THE BOTANY OF SOMERSET ISLAND, DISTRICT OF FRANKLIN

1959 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 959-1002 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. B. O. Savile
Keyword(s):  
Plant Growth ◽  
Vascular Plants ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Phenological Data ◽  
History Of ◽  
Low Arctic ◽  
Somerset Island ◽  
General Appearance

The geology, physiography, general appearance, climate and weather, and history of exploration of Somerset I. are discussed briefly. The principal habitats and the areas visited are described. Data are presented on prevailing winter wind directions on Somerset I. and Boothia Pen., drawn from observations on residual snowbanks and plant growth. A few phenological data are presented, which supply further evidence that spring development at low arctic sites lags behind that at both subarctic and high arctic sites. Annotated lists are given of the fungi (28 species) and vascular plants (90 species) collected. Among the fungi Puccinia helicalis sp. nov. on Pedicularis capitata, and Doassansia nearctica sp. nov. on Ranunculus hyperboreus are described; and Exobasidium warmingii, intermediate between Exobasidium and Kordyana, is made the type of Arcticomyces gen. nov. Thirty-two species of vascular plants are added to the recorded flora of the island.

Why do we monitor? Using seabird eggs to track trends in Arctic environmental contamination

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristin Bianchini ◽  
Mark L. Mallory ◽  
Birgit Braune ◽  
Derek C.G. Muir ◽  
Jennifer F. Provencher
Keyword(s):  
Emerging Contaminants ◽  
Monitoring Program ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Arctic Canada ◽  
Seabird Species ◽  
Contaminant Monitoring ◽  
History Of ◽  
Low Arctic ◽  
High Level

Contaminant levels and trends have been monitored in eggs of seabirds from the Canadian Arctic since 1975. Nearly 50 years of monitoring have provided key information regarding the temporal and spatial variation of various contaminant classes in different seabird species. However, previous work has primarily assessed individual or related contaminant classes in isolation. There is therefore a need to collectively consider all of the contaminants monitored in seabird eggs to determine where monitoring has been successful, to find areas for improvement, and to identify opportunities for future research. In this review, we evaluated monitoring data for the major legacy and emerging contaminants of concern in five seabird species from three High Arctic and three Low Arctic colonies in Canada. We review the history of Canada’s Arctic seabird egg monitoring program and discuss how monitoring efforts have changed over time; we summarize temporal, spatial, and interspecies variations in Arctic seabird egg contamination and identify important knowledge gaps; and we discuss future directions for ecotoxicology research using seabird eggs in Arctic Canada. Ultimately, this paper provides a high-level overview of the egg contaminant monitoring program and underscores the importance of long-term and continued seabird contaminant monitoring in Arctic Canada.

Responses of Ranunculus sabinei and Papaver radicatum to removal of the moss layer in a high-arctic meadow

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (6) ◽  
pp. 1224-1228 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. H. Sohlberg ◽  
L. C. Bliss
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Plant Growth ◽  
Vascular Plants ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Moss Layer

Within the High Arctic, vascular plants of small size often grow in dense turfs of moss. The effect of moss removal on vascular plant growth was examined over a 2-year period for Ranunculus sabinei and Papaver radicatum. Aboveground non-repoductive parts of flowering R. sabinei were significantly (p < 0.05) larger for individuals in moss removal and moss clipped treatments than those in control plots. Similar but nonsignificant differences were found for nonflowering individuals of R. sabinei. Papaver radicatum had significantly (p < 0.05) larger aboveground, nonreproductive biomass in moss removal and replacement plots than in the moss clipped treatment and the controls. We suggest that the responses of Ranunculus sabinei to moss clipping or removal and of Papaver radicatum to moss removal and moss replacement are examples of the interaction between moss and vascular plants in relation to microsite conditions. Moss turf provides more soil moisture during drought periods as well as higher levels of nutrients. Moss removal results in warmer and more aerated soils. We interpret these results as commensalism rather than competition.

