White Spruce Above And Beyond Treeline In The Arrigetch .
ARCTICVOL. 39, NO. 3 (SEPTEMBER 1986) P. 247-252White Spruce above and beyond Treeline in theArrigetch Peaks Region, Brooks Range, AlaskaDAVID J. COOPER’(Received 20 December 1983; accepted in revised form12 November 1985)ABSTRACT. White spruce trees occur in the Arrigetch Creek valley and its tributaries at great distances above and beyond current treeline, which is at760 m elevation. The highest tree foundis at 1465 m elevation on a south-facing limestone slope. Treesalso occur up to 5.0 km beyond treeline ongranitic parent rock. Thesetrees appear to occur at the highest elevationof thenorthArctic Circle in North America and include some of the highest treesin Alaska.Key words: Brooks Range, Alaska, treeline, white spruce, seed dispersalRESUME. On trouve des CpicCas blancs dans la vallte du ruisseau Amgetch et de ses tributaires i des distances bienau-deli de la limite forestiereau sud. Certains arbres seactuelle, quise trouvei une Clbvationde 760 m.L’arbrele plusClevC est i 1465 m d’CMvationsurun versant de calcaire exposemere granitique. Ces arbres semblent croitrei leur plus hautetrouvent aussijusqu’i 5.0 km au-dessus de la limite forestibre, croissant dans de la rocheClbvation au nord ducercle arctique en Amdrique du Nord et comprennent peut-&tre les arbres les plusClevCs en Alaska.Mots clCs: chaine de Brooks, Alaska, limite forestiere, dpicda blanc, dispersion desp i n e sTraduit pour le journal par Maurice Guibord.INTRODUCTIONare relicts of a much warmer interval. Elliott (1979a, 1979b,1979c)hasshownthatsexualreproductionrarely, if ever,occurs inspruce at treelineinKeewatinbutdoes occur inWhile conducting researchon arctic-alpine tundra ecosystems in Labrador-Ungava.the Anigetch Peaksregion(Fig. 1) from1978 to 1980, theThe continental divide in the Anigetch Peaks region north and south, separating the Alatna Riverdrainage on the east[Moench] Voss) trees hundreds of mabove and several kmfrom the Kobuk River drainage to the west(Fig. 1). Treeline inbeyond the last cone-bearingtrees. Reports of treeline stabilitythe Alatna River-Arrigetch Creek region occursat 700-760 min Alaska are varied. As earlyas the 1920s, Mertie (1925) waselevation (Murray, 1974; Cooper, 1983), while in the Kobuksurprised to find treesat 1060 m elevationin the BrooksRange,valley treeline occurs at680 m elevationon north-facing slopesat higher elevation than in the Alaska or Coast ranges. Elseand 550 m on south-facing slopes(Goldstein, 1981). Moist airwhere inthe Brooks Rangeseedlingsabove treeline are reported masses from the Pacific Ocean and Bering-Chukchiseas enterby Garfinkel and Brubaker(1980), Goldstein (1981) and Odasz the Brooks Range from the west and southwest and are fun(1983). HoweverDrewandShanks(1965) andDensmorenelleduptheeast-west trendingKobuk and NoatakRiver(1980) showed treelineto be in equilibrium. In western Alaskavalleys. Atthe heads of these valleys the Arrigetch and IgikpakHopkins (1972) has found that treeline has advanced since theplutons (Brosge and Pessel, 1977; Nelson andGrybeck, 1978)1940s. In interiorAlaska, Marchand (1976), Haugen and Brown ceated extensive highlands, which impede the eastward move(1978) andViereck(1979)allreport that treeline is notinment of air masses.equilibrium withthecurrentclimate. In the Alaska RangeSome botanical differences between the vegetationof theDentonandKarlen(1977) report treeremains 76 m aboveKobukandAlatnaRiversides of the Anigetch Peaksarepresent treeline but no recent change in treeline. In southernsignificant. The ferns Cystopteris montanu (Lam.) Bernh. andAlaska Griggs (1934) reportedtreeline to be advancing.Dryopteris dilututu (Hoffm.) Beauv. ssp. americuna (Fisch.)The twentieth-century warming trend in Alaska documented Hult. and the grass Culamagrostis canadensis(Michx.) Beauv.by Hamilton (1965a, 1965b), Blasting and Fritts (1973) andare locally common forestinopenings and lowelevation arcticGarfinkel and Brubaker (1980) may be responsible for whatalpine tundra around Walker Lake and KaluluktokCreek in thetreeline changes are occurring. The pollen recordindicates thatKobuk drainage. In the Alatna Riverdrainage the twoferns arewhitesprucewasestablishedsouth oftheBrooksRangevery rare and restricted to springs, and the grass occurs at the5000-6000 years ago, became established in the Alatna Valleyon disturbed sites. This appears to indicateborder of ponds and1500 years ago and may still be slowly advancing northwardon the Alatna Riverside of theincreasing continental influences(Brubaker et a l . , 1983).Arrigetch Peaks. This wasalso shown by Ellis etal. (1981) andIn Canada, Nichols(1976)hypothesizedthat the modemcan influence the elevation oftreeline (Wardle, 1974).warming is too smallto advance treeline and present reproducThis paper documents interesting occurrences ofsprucewhitetion shouldbe looked for within the forest zone. Larsen (1965,at high elevationsnorth of the ArcticCircle and thuscontributes1974, 1980) and Savile (1972) feel that tree islands at treelinesubstantially to treeline ecology and distribution.‘Thome Ecological Institute,4860 Riverbend Road, Boulder, Colorado80301, U.S.A.@The Arctic Institute ofNorth America
