A substantial upward shift of the alpine treeline ecotone in the southern Canadian Rocky Mountains

dc.contributor.authorRoush, William Morgan
dc.contributor.supervisorHiggs, Eric
dc.contributor.supervisorSmith, Daniel J.
dc.date.accessioned2010-01-04T18:46:53Z
dc.date.available2010-01-04T18:46:53Z
dc.date.copyright2009en
dc.date.issued2010-01-04T18:46:53Z
dc.degree.departmentDept. of Geographyen
dc.degree.levelMaster of Science M.Sc.en
dc.description.abstractChanges within and beyond the alpine treeline ecotone are hypothesized to respond to climatic changes and to be controlled by site-specific conditions. Repeated photographs show significant changes in the alpine treeline ecotone of Goodsir Pass in Kootenay National Park, B.C. over the past century. Field work revealed increases in tree density within the ecotone, and a 150 vertical metre increase in the elevation of the ecotone, at a rate of 2.2 metres/year. Change within the ecotone of Goodsir Pass is more closely related to temporal climatic variability than to site-specific spatial variability. Repeated photographs from three National Parks in the southern Canadian Rocky Mountains show this change to be a typical but dramatic example. Results at several scales indicate that the occurrence, magnitude and type of change in the alpine treeline ecotone and the drivers of that change are most influenced by the regional ecologic and geo-climatic setting or context.en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1828/2031
dc.languageEnglisheng
dc.language.isoenen
dc.rightsAvailable to the World Wide Weben
dc.subjectClimate Changeen
dc.subjectKootenay National Parken
dc.subjectRepeat Photographyen
dc.subjectSubalpine Larchen
dc.subjectClimatic changesen
dc.subject.lcshUVic Subject Index::Sciences and Engineering::Earth and Ocean Sciences::Environmental sciencesen
dc.titleA substantial upward shift of the alpine treeline ecotone in the southern Canadian Rocky Mountainsen
dc.typeThesisen

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Roush_MSc_Thesis.pdf
Size:
3.61 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.83 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description: