2002 ARCSS All-Hands Workshop

Second Draft of the Circumpolar Arctic Vegetation Map

Martha K. Raynolds¹, Galina V. Ananjeva², Dmitry S. Drozdov³, Fred JA Daniels⁴, Eythor Einarsson⁵, Arve Elvebakk⁶, William A. Gould⁷, Adrian E. Katenin⁸, Sergei S. Kholod⁹, Yuri V. Korostelev¹⁰, Hilmar A. Maier¹¹, Carl J. Markon¹², Natalia G. Moskalenko¹³, Stephen S. Talbot¹⁴, Daniel A. Walker^15
1Alaska Geobotany Center, Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, P.O. Box 757000, Fairbanks, AK, USA, Phone (907)474-2459, Fax (907)474-6967, fnmkr@uaf.edu
²Earth Cryosphere Institute, 30/6 Vavilov Str., Moscow, 119991, Russia
³Earth Cryosphere Institute, 30/6 Vavilov str., Moscow, 119991, Russia
⁴Institute of Plant Ecology, Hindenburgplatz 55, Muenster, 48143, Germany
⁵Icelandic Institute of Natural History, Hilemmur 3, Box 5320, Reykjavik, IS-125, Iceland
⁶Department of Biology, University of Tromso, Tromso, N-9037, Norway
⁷International INstitue for Tropical Forestry, P.O. Box 25000, San Juan, PR, 00928-5000
⁸Komarov Botanical Institute, Prof. Popov str., St. Petersburg, 197376, Russia
⁹Komarov Botanical Institute, Prof. Popov str.2, St. Petersburg, 197376, Russia
¹⁰Earth Cryosphere Institute, 30/6 Vavilov str., Moscow, 119991, Russia
¹¹Alaska Geobotany Center, Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, P.O. Box 757000, Fairbanks, AK, 99775-7000, USA
¹²USGS/EROS Alaska Field Office, Raytheon Corp., 4230 University Drive, Anchorage, AK, 99508-4664, USA
¹³Earth Cryosphere Institute, 30/6 Vavilov Str., Moscow, 119991, Russia
¹⁴U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, 1101 East Tudor Drive, Anchorage, AK, 99503, USA
¹⁵Alaska Geobotany Center, Institute of Arctic Biology, Univerity of Alaska Fairbanks, P.O. BOx 757000, Fairbanks, AK, 99775-7000, USA

The maps presented here are preliminary products of the Circumpolar Arctic Vegetation Map (CAVM), a project to map the vegetation and associated characteristics of the circumpolar tundra region. The maps show spatial variation in characteristics important to understanding and modeling ecosystem functions and their response to climatic change.

The Circumpolar Arctic Vegetation Mapping (CAVM) project was initiated in 1993 as an outcome of the First Arctic Vegetation Classification workshop in Boulder. It was funded through supplements to the FLUX studies, and through a major award as part of ATLAS. The CAVM is an international project with participants from the U.S., Canada, Germany, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Russia, who have collaborated at four international workshops in St. Petersburg, Russia (1994), Arendal, Norway (1996), Anchorage, Alaska, (1997, 1998) and Moscow (2001). The proceedings have been published as US Open File Reports, and INSTAAR Occasional Papers. The CAVM project has also resulted in several publications in the Journal of Vegetation Science, Arctic and Alpine Research, and International Journal of Remote Sensing.

The first draft of the CAVM was presented in November 2001 at the ARCSS meeting in Salt Lake City. The version presented here (February 2002 ARCSS ) is being reviewed by all the contributors. Publication of the revised map, funded through CAFF and USFWS, is expected in 2002. CAVM participants will meet again at the 2nd International Arctic Vegetation Classification Conference, planned for 2003 in Greenland. The goal of that meeting will be to publish the more detailed CAVM vegetation community map, and produce regional papers that describe the vegetation communities.

The CAVM mapping method integrates information on soils, bedrock and surficial geology, hydrology, remotely-sensed vegetation classifications, Normalized Difference of Vegetation Index (NDVI), previous vegetation studies, and regional expertise of the mapping scientists (Walker et al. 1999). The information was used to define polygons drawn by photo-interpretation of a 1:4,000,000 scale AVHRR image basemap. The basemap is a composite AVHRR false color infrared image of the maximum reflectance of each 1 km² pixel of 1993 and 1995 data. Hand-drawn polygons reflect the following characteristics: 1) they are greater than a minimum polygon size of 3.5 mm (14 km on the ground) for circular polygons and 2 mm (8 km on the ground) for linear polygons, 2) they consist of a relatively homogeneous landscape unit (either plains, hills, mountains, valleys, lakes or glaciers) with boundaries visible on AVHRR imagery, and 3) they consist of relatively homogeneous substrate chemistry (nonacidic, acidic or saline substrates).

The maps presented here include nine maps of characteristics that influence or reflect vegetation patterns (approximately 1:20 million scale), and one larger scale map (1:10 million) of the vegetation of the circumpolar arctic. We include four maps showing some of the data used to create the vegetation map: the AVHRR basemap, a map of NDVI derived from the AVHRR, a map of phytomass density derived from the NDVI data and ground studies, and a map of elevation based on the GTOPO 30 digital elevation model. We also include five maps derived from the CAVM: a map of bioclimate subzones of the arctic zone, a map of longitudinal floristic regions, a map of percent lake cover, a map of basic landscape units, and a map of parent material chemistry. The large-scale map shows the dominant vegetation, described in terms of the dominant plant growth forms in each mapped polygon.

We must emphasize that this product is a draft, and will likely be extensively revised before publication. The plant physiognomy legend has already been reviewed and revised since the version presented at Salt Lake in November 2001. Individual mapping teams will be closely reviewing the vegetation physiognomy map. Several hundred plant communities were grouped into the twenty legend categories, so the mappers will be looking at specific local community descriptions, verifying that they have been assigned to the correct category in the legend. They will also be reviewing the landscape and parent material chemistry maps.

Literature Cited: Walker, D.A. 1999. An integrated vegetation mapping approach for northern Alaska (1:4M scale). International Journal of Remote Sensing 20:2895-2920.

Acknowledgments: This project was funded by the National Science Foundation Arctic Transitions in the Land-Atmosphere System (ATLAS) project (OPP-9732076).

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