D.J. COOPER24815w.FIG.1. Sketchl54W15O'wmap of northern Alaska.METHODSWhen trees were found, their positions were recorded bytaking compassreadings to high peaksin the area. Height of thetree was measured and its elevation, habitat and health noted.Where possible a minimum age of the tree was estimated bycounting the bud scale scars on the trunk. Trees would have tobe cut down toaccurately determine their age, and this was notdone. Regional vegetation wasclassified according to standardBraun-Blanquet methods (Westhoff and Maarel, 1978) and ispresentedinCooper(1983). NomenclaturefollowsthatofHulten(1974) for vascular plants andThomson(1979) forlichens. Bedrock types are from the mapof Brosge and .S. SurveyPass 1:250 OOO scale topographic map.RESULTSTree data is presented in Table 1, and the locations of thesetrees are shown in Figure 2. The trees occurred on all threethe ArrigetchCreek valley:bedrock types thatoutcropingranite, limestone and shale. Some trees showed dieback on afew branches, but no dead trees were found. While bud scale
TABLE 1. Tree and habitat dataht(cm)45249WHITE ationtY Pe8845679601111298146526.51067245.33.7 7.01.6.o3.52.6-- WW-870 .6 li1.o.5- Casc-Droc-SflatflatNSliSliSES cshdist km distance from the nearest cone-bearing trees.circum cm circumference of bole, 1 cm above the ground surface.Cate-Clst Alliance Cassiope tetragona-Cladonia stellaris.Casc-Vaul Association Carex scirpoidea-Vaccinium uliginosum.Casc-Droc Association Carex scirpoidea-Dryas octopetala ssp. octopetala.Heal-Elin Alliance Hedysarum alpinum ssp. americanum-Elymusinnovatus.Talus broken rock.gr granite and gneiss.li limestone and marble.sh shale.scar counts were not doneof all the trees, it is clear that thesetrees do not represent theeffects of just a few warm summers.Tree number 9(Figs. 3 and4) occurred in a coarse limestoneblockfield at 1465 m, the highest in elevation. Only scatteredvascular plants werepresent, and thisparticular tree occurred inapatchof Salix arctica. The highesttrees all occurredonsouth-facing slopes and were in protectedhabitats. Trees 2, 11and 12occurred in shallow snowbeds. Trees 10, 11 and 12occurred onor very near ridgetops. Tree 10 is shown in Figure5. The broad, sloping, south-facing limestone andshale uplandsin the Arrigetch valley havesparse and openvegetation, and treeseedlings probably have less severe competition than in more(Picea marianadensevegetation.Althoughblackspruce[Mill.] B.S.P.) occurs at treeline, no seedlings above treelinewere found. Occasionalplantsof alder (Alnuscrispa [Ait.]Pursh ssp. crispa) were found at elevations above 1100 m onrocky slopes.Trees 1 , 2 , 3 and 4 occurred inor on the edge of thick lichenmats dominated byCladonia srellaris(Opiz) Pouz Vezda, C.rangiferina (L.) Web. and C. arbuscula (Wallr.) Rabenh. ongranitic parentmaterial (Fig. 6). Because all tributaries ofArrigetch Creek head in granite, the trees found well beyondtreeline in the valley bottom alloccur on granite. Trees 3 and 4were approximately 3.7 and 5 .O km beyond and 100- 150 mabove treeline in the unnamed valley south of the ArrigetchCreek valley. Some treesare within 2 km of cirques. Brubakeret al. (1983) also report whitespruce at great distances beyondtreeline at Redondo Lakein the Alatna Rivervalley. DISCUSSIONWhile regional climate differences between the Alatna andKobuk River valleys may control the smalldifferences in theirestablished treelines, microenvironmental differences appear tohave greater influence on tree establishment and growth today.Growth and survival Piceaof is known to be enhanced by warmgrowingseasontemperatures (Tranquillini, 1979; Black andBliss, 1980). Protected, south-facing and valley-bottom sitesprovide warmer habitats. If present climate ameliorates andthese trees above and beyondtreeline live to reproductive age, aseed source will be availablefor expansion of forests. Whetheror not the individualtrees reported herelive to reproductive age,they indicate that rapid and dramatic changes in treeline asreported by Kearney and Luckman(1983) for Alberta can occurin the southern BrooksRange.These trees also indicate that seed dispersal in the BrooksRange can be considerably greater thanthe 60-90 m from theparent tree under normalconditionsor 300 m with a strong windreported by Zasada (197 1) or within a horizontal distance ofapproximately twice the heightof the tree reported by ViereckandSchandelmeier (1980). EvenMarshall’s 1930 estimate(Marshall, 1970) of seeds blowingup to 1000-1200 feet(305-366 m) is anunderestimate. Wind in the Arrigetch regionis generally light, especially in winter, when intense temperature inversions dominate. Winter snowpack, as seen in Marchand April 1981, is loose and without wind crusts. Althoughsome spruceseeds were seenon the snowsurface in 1981, seedtransport by blowingacross a hard-packed snowsurface probably occurs rarely. Occasional very strong winds were experienced, especially in late summer andearly fall, which is whenseeds are disseminated.These trees in the Arrigetch Creek valleyinclude what appearto be the highest in elevation reported to date for any regionnorth of the ArcticCircle in North America, as well as some ofthe highest in Alaska.