A history of botanical collections in the Luangwa Valley, Zambia

1998 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 283-291
Author(s):  
P.S.M. PHIRI ◽  
D.M. MOORE
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Vascular Plants ◽  
Central Africa ◽  
Peak Activity ◽  
Historical Account ◽  
History Of ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Made In

Central Africa remained botanically unknown to the outside world up to the end of the eighteenth century. This paper provides a historical account of plant explorations in the Luangwa Valley. The first plant specimens were collected in 1897 and the last serious botanical explorations were made in 1993. During this period there have been 58 plant collectors in the Luangwa Valley with peak activity recorded in the 1960s. In 1989 1,348 species of vascular plants were described in the Luangwa Valley. More botanical collecting is needed with a view to finding new plant taxa, and also to provide a satisfactory basis for applied disciplines such as ecology, phytogeography, conservation and environmental impact assessment.

Vascular plants and a brief history of the Kiowa and Rita Blanca National Grasslands

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald L. Hazlett ◽  
Michael H. Schiebout ◽  
Paulette L. Ford
Keyword(s):  
Vascular Plants ◽  
History Of

scholarly journals The flora of Cunningham Inlet, Somerset Island, Nunavut: history, analysis, and new collections of vascular plants, mosses, lichens, and algae

2015 ◽  
Vol 129 (1) ◽  
pp. 24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul C. Sokoloff
Keyword(s):  
Vascular Plants ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
North Coast ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Comprehensive Account ◽  
The North ◽  
National Herbarium ◽  
History Analysis ◽  
Somerset Island ◽  
First Time

New collections of vascular plants, bryophytes, lichen, and algae are reported for Cunningham Inlet on the north coast of Somerset Island, Nunavut. This list of 48 species of vascular plants, 13 bryophytes, 10 lichens, and five algae includes 136 specimens collected in 2013 and 39 previously unreported specimens from the National Herbarium of Canada at the Canadian Museum of Nature (CAN), Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Vascular Plant Herbarium (DAO), and University of Alberta (ALTA). Ten vascular plants from previous collecting in 1958 are re-reported here to give a comprehensive account of the vascular plant flora of the region. Two vascular plants are recorded for the first time for Somerset Island: Smooth Draba (Draba glabella Pursh) and Edlund’s Fescue (Festuca edlundiae S. G. Aiken, Consaul & Lefkovitch).

Evolution and environment in the late Silurian-early Devonian: the rise of the pteridophytes

1985 ◽  
Vol 309 (1138) ◽  
pp. 147-165 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Vascular Plants ◽  
Preliminary Report ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Early History ◽  
Flora Of Australia ◽  
Early Devonian ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of

A brief review of the major advances since 1979 in Silurian and Devonian palaeobotany is followed by a preliminary report on a Gedinnian assemblage from the Welsh Borderland. This is dominated by rhyniopsids and includes several species of Cooksonia and Salopella . Spores have been isolated from a number of taxa. The assemblage is used to illustrate the problems of recognition and classification of early vascular plants. Parallel sedimentological and palaeogeographical studies permit speculation on the ecology and life histories of the plants that colonized the Old Red Continent. It is concluded that the lack of well preserved and independently dated assemblages from elsewhere in the world (an exception being the Baragwanathia flora of Australia) prevents the detection of any provincialism in the late Silurian and early Devonian and makes generalizations on the early history of vascular plants premature.

Radiocarbon Age of Soils in Oases of East Antarctica

Radiocarbon ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 489-503 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Zazovskaya ◽  
N Mergelov ◽  
V Shishkov ◽  
A Dolgikh ◽  
V Miamin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Vascular Plants ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Radiocarbon Age ◽  
Antarctic Soils ◽  
Larsemann Hills ◽  
Arctic Soils ◽  
Organic Horizons

AbstractThis article discusses radiocarbon dating results for soils and soil-like systems in the East Antarctic oases, including Schirmacher, Thala Hills, and Larsemann Hills. The organic matter of endolithic and hypolithic systems, soils of wind shelters, and soils under moss-algae vegetation were dated along with micro- and macroprofiles. Organic matter pools formed under extreme climatic conditions and originated not from vascular plants but from cryptogamic organisms, and photoautotrophic microbes have been identified within the oases of the East Antarctica. The organic matter of the most of East Antarctic soils is young and cannot reach a steady state because of the high dynamism in the soil cover due to active erosion. The oldest soil organic matter in East Antarctica was found in the soils formed in wind shelters and endolithic soil-like systems under the protection of consolidated rock surfaces. According to our data, the maximal duration for the formation of organic matter profiles within the oases of East Antarctica is ~500 yr, which is similar to the age determined for High Arctic soils in Eurasia. The absence of older soils, comparable with the Holocene deglaciation, can be due to the extreme conditions resulting in occasional catastrophic events that destroyed the soil organic horizons.

