CAFF Proceeding Series Report Nr. 10September 2013

Arctic Vegetation Archive (AVA) WorkshopKrakow, Poland, April 14-16, 2013

CAFF Flor

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roup

CAFF Designated Agencies: DirectorateforNatureManagement,Trondheim,Norway EnvironmentCanada,Ottawa,Canada FaroeseMuseumofNaturalHistory,Trshavn,FaroeIslands(KingdomofDenmark) FinnishMinistryoftheEnvironment,Helsinki,Finland IcelandicInstituteofNaturalHistory,Reykjavik,Iceland TheMinistryofHousing,NatureandEnvironment,GovernmentofGreenland RussianFederationMinistryofNaturalResources,Moscow,Russia SwedishEnvironmentalProtectionAgency,Stockholm,Sweden UnitedStatesDepartmentoftheInterior,FishandWildlifeService,Anchorage,Alaska

CAFF Permanent Participