Lichens on the Hudson Bay Lowlands: a long-term survey in Wapusk National Park, Manitoba

2016 ◽  
Vol 48 (5) ◽  
pp. 581-592 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele D. PIERCEY-NORMORE ◽  
Irwin M. BRODO ◽  
Chris DEDUKE
Keyword(s):  
Species Diversity ◽  
National Park ◽  
Hudson Bay ◽  
Beach Ridge ◽  
Habitat Types ◽  
Hudson Bay Lowlands ◽  
Coastal Beach ◽  
Physiographic Regions ◽  
Unique Species

AbstractWapusk National Park is part of the Hudson Bay Lowlands in Manitoba and covers 11 475 km2. Lichen surveys were initiated in 2002 but none have reported all species incorporating broad habitat types or a baseline on which to make management decisions. The objectives of this study were: 1) to determine species diversity, including species richness and evenness of the lichens present; 2) to explore species distributions; and 3) to compare lichen growth form and substratum relationships among physiographic regions. Fifty-six locations in four habitat types (physiographic regions: open coastal beach ridge, forested coastal beach ridge, boreal transition forest, and peat plateau bog) and three burned locations were visited over nine years and specimens were collected at each location. A total of 276 species and subspecies were collected. One species is new to Canada (Buellia uberior Anzi) and ten species are new to Manitoba. Species diversity, evenness, and richness were highest in the coastal beach ridge. The open coastal beach ridge, boreal transition forest, and peat plateau bogs formed separate clusters in the non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMS) but the forested coastal beach ridge overlapped with the open coastal beach ridge. Unique species in each region may serve as indicators to monitor long-term changes. While the coastal beach ridge facilitates travel along the coast, it also represents the region with the highest need for intervention to conserve species diversity.

Lichens from the Hudson Bay Lowlands: diversity in the southeastern peatlands of Wapusk National Park, Manitoba

2006 ◽  
Vol 84 (12) ◽  
pp. 1781-1793 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele D. Piercey-Normore
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
National Park ◽  
Chemical Diversity ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Hudson Bay ◽  
Large Mammals ◽  
Species List ◽  
Hudson Bay Lowlands ◽  
Coastal Beach ◽  
Lichen Growth

Peatlands form an important component of the Northern Hemisphere. They provide substrate for lichen growth and are used by large mammals such as polar bears, caribou, and humans. This study provides the first annotated species list of lichens on the peatlands of Wapusk National Park, Manitoba. It also provides insight into the chemical and genetic diversity of members of Cladonia that dominate the peatlands. Ninety-three species of lichen-forming fungi are reported for the peatlands, fewer than that reported for the coastal beach ridges in Wapusk National Park. This study reports six species of cyanobacterial lichens and two species of Basidiomycete lichens, including two new occurrences for Manitoba, Leptogium intermedium (Arnold) Arnold and Lichenomphalia hudsoniana (H.S. Jenn.) Redhead, Lutzoni, Moncalvo, & Vilgalys. Both chemical diversity in the genus Cladonia and genetic diversity within the species, Cladonia arbuscula (Wallr.) Flotow, were lower than those of a comparable study in a more southerly location. The abundance of apothecia produced by crustose species on the peatlands suggests that crustose species were predominantly sexually reproducing. Foliose species showed production of both sexual and vegetative features, and the fruticose species were mainly vegetatively reproducing. The study raises questions on life history strategies, the influence of habitat on lichen chemistry, and genetic variation of lichen algae in northern environments.

