorak Lake, Arctic Alaska. Review of Paleobotany and Palynology 63: 35–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Everett, K.R., and Brown, J.. 1982. Some recent trends in the physical and chemical characterization and mapping of tundra soils, Arctic Slope of Alaska. Soil Science 133: 264–280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fung, I.Y., Tucker, C.J., and Prentice, K.C.. 1987. Application of advanced very high resolution radiometer vegetation index to study atmosphere-biosphere exchange of CO2. Journal of Geophysical Research 92: 2999–3015.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gartner, B.L. 1982. Controls over regeneration of tundra graminoids in a natural and man-disturbed site in Arctic Alaska. Unpublished MSc thesis. University of Alaska, Fairbanks.Google Scholar
Goward, S.N., Tucker, C.J., and Dye, D.C.. 1985. North American vegetation patterns observed with the NOAA-7 advanced very high resolution radiometer. Vegetation 64: 3–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamilton, T.D. 1978. Surficial geologic map of the Philip Smith Quadrangle, Alaska. Reston, VA: US Geological Survey (Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-879-A).Google Scholar
Hamilton, T.D. 1986. Late Cenozoic glaciation of the central Brooks Range. In: Hamilton, T.D., Reed, K.M., and Thorson, R.M. (editors). Glaciation in Alaska: the geologic record. Anchorage: Alaska Geological Society: 9–49.Google Scholar
Heinselman, M.L. 1970. Landscape evolution, peatland types, and the environment in the Lake Agassiz Peatlands Natural Area, Minnesota. Ecological Monographs 40: 235–261.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hobbie, J.E., Peterson, B.J., Shaver, G.R., and O'Brien, W.J.. 1991. The Toolik Lake Project: terrestrial and freshwater research on change in the Arctic. In: Weller, G., Wilson, C.L., and Severin, B.A.B. (editors). International Conference on the Role of the Polar Regions in Global Change: proceedings of a conference held June 11–15, 1990, at the University of Alaska. Fairbanks: University of Alaska: II, 378–383.Google Scholar
Hope, A.S., Kimball, J.S., and Stow, D.A.. 1993. The relationship between tussock tundra spectral reflectance properties and biomass and vegetation composition. International Journal of Remote Sensing 10: 1861–1874.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jorgenson, M.T. 1984a. Controls of the geographic variability of soil heat flux near Toolik Lake, Alaska. Unpublished MSc thesis. University of Alaska, Fairbanks.Google Scholar
Jorgenson, M.T. 1984b. The response of vegetation to landscape evolution on glacial till near Toolik Lake, Alaska. In: Inventorying forest and other vegetation of the high altitude regions: proceedings of an internationational symposium. Fairbanks: Society of American Foresters Regional Technical Conference: 134–141.Google Scholar
Klinger, L.F. 1989. Global patterns in community succession: bryophytes and forest decline. Memoirs of the Torrey Botanical Club 23.Google Scholar
Klinger, L.F. 1990. Global patterns in community succession: bryophytes and forest decline. Memoirs of the Torrey Botanical Club 24: 1–50.Google Scholar
Kreig, R.A., and Reger, R.D.. 1982. Air-photo analysis and summary of landform and soil properties along the route of the trans-Alaska pipeline system. Anchorage: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys (Geologic Report 66).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Law, B.E., and Waring, R.H.. 1994. Combining remote sensing and climatic data to estimate net primary production across Oregon. Ecological Applications 4: 717–728.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lawrence, D.B. 1958. Glaciers and vegetation in southeastern Alaska. American Scientist 46: 89–122.Google Scholar
Marion, G.M., and Oechel, W.C.. 1993. Mid- to late-Holocene carbon balance in Arctic Alaska and its implications for future global warming. The Holocene 3: 193–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Page, A.L., Miller, R.H., and Keeney, D.R.. 1982. Methods of soil analysis, part 2: chemical and microbiological properties. Madison, Wl: American Society of Agronomy and Soil Science Society of America (Agronomy Series 9).Google Scholar
Rouse, J.W., Haas, R.H., Schell, J.A., and Deering, D.W.. 1973. Monitoring vegetation systems in the great plains with ERTS. In: Proceedings of the third ERTS symposium. Washington DC: NASA (SP-351): I, 309–317.Google Scholar
