Wetland vegetation near Old Crow, northern Yukon

Abstract

Wetland vegetation on lowlands of northern Yukon was related to gradients of pH, peat depth, and active-layer depth using detrended correspondence analysis. Seven vegetation types were distinguished by two-way indicator species analysis: Arctophila shoreline marsh, Carex aquatilis – Sphagnum – Chamaedaphne wet meadow, Scorpidium–sedge carpet, Carex rotundata – Andromeda – Sphagnum orientale lawn, Sphagnum–heath on firm peat, thickets and tussock tundra, and Calamagrostis canadensis meadow. The Arctophila marshes and tussocky shrublands resemble other sites in the subarctic and low arctic wetland regions of North America, while Sphagnum–heath on firm peat is typical of high boreal and subarctic wetlands. The wet meadow, carpet, and lawn types of sedge–moss vegetation cannot be characterized as arctic or boreal because the geographic patterns of sedge–moss wetlands in northwestern North America remain unclear.