Lichens from the Hudson Bay Lowlands: northwestern interior treeline peatlands of Wapusk National Park in Manitoba

Botany ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 88 (10) ◽  
pp. 923-929 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele D. Piercey-Normore
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Hudson Bay ◽  
Beach Ridge ◽  
Hudson Bay Lowlands ◽  
Lichen Diversity ◽  
Species Similarity ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Eleven Species ◽  
Peat Plateaus

Peatlands, including plateaus, palsas, or polygons, contain a diversity of lichens and bryophytes that dominate northern ecosystems. Studies on the lichen diversity of peatlands in Wapusk National Park on the Hudson Bay Lowlands in Manitoba are rare. The goal of this study was to examine the species diversity of lichen-forming fungi in the northwestern peatlands of Wapusk National Park. Seven locations were sampled in the northwestern portion of the park, including one burned peat polygon, three unburned peat polygons, two peat plateaus, and a peat-covered beach ridge. Eleven species are reported new for the national park. A large number of species had a boreal element, reflecting the presence of the treeline. As expected, the burned peat polygon showed the lowest levels of species similarity with that of other sites. A peat-covered beach ridge also showed low levels of similarity with the other peatlands. The most similar sites were the two peat plateaus. This study also shows species similarity among peatland types. Revegetation of the burned peat polygon was slow and is discussed with reference to park management practices and climate change.

Lichens from the Hudson Bay Lowlands: northeastern coastal regions of Wapusk National Park in Manitoba

2005 ◽  
Vol 83 (8) ◽  
pp. 1029-1038 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele D Piercey-Normore
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Growth Form ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Extensive Study ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Hudson Bay ◽  
Beach Ridge ◽  
Beach Ridges ◽  
Hudson Bay Lowlands ◽  
Wide Range

Lichens are an important component of most terrestrial ecosystems including the subarctic tundra. A narrow band of raised calcareous beach ridges on the Hudson Bay Lowlands supports subarctic tundra alternating with incipient wetlands. This is the first extensive study of lichens on these beach ridges providing valuable noteworthy additions to the flora of Manitoba and baseline data for a developing national park. This study reports 134 species of lichens and seven habitats containing lichen communities; three of the lichens are new reports for Manitoba. Trends in the data were explored among 932 specimens (134 species) and three characters, method of reproduction, growth form, and substratum. The sexually reproducing crustose lichens were found mainly in exposed microenvironments such as on rocks and driftwood. The vegetatively reproducing fruticose lichens grew in the more stable microenvironments such as among moss on the ground. The sexually and vegetatively reproducing foliose lichens, occurring in a wide range of microenvironments and substrata, were more suited to the exposed beach ridge habitats than were either the crustose or fruticose lichens alone. Genetically and symbiotically diverse populations of both algal and fungal partners, resulting from sexual reproduction, would be better equipped than vegetative populations to adapt to changing environments in these exposed habitats.Key words: distribution, floristic survey, growth form, life history strategies, raised beach ridge, reproduction.

scholarly journals Bird trends from long-term observation data at sites in the Hudson Bay Lowlands

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodney W. Brook ◽  
Lisa A. Pollock ◽  
Kenneth F. Abraham ◽  
Glen S. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Hudson Bay ◽  
Observation Data ◽  
Hudson Bay Lowlands ◽  
Long Term Observation

scholarly journals Status of woodland caribou in Ontario: 1996

Rangifer ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harold G. Cumming
Keyword(s):  
Survey Methods ◽  
Lake Superior ◽  
Hudson Bay ◽  
Woodland Caribou ◽  
Habitat Types ◽  
Isolated Populations ◽  
Hudson Bay Lowlands ◽  
North East ◽  
Transitional Forest ◽  
Minimum Numbers

Over 20 000 woodland caribou were reported in Ontario during 1966, the highest figure ever published. Photographic counts of the Pen Islands herd, bordering Manitoba, have shown constant increases from 2300 in 1979 to 10 800 in 1994. Elsewhere in Ontario, estimates have been declining, from 13 000 in 1965 to 11 000 in 1989 to under 10 000 in 1996, a trend that may or may not be real because of differing survey methods. On the Hudson Bay Lowlands (excluding the Pen Islands caribou) 8600 were reported in 1965, 7200 in 1989, 5500 in 1996, an apparent decline. The transitional forest populations has remained stable. Estimated caribou numbers inhabiting the true boreal forest have dropped from nearly 4000 in 1965 to 2700 in 1996, but this decrease was not confirmed by careful within-district breakdowns of sub-populations by habitat types and may be an artifact of classification from districts to regions. The sharpest decrease was reported for the Central Region, north east of Lake Superior, where estimates dropped from 500 in 1965 to 475 in 1989 and to 68 in 1996. Individual caribou bands approach recognized minimum numbers for isolated populations, and even totals by sub-population remain low: over 1300 in commercial forests, about 500 in potentially commercial forests, and 8-900 in parks. Due to small numbers in widely dispersed band-locations, the potential for human disturbance affecting these forest dwelling caribou is substantial.

