scholarly journals Floral Dissimilarity and the Influence of Climate in the Pliocene High Arctic: Biotic and Abiotic Influences on Five Sites on the Canadian Arctic Archipelago

Author(s):  
Tamara Fletcher ◽  
Ran Feng ◽  
Alice M. Telka ◽  
John V. Matthews ◽  
Ashley Ballantyne
1976 ◽  
Vol 16 (74) ◽  
pp. 119-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fritz Müller

AbstractThe 10 m temperatures were measured over several years at 16 sites on the White Glacier (lat. 80° N.), Axel Heiberg Island, Canadian Arctic Archipelago. At three sites deep profiles were made using a new drilling technique, reaching a maximum depth of 280 m. Large differences in the 10 m temperatures between locations and from year to year were observed. The deviations of these temperatures from the almost isothermal mean annual air temperature over the glacier are discussed. The heating effect of the melt water in the lower percolation zone was found to be very important. A conceptual model is developed to assess the influence of these irregularities in the energy input at the upper boundary on the thermal regime of the entire glacier. So far a quantitative analysis has been made only for the relatively simple 30 m temperature profile measured on the tongue of the glacier.


1976 ◽  
Vol 33 (8) ◽  
pp. 1667-1670 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene Lubinsky

The shell morphology and area of distribution of Thyasira dunbari n.sp. is described and illustrated. This species differs from its northern relatives, especially T. gouldi Phil., by its high, bent forward shell, and thin, long edentulous hinge with massive callus. It occurs in the northernmost part of the Canadian archipelago and off East Greenland. It is a high arctic shallow-water species, which seems to be endemic in the Canadian–Greenlandic region.


1972 ◽  
Vol 50 (11) ◽  
pp. 2289-2316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter G. Kevan

Some review, concepts, terminology, and methods are given towards the description of colors, here, of flowers of the high arctic flora of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, in the insect (including ultraviolet) and human visual spectra. Photographs and spectral reflection curves are given. The various flower colors found elsewhere do not occur in the same proportions in the high arctic where white and yellow predominate. Ultraviolet is reflected from several yellow (insect-red) flowers, making them insect-purple. Patterns and markings in the ultraviolet or other colors may be simple or complex, but cannot be described as honey-guides. To insects, the high arctic flowers of the different species have more distinctive colors and color patterns, and there are more different colors and color patterns, than there are to humans. Most flowers have greater luminance factors than do their backgrounds so stand out as different in color and brightness. Yellow flowers (with or without ultraviolet) are the most attractive to insects; other colored flowers are visited by special groups of insects or when yellow flowers are not available, or both. Color alone cannot account for the attractiveness or unattractiveness of some blooms. Some flower visitors are found in flowers in which they would be least conspicuous, and cryptic color changes may operate in the high arctic crab spider.


2002 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Gordillo ◽  
Alec E. Aitken

Abstract This study examines neonto- logical and palaeontological data pertaining to arctic marine molluscs with the goal of reconstructing the palaeoecology of Late Quaternary ca. 12-1 ka BP glaciomarine environments in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. A total of 26 taxa that represent 15 bivalves and 11 gastropods were recorded in shell collections recovered from Prince of Wales, Somerset, Devon, Axel Heiberg and Ellesmere islands. In spite of taphonomic bias, the observed fossil faunas bear strong similarities to modern benthic molluscan faunas inhabiting high latitude continental shelf environments, reflecting the high preservation potential of molluscan taxa in Quaternary marine sediments. The dominance of an arctic-boreal fauna represented by Hiatella arctica, Mya truncata and Astarte borealis is the product of natural ecological conditions in high arctic glaciomarine environments. Environmental factors controlling the distribution and species composition of the Late Quaternary molluscan assemblages from this region are discussed.


Botany ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 87 (5) ◽  
pp. 443-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dermot Antoniades ◽  
Marianne S.V. Douglas ◽  
John P. Smol

Streams are amongst the most sensitive ecosystems in Arctic regions to environmental change. Although diatoms are excellent indicators of environmental change, little information is available about stream diatom distributions across the vast Canadian High Arctic. We sampled 42 streams from nine islands in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago to study their diatom floras and evaluate the influences of biogeographic and environmental variables on species distributions. Highly divergent diatom communities were identified, with 100% species overturn between the most dissimilar communities. Taxa including Hannaea arcus (Ehrenberg) Patrick were characteristic of streams from all regions; other common taxa included Nitzschia perminuta (Grunow) Peragallo, Rossithidium petersenii (Hustedt) Round & Bukhtiyarova, Achnanthidium minutissimum (Kützing) Czarnecki, and Eucocconeis laevis (Østrup) H. Lange-Bertalot. Canonical correspondence analysis indicated that diatom assemblages were significantly related to differences in pH, temperature, latitude, and longitude, which together explained 14.7% of species variability. Analysis of similarities indicated that communities did not differ significantly between epilithic and epiphytic samples and that there were weak but significant differences between the diatom communities in our three regions. These data provide important baseline information for future biomonitoring efforts as well as for paleolimnological studies of past stream hydrology.


Rangifer ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keri McFarlane ◽  
Frank L. Miller ◽  
Samuel J. Barry ◽  
Gregory A. Wilson

We investigated the status of caribou classified as Rangifer tarandus pearyi by DNA analyses, with an emphasis on those large-bodied caribou identified as ultra pearyi that were collected in summer 1958 on Prince of Wales Island, south-central Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Our comparative assessment reveals that the ultra pearyi from Prince of Wales Island belong to a group of pearyi and are not hybrids of pearyi x groenlandicus, as we found for the caribou occurring on nearby Banks Island and northwest Victoria Island. The ultra pearyi from Prince of Wales Island cluster with high arctic pearyi and are separated genetically from the caribou populations that we sampled on the low Canadian Arctic Islands and the Canadian mainland. Our findings reveal biodiversity below the level of subspecies or regional designations. These results support the position that to retain the biodiversity present among caribou populations on the Canadian Arctic Islands, conservation efforts should be targeted at the smaller scale level of the geographic population, rather than on a wider regional or subspecific range-wide basis.


1976 ◽  
Vol 16 (74) ◽  
pp. 119-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fritz Müller

AbstractThe 10 m temperatures were measured over several years at 16 sites on the White Glacier (lat. 80° N.), Axel Heiberg Island, Canadian Arctic Archipelago. At three sites deep profiles were made using a new drilling technique, reaching a maximum depth of 280 m. Large differences in the 10 m temperatures between locations and from year to year were observed. The deviations of these temperatures from the almost isothermal mean annual air temperature over the glacier are discussed. The heating effect of the melt water in the lower percolation zone was found to be very important. A conceptual model is developed to assess the influence of these irregularities in the energy input at the upper boundary on the thermal regime of the entire glacier. So far a quantitative analysis has been made only for the relatively simple 30 m temperature profile measured on the tongue of the glacier.


1972 ◽  
Vol 104 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. V. Danks ◽  
J. R. Byers

AbstractTerrestrial arthropods collected from Bathurst Island in 1969 are listed: 78 species (4 spiders, 13 mites, and 61 insects, 30 of which are chironomids) have now been collected in this area of the high arctic. Notes on the overwintering of some of the commoner insect species are given. Although the collecting season was a poor one in 1969 because of adverse weather conditions, the list probably represents half or more of the island’s arthropod fauna. The nature of the list indicates that this fauna is impoverished compared to some other areas of the Queen Elizabeth Islands. This impoverishment may be largely explained by climatic factors.


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