Open Access
How to translate text using browser tools
1 November 2017 Vegetation Greening Trends at Two Sites in the Canadian Arctic: 1984–2015
Rebecca Edwards, Paul Treitz
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

This study examined vegetation greening at two arctic sites: the Apex River Watershed (ARW), Baffin Island, Nunavut (a Low Arctic site) and the Cape Bounty Arctic Watershed Observatory (CBAWO), Melville Island, Nunavut (a High Arctic site). The vegetation at both study sites was characterized using a supervised land-cover classification approach using high spatial resolution satellite remote sensing data (i.e., IKONOS [4 m] and WorldView-2 [2 m]). Meanwhile, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data spanning the past 30 years were derived from intermediate spatial resolution data (i.e., Landsat TM/ETM/OLI [30 m]). The land-cover classifications were used to partition the Landsat NDVI time series by vegetation type. Climate variables (i.e., temperature, precipitation, and growing season length [GSL]) were examined to explore potential relationships of NDVI to climate warming trends. The results of the land-cover classifications demonstrated inherent trends of vegetation types along elevation and moisture gradients. The NDVI time series for the CBAWO (1985–2015) demonstrated an overall significant increase in greening, specifically in the dry and mesic vegetation types. Conversely, similar greening (overall or by vegetation type) was not observed for the ARW (1984–2015). Based on climate data from the nearest permanent weather station (Mould Bay, Nunavut), the overall increase in NDVI at the CBAWO was largely attributed to a significant increase in July temperatures and GSL.

© 2017 Regents of the University of Colorado
Rebecca Edwards and Paul Treitz "Vegetation Greening Trends at Two Sites in the Canadian Arctic: 1984–2015," Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research 49(4), 601-619, (1 November 2017). https://doi.org/10.1657/AAAR0016-075
Received: 19 December 2016; Accepted: 1 August 2017; Published: 1 November 2017
Back to Top