scholarly journals Global warming triggers the loss of a key Arctic refugium

2013 ◽  
Vol 280 (1772) ◽  
pp. 20131887 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. M. Rühland ◽  
A. M. Paterson ◽  
W. Keller ◽  
N. Michelutti ◽  
J. P. Smol
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Sea Ice ◽  
Sediment Cores ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystems ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Hudson Bay ◽  
Native Communities ◽  
Hudson Bay Lowlands ◽  
Short Period

We document the rapid transformation of one of the Earth's last remaining Arctic refugia, a change that is being driven by global warming. In stark contrast to the amplified warming observed throughout much of the Arctic, the Hudson Bay Lowlands (HBL) of subarctic Canada has maintained cool temperatures, largely due to the counteracting effects of persistent sea ice. However, since the mid-1990s, climate of the HBL has passed a tipping point, the pace and magnitude of which is exceptional even by Arctic standards, exceeding the range of regional long-term variability. Using high-resolution, palaeolimnological records of algal remains in dated lake sediment cores, we report that, within this short period of intense warming, striking biological changes have occurred in the region's freshwater ecosystems. The delayed and intense warming in this remote region provides a natural observatory for testing ecosystem resilience under a rapidly changing climate, in the absence of direct anthropogenic influences. The environmental repercussions of this climate change are of global significance, influencing the huge store of carbon in the region's extensive peatlands, the world's southern-most polar bear population that depends upon Hudson Bay sea ice and permafrost for survival, and native communities who rely on this landscape for sustenance.

Long-term successional changes in peatlands of the Hudson Bay Lowlands, Canada inferred from the ecological dynamics of multiple proxies

The Holocene ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn E Hargan ◽  
Kathleen M Rühland ◽  
Andrew M Paterson ◽  
James Holmquist ◽  
Glen M MacDonald ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hudson Bay ◽  
Ecological Dynamics ◽  
Hudson Bay Lowlands

Holocene hydro-climatic change and effects on carbon accumulation inferred from a peat bog in the Attawapiskat River watershed, Hudson Bay Lowlands, Canada

2012 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. 275-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan Bunbury ◽  
Sarah A. Finkelstein ◽  
Jörg Bollmann
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Accumulation ◽  
Testate Amoeba ◽  
Hudson Bay ◽  
Pollen Record ◽  
Medieval Climate Anomaly ◽  
Northern Ontario ◽  
Peat Core ◽  
Hudson Bay Lowlands ◽  
Isostatic Rebound

AbstractMultiple proxies from a 319-cm peat core collected from the Hudson Bay Lowlands, northern Ontario, Canada were analyzed to determine how carbon accumulation has varied as a function of paleohydrology and paleoclimate. Testate amoeba assemblages, analysis of peat composition and humification, and a pollen record from a nearby lake suggest that isostatic rebound and climate may have influenced peatland growth and carbon dynamics over the past 6700 cal yr BP. Long-term apparent rates of carbon accumulation ranged between 8.1 and 36.7 g C m− 2 yr− 1 (average = 18.9 g C m− 2 yr− 1). The highest carbon accumulation estimates were recorded prior to 5400 cal yr BP when a fen existed at this site, however following the fen-to-bog transition carbon accumulation stabilized. Carbon accumulation remained relatively constant through the Neoglacial period after 2400 cal yr BP when pollen-based paleoclimate reconstructions from a nearby lake (McAndrews et al., 1982) and reconstructions of the depth to the water table derived from testate amoeba data suggest a wetter climate. More carbon accumulated per unit time between 1000 and 600 cal yr BP, coinciding in part with the Medieval Climate Anomaly.

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