Running, S.W., Nemani, R.R., Peterson, D.L, Band, L.E., Potts, D.F., Pierce, L.L, and Spanner, M.A.. 1989. Mapping regional forest evapotranspiration and photosynthesis by coupling satellite data with ecosystem simulation. Ecology 70: 1090–1101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sellers, P.J. 1985. Canopy reflectance, photosynthesis and transpiration. International Journal of Remote Sensing 6: 1335–1372.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sellers, P.J. 1987. Canopy reflectance, photosynthesis and transpiration, II: the role of biophysics in the linearity of their interdependence. Remote Sensing of the Environment 21: 143–183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shaver, G.R., and Chapin, F.S. III. 1991. Production: biomass relationships and element cycling in contrasting Arctic vegetation types. Ecological Monographs 61 (1): 1–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shippert, M.M., Walker, D.A., Auerbach, N.A., and Lewis, B.E.. 1995. Biomass and leaf area index maps derived form SPOT images for the Toolik Lake and Imnavait Creek Area, Alaska. Polar Record 31 (177): 147–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soil Taxonomy Survey. 1975. Soil taxonomy, a basic system of soil classification for making and interpreting soil surveys. Washington DC: US Government Printing Office (USDA Handbook 436).Google Scholar
Sokal, R.R., and Rohlf, F.J.. 1979. Biometry: the principles and practice of statistics in biological research. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman and Company.Google Scholar
Stow, D.A., Hope, A.S., and George, T.H.. 1993. Reflectance characteristics of Arctic tundra vegetation from airborne radiometry. International Journal of Remote Sensing 14 (6): 1239–1244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tucker, C.J. 1979. Red and photographic infrared linear combinations for monitoring vegetation. Remote Sensing of Environment 8: 127–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tucker, C.J., and Sellers, P.J.. 1986. Satellite remote sensing of primary production. International Journal of Remote Sensing 7 (11): 1395–1416.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Viereck, L.A. 1966. Plant succession and soil development on gravel outwash of the Muldrow Glacier, Alaska. Ecological Monographs 36 (3): 181–199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wahrhaftig, C. 1965. Physiographic divisions of Alaska. Reston, VA: US Geological Survey (Geological Survey Professional Paper 482).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, D.A., and Barry, N.. 1991. Toolik Lake permanent vegetation plots: site factors, soil physical and chemical properties, plant species cover, photographs, and soil descriptions. Unpublished report for the Department of Energy R4D program and the Joint Facility for Regional Ecosystem Analysis, Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research.Google Scholar
Walker, D.A., Binnian, E., Evans, B.M., Lederer, N.D., Nordstrand, E., and Webber, P.J.. 1989. Terrain, vegetation and landscape evolution of the R4D research site, Brooks Range Foothills, Alaska. Holarctic Ecology 12: 238–261.Google Scholar
Walker, D.A., and Everett, K.R.. 1991. Loess ecosystems of northern Alaska: regional gradient and toposequence at Prudhoe Bay. Ecological Monographs 61 (4): 437–464.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, D.A., Everett, K.R., Acevedo, W., Gaydos, L., Brown, J., and Webber, P.J.. 1982. Landsat-assisted environmental mapping in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska. Hanover, NH: US Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL Report 82–27).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, D.A., and Walker, M.D.. 1991. History and pattern of disturbance in Alaskan Arctic terrestrial ecosystems: a hierarchical approach to analysing landscape change. Journal of Applied Ecology 28: 244–276.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, D.A., and Walker, M.D.. In press. Terrain and vegetation of the R4D Imnavait Creek intensive research site. In: Reynolds, J.F., and Tenhunen, J.D. (editors). Landscape function: implications for ecosystem response to disturbance, a case study in Arctic tundra. New York: Springer-Verlag.Google Scholar
Walker, M.D., Walker, D.A., and Auerbach, N.A.. 1994a. Vegetation of a tussock tundra landscape, Brooks Range Foothills, Alaska. Journal of Vegetation Science 5: 843–866.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, M.D., Webber, P.J., Arnold, E.H., and Ebert-May, D.. 1994b. Effects of interannual climate variation on aboveground phytomass in alpine vegetation. Ecology 75: 393–408.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Washburn, A.L. 1980. Geocryology: a survey of periglacial processes and environments. New York: Halsted Press, John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
Weller, G., and nine others. In press. The Arctic Flux Study: a regional view of trace gas release. Global Ecology and Biogeography Letters.Google Scholar