D .J . COOPER250FIG.2. Section of U.S. Geological Survey, Survey Pass Topographical Map1:250 OOO scale, showing locationsof trees cited.NOTE ADDEDDuring the summer of 1985, after this paper was submittedfor publication, the author found white spruceat elevationsup to1495-1510 m on Fireweed Mountain, in the Wrangell Mountains near McCarthy, Alaska. McCarthy is approximately 200miles southof the ArcticCircle. The exact location is61’27’Nlongitude, 143’2’E latitude, in the west central portion ofsection 11, Township 5South, Range 13 East on the McCarthy(B-6) Quadrangle, U.S. GeologicalSurvey 1:63 360 seriestopographic map.The highest cone-bearing trees in thisregionare found at 10601130 m elevation. Trees were notfound in theshrub tundra zone immediatelyabove the forest zone but werescatteredthroughoutthearctic-alpinezoneabove the shrubtundra. The highesttreesoccurredinashalloweast-facingsnowbed on volcanic parent material. Most trees are somewhatgnarled, with dead branches. Ages range from approximately10-13years for small treesto individuals witht r u n k s up to 7 cmin diameter that appearto be older than 50 rien providedfieldassistanceduring the summers in the Brooks Range.I would like to thank both ofthem. This research was funded in part by a contract from the U.S.National Park Service, an Explorer’s Club grant and two grants fromthe University of Colorado.
25 1WHITE SPRUCEFIG. 3. Arrigetch Creekvalley, showing locations of five trees above and beyondtreeline. White spruce are visible as darkobjects along creek. The farthest treeup this valley is number 5 . The established treeline is where the creek makes a thesharp bend to the right. Valley faces northeast.FIG. S. Tree number 10 is seenjust to the leftof the number 10, elevation 1067 m.Treeline is in the valley bottomto the right. Tree number 12 is just off the edge ofridge. South is to the right.at 1465 m elevation. The tape is cm on the rightand inches on the left. The plant above and belowthis tree is Salk arctica.FIG. 6 . TreeFIG. 4. Tree number 9,locatednumber4 , 5 km beyond treeline.Tape is in cm. Light-colored plantsare Cladonia spp. lichens, Grass is Fesruca altaica.
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beyond the last cone-bearing trees. Reports of treeline stability in Alaska are varied. As early as the 1920s, Mertie (1925) was surprised to find trees at 1060 m elevation in the Brooks Range, at higher elevation than in the Alaska or Coast ranges. Else- where in the Brooks Range seedlings above treeline are reported
How spruce budworm Choristoneura fumiferana detoxify host plant toxins? Dominic Donkor . Balsam fir trees die from severe defoliation after 3-4 years, where as white and red spruce trees die from severe defoliation after 4-5 years. Late instar larvae are voracious feeders, chewing off needl
spruce or pine phloem as reared from a spruce or pine host, respectively. Only vigorous females 7 days old were used in the experiments. Twenty bolts of each species were cut from the noncolonised spruce and pine trees. Bolts were 15cm in length with diameters of 14.4 0.6 and 15
D-35 Johnny Cash D-12 David Crosby D-18 SS D-7 Roger McGuinn BODY SIZE & TYPE BACK & SIDES MODEL NAME TOP Dreadnought Solid East Indian Rosewood D-35 Johnny Cash* Solid Engelmann Spruce Solid Quilted Mahogany D-12 David Crosby* Solid Carpathian Spruce Solid Genuine Mahogany D-18 SS* Solid Sitka Spruce Solid East Indian Rosewood D-7 Roger
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native insect that requires both spruce and white pine to complete its life cycle. Damage to spruce is mostly aesthetic; damage to pine can lead to significant growth reduction and mortality. There was a region-wide out
analytical thermal model. 2. System Dynamics The dynamic representation of the drivetrain system is achieved through a multi-degree of freedom system model. The torsional model comprises 9 degrees of freedom (9-DOF) including a dry friction clutch disc as shown schematically in Figure1. Each inertial element represents a component of the .