The last glaciation and sea level history of Fosheim Peninsula, Ellesmere Island, Canadian High Arctic

1996 ◽  
Vol 33 (7) ◽  
pp. 1075-1086 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trevor Bell
Keyword(s):  
High Arctic ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Ice Caps ◽  
Marine Deposits ◽  
Last Glaciation ◽  
Maximum Elevation ◽  
Glacier Runoff ◽  
History Of ◽  
Ice Conditions

The last glaciation of Fosheim Peninsula is reconstructed on the basis of landform and sediment mapping and associated radiocarbon dates. Ice growth involved the expansion of cirque glaciers and accumulation on upland surfaces that are now ice free. Limited ice buildup, despite lowering of the paleoglaciation level by 700–800 m, is attributed to the hyperaridity of the region during glacial conditions. Marine deposits in formerly submerged basins beyond the ice margins are interpreted to represent (i) sedimentation caused by local ice buildup and marine transgression by 10.6 ka BP, (ii) increased ablation and glacier runoff [Formula: see text]9.5 ka BP, and (iii) marine regression during the Holocene. Holocene marine limit reaches a maximum elevation of approximately 150 m asl along northern Eureka Sound and Greely Fiord and descends southeastwards to 139–142 m asl near the Sawtooth Mountains. A synchronous marine limit is implied where the last ice limit was inland of the sea. The magnitude and pattern of Holocene emergence cannot be fully explained by the glacioisostatic effects of the small ice load during the last glaciation of the region. Deglaciation of the peninsula was underway by 9.5 ka BP; however, local ice caps may have persisted through the wannest period of the Holocene until 6–5 ka BP. This was likely a function of reduced sea ice conditions and increased moisture availability which benefited low-lying coastal icefields, but had negligible effect on interior highland ice caps.

scholarly journals Holocene stratigraphy and vegetation history in the Scoresby Sund area, East Greenland

1978 ◽  
Vol 129 ◽  
pp. 1-66
Author(s):  
S Funder
Keyword(s):  
Vegetation History ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Dwarf Shrub ◽  
Betula Nana ◽  
Isostatic Uplift ◽  
Cassiope Tetragona ◽  
Pollen Diagrams ◽  
Salix Arctica ◽  
Low Arctic ◽  
Holocene Stratigraphy

The Holocene stratigraphy in Scoresby Sund is based on climatic change as reflected by fluctuations in fjord and valley glaciers, immigration and extinction of marine molluscs, and the vegetation history recorded in pollen diagrams from five lakes. The histories are dated by C-14, and indirectly by emergence curves showing the patterns of isostatic uplift. From c. 10100-10400 to 9400 yr BP the major fjord glaciers showed oscillatory retreat with abundant moraine formation, the period of the Milne Land Moraines. The vegetation in the ice-free areas was a sparse type of fell field vegetation but with thermophilous elements indicating temperatures similar to the present. From 9400 yr BP the fjord glaciers retreated rapidly in the narrow fjords, the few moraines formed are referred to the Rødefjord stages and indicate topographically conditioned stillstands. At 8000 yr BP the low arctic Betula nana immigrated into the area, and in the period until 5000 yr BP dense dwarf shrub heath grew in areas where it is now absent. In the fjords the subarctic Mytilus edulis and Pecten islandica lived, suggesting a climate warmer than the present. From c. 5000 yr BP the dense dwarf shrub heath began to disappear in the coastal areas, and a 'poor' heath dominated by the high arctic Salix Arctica and Cassiope tetragona expanded. These two species, which are now extremely common, apparently did not grow in the area until c. 6000 yr BP. In lakes in the coastal area minerogenic sedimentation at c. 2800 yr BP, reflecting the general climatic deterioration.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document