A multi-scale approach to assess hot spots, rates and trajectories of ecosystem change in mid-western Canada

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Climate and landcover changes are natural features of the dynamic Earth System. However, recent air temperature increases have been more rapid and more significant than those of the last millennia (IPCC 2013). High latitude regions are sensitive to these changes with some areas experiencing a 2oC increase in average air temperatures in recent years. Transitional ecosystems along elevational and latidudinal gradients are highly sensitive to small perturbations in the climate system, thereby increasing local thermal inertia. Further, pressures from natural and anthropogenic disturbance exacerbate the sensitivity of some ecosystems with relatively unknown large-area consequences. Few studies have examined spatio-temporal impacts of climate forcing and disturbance on morpho-biophysical ecosystem characteristics across multiple ecozones, and none have utilised a multi-scale (plot to region) digital finger printing approach to construct a baseline archive of ecosystem 3D attributes.