Vegetation change in Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park: Using historic aerial imagery to detect change in forest and shrubland extent along the upper Chilkoot Trail
Flagstad L and Boucher T. 2017. Vegetation change in Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park: Using historic aerial imagery to detect change in forest and shrubland extent along the upper Chilkoot Trail. Natural Resource Report. NPS/KLGO/NRR—2017/1408. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
As climate exerts primary control on the broad-scale distribution and abundance of plant species, change in climate can elicit a delayed but commensurate response in vegetation. This project assesses change in the distribution of forest and shrubland over a 60-year period in the upper Chilkoot Unit of Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park (NHP), Alaska. Here we document the magnitude and direction of this change by comparing the total areas of forest and shrubland as well as the positions of elevational treeline and shrubline on remotely-sensed imagery captured in 1948, 1979 and 2003/2005. This geospatial analysis shows clear increase in forest extent, presumably at the expense of shrubland as well as a greater annual rate of elevational treeline advance relative to shrubline. We interpret the greater shift in forest distribution as a successional response to gold rush-era disturbance that is compounded by niche expansion due to a warming climate.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Flagstad, Lindsey; Boucher, Tina
- Date of Issue
- 2017-03
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- AKRO , KLGO , NRSS
- Keywords
- Alaska, Chilkoot Trail, Dyea, KLGO, Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, landscape change, remote sensing, satellite, Skagway, succession, Taiya River, vegetation change, White Pass
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Air and Climate | Weather and Climate | Weather and Climate , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Sparsely Vegetated Communities , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Shrubland Communities , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Forest/Woodland Communities , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Vegetation Complex