ARCSS081: CANADIAN TRANSECT OF SOILS AND VEGETATION FOR THE CIRCUMPOLAR ARCTIC VEGETATION MAP NOTE: This data set is available as a digital version of the investigators' data report. The following is an EXCERPT from the investigators' MS Word file "CTtext_p1-11.doc," the introduction to their report. References, extracted from the file "CTtext_p67-69," are also included in this excerpt. A complete version of this file, and the remainder of the report (including data tables, figures, etc.), are available via ftp. The file "readme_arcss081.txt," also available via ftp, provides a description of all available files and their contents. ************************************************************************* 1999 CANADIAN TRANSECT FOR THE CIRCUMPOLAR ARCTIC VEGETATION MAP DATA REPORT: Participants, sampling scheme, site descriptions, soil descriptions and properties, plant species cover, and photographs Grizelle González, William A. Gould, and Martha K. Raynolds Introduction Variations in vegetation cover and species composition related to climate are evident from the southern to northern Arctic. Scientists involved in the Circumpolar Arctic Vegetation Mapping (CAVM) project and undergraduate students in a University of Minnesota field course conducted a north-south transect in the Canadian Arctic in order to investigate this large-scale variation in vegetation. Data obtained from the transect will help define phytogeographic zonation in the Arctic related to climate. Four goals of the project were: 1) to help resolve interpretations of Arctic vegetation zonation (i.e. the Russian, European, and North American schools of thought) in order to develop a uniform internationally accepted terminology for use in the CAVM, 2) better understand vegetation patterns in the least documented of the circumpolar regions, 3) develop a table of major vegetation types along a mesotopographic sequence within vegetation zones related to climate, and 4) to further interest and research in the Arctic by involving graduate and undergraduate students in the project through a University of Minnesota sponsored field course, Arctic Field Ecology. University students from the United States and Canada joined vegetation scientists from Canada, Germany, Norway, Russia, and the United States in the transect from the northern to southern Canadian Arctic designed to investigate large-scale variation in vegetation related to climate (Table 1, Fig. 1, Gould and Walker, in prep.). This report summarizes the environmental, vegetation, and soil data collected from 116 relevés along a transect from Amund Ringnes, Axel Heiberg, and Ellesmere Islands in the north to a research camp at the southern edge of the tundra (Fig. 2). Methods Site descriptions We visited Sixteen locations along a 2000 km transect covering over 16° of latitude (Table 2, Fig. 2). We selected sites with the following criteria in mind: They should 1) be distributed between each of Yurtsev's (1994) five phytogeographic subzones, 2) be logistically accessible with a minimum of flying time, 3) have accessible undisturbed habitats (topographic positions and moisture conditions), and 4) be representative of regional climatic and substrate conditions. Vegetation and soils were sampled on acidic substrates in the southern Arctic (subzone 5) and on neutral and nonacidic substrates in the northern Arctic (subzones 1-4). The transect included a set of four stops with logistic support (Daring Lake, Cambridge Bay, Resolute, and Eureka) and day travel by airplane, helicopter, all-terrain vehicle (ATV), and on foot from these locations to our set of 16 sampling areas (Fig. 2). Sampling areas were selected using air photos and topographic and vegetation maps when available. Vascular, lichen, and bryophyte floristic surveys were conducted at each of the sixteen sites. Sampling at eight sites involved conducting relevés along a complete mesotopographic gradient (Fig. 3) with the goal of describing the range of representative vegetation and soils in 1) dry, 2) mesic-zonal, 3) wet, 4a) early snowbed, 4b) late snowbed, and 5) riparian environments; and on available substrates. Sampling at eight additional sites included either only floristic surveys or surveys with relevés along a partial topographic sequence. Data collection (relevés) Vegetation An attempt was made to sample at least three relevés within each site of the topographic gradient, but this was not always possible. Sample plots were marked with stakes, and the relevés were located in homogeneous areas of vegetation using the centralized replicate method of the Braun-Blanquet approach to vegetation description and classification (Mueller-Dombois and Ellenberg, 1974; Westhoff and van der Maarel, 1978). Estimates of vegetation cover used the Braun-Blanquet cover-abundance scale (r = rare, + = common but less than 1%, 1 = 1-5%, 2 = 6-25%, 3 = 25-50%, 4 = 51-75%, 5 = 76-100%). Relevés varied in size as the minimal area needed to obtain a representative sample for the plant communities varied with barren, herb, prostate shrub and tall shrub tundra. Voucher collections were made for all vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens occurring in the relevé. Bryophytes were identified by Drs. Olga Afonina, Nadya Matveyeva, and Fred Daniëls. Lichens were identified by Drs. Mikhail Zhurbenko, Nadya Matveyeva, and Fred Daniëls. Drs. Olga Afonina, Nadya Matveyeva, and Mikhail Zhurbenko are affiliated with the Komarov Botanical Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia. Soils Field sampling Soils were collected adjacent to the relevés and described and classified according to the U.S. soil taxonomy (Soil Survey Staff, 1975). Soil samples were air-dried in the laboratory. Bulk density and soil moisture samples were taken from the sides of the soil or from large solid plugs for the wet soils using a 240 ml soil can. Laboratory analysis Laboratory analyses were conducted at the University of Fairbanks Plant and Soil Test Laboratory in Palmer, Alaska. Soil pH was measured using a paste of 1:1 ratio of air-dried soil and deionized water. Soil moisture percent was calculated for each site by oven drying 10 g of fresh sample at 105 °C for 48 hrs, and reported on oven-dried basis. P and K (Mehlich 3 extract) analysis were performed using the ICP Optima XL. Carbon and Nitrogen percents were measured using a LECO CHN-1000 Carbon, Hydrogen and Nitrogen Analyzer. The particle size (percent of sand, silt, clay) analysis was performed by using the Bouyoucos-Hydrometer method (Day, 1965). REFERENCES Day, P.R. 1965. Particle fractionation and particle-size analysis, hydrometer method. In: Methods of soil analysis, Part I. Agronomy 9:562-566. Amer. Soc. Of Agron., Madison, Wis. Edlund, S. A. and B. T. Alt. 1989. Regional congruence of vegetation and summer climate patterns in the Queen Elizabeth Islands, Northwest Territories, Canada. Arctic 42: 3-23. Elvebakk, A. 1999. Bioclimatic delimitation and subdivision of the arctic. Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi. I. Matematisk Naturvitenskapelige Klasse, Skrifter, Ny serie 38:81-112. Gould, W.A.and D. A. Walker. in prep. Integrating research and education: Canadian Transect for a circumpolar arctic vegetation map. McLean, E.O. 1982. Recommended pH and Lime Requirement Tests. In: Recommended chemical and soil test procedures for the North Central Region. North Dakota State Univ. Agric. Exp. Stn. Bull. 499:6-9. Mueller-Dombois, D., and H. Ellenberg. 1974. Aims and methods of vegetation ecology. New York, John Wiley and Sons, 547 pp. Peech, M. 1982. Hydrogen Ion Activity. In: Methods of soil analysis, Part I. Agronomy 9:920-921. Amer. Soc. Of Agron. Inc., Madison, Wis. Westhoff, V., and E. van der Maarel. 1978. The Braun-Blanquet approach. In: Whittaker, R.H. (ed.). Classification of plant communities. Boston: Junk, pp. 617-726. Yurtsev, B.A. 1994. Floristic dision of the Arctic. J. Veg. Sci. 5(6):765-776