Mapping above- and belowground vegetation traits in the Canadian Rockies and surrounding regions at multiple spatial and temporal scales

该项目调查了加拿大落基山脉的植被，重点是根和其他地下特征，这些特征对生态系统的结构和功能有重要影响。该项目将使用加拿大一项公开的研究计划--山地遗产项目的历史和近期照片，比较植被随时间和空间的变化。这些照片将使用温哥华大学的定制程序，以前所未有的分辨率绘制树线上方的植被图。这些信息将与目前描述北极/高山物种地下植物特性趋势的工作结合起来。这些植物特征是衡量生态系统功能不同方面的重要指标，因物种和气候、地形等环境因素而异。利用从山地遗产项目照片中提取的关键地下特征、植被覆盖和地上特征分布数据，以及免费提供的环境因子遥感数据，我们旨在预测落基山脉这一地区关键地下特征的分布。这些发现将提供对地下特征在区域和全球尺度上的时空变化的更多了解。我们预测，自20世纪初以来，由于植物群落结构的变化，与生长有关的地上和地下性状将会增加。我们还预测，地上和地下特征的变化将不是统一的，将在很大程度上取决于地形和土壤水分等因素。我们还将比较最近遭受火灾和干旱影响的地区，以揭示对这些干扰的反应。这些信息将有助于评估生态系统健康，并为落基山脉这些地区的管理决策提供信息。缺乏对北极和阿尔卑斯山系统地下相互作用的了解，由于大多数植物生物量都在地下，这些生态系统地下功能的变化可能会产生重大后果。这些环境蕴藏着巨大的碳储量，碳的释放可能会对气候变化的反馈产生重大影响。由于高山和北极环境有许多共同的特征、植物种类，并承受着相似的快速环境变化程度，这项研究将增加对适用于这两个系统的地下变化反应的理解。此外，北极/阿尔卑斯山环境中经历的快速变暖提供了对全球预测的未来气候变化的洞察。我们计划在这个项目期间开发的新的分析技术可能被用来使用远程方法研究北极和阿尔卑斯山系统的环境变化。这方面的创新可能会提高我们预测这些生态系统未来气候变化情景的能力。增加对地下生态系统反应、网络和整个安置过程中分享的技能的了解，也将为进一步的国际合作和对这些生态系统的长期监测创造机会。这项工作可能会导致出版，并为维多利亚大学未来对加拿大落基山脉的研究做出贡献。

This project investigates the vegetation of the Canadian Rockies, focusing on roots and other belowground characteristics which significantly influence ecosystem structure and function. The project will compare vegetation change over time and space using historical and recent photos from the Mountain Legacy Project, a publicly available Canadian research initiative. These photos will be used to map vegetation above the treeline at a resolution never done before, using custom programs at the University of Vancouver. This information will be combined with current work characterising trends in plant belowground traits in Arctic/ Alpine species. These plant traits, which are important measures of different aspects of ecosystem functioning, vary across species and with environmental factors such as climate and topography. Using the data for key belowground traits, vegetation cover and aboveground traits distributions extracted from the Mountain Legacy Project photos, and freely available remote-sensed on environmental factors, we aim to predict the distribution of key belowground traits in this region of the Rockies. The findings will provide increased understanding of spatial and temporal variation of belowground traits at regional and global scales. We predict that since the early 1900s, above and belowground traits relating to growth will have increased, due to changes in plant community structure. We also predict that the changes in above- and belowground traits will not be uniform and will depend heavily on factors such as topography and soil water. We will also compare regions affected recently by fire and drought to shed light responses to these disturbances. This information would be useful for assessing ecosystem health and informing management decisions in these regions of the Rockies. Understanding of belowground interactions in Arctic and Alpine systems is lacking, and with the majority of plant biomass belowground, changes to belowground functioning in these ecosystems can have large consequences. These environments contain huge stores of carbon, the release of which could have significant implications for climate change feedbacks. As Alpine and Arctic environments share many traits, plant species and endure similar rapid degree of environmental change, this research would increase understanding of belowground responses to change applicable to both systems. Furthermore, the rapid warming experienced in Arctic/Alpine environments provides and insight into future climate change predicted globally. New analytical techniques we aim to develop during this project may be used to investigate environmental change using remote methods across Arctic and Alpine systems. Innovation in this may improve our ability to predict future climate change scenarios in these ecosystems. Increased understanding of belowground ecosystem responses, networking and skills shared throughout the placement will also and create opportunity for further international collaboration and long-term monitoring of these ecosystems. This work could result in publications and contribute to future study in the Canadian Rockies at the University of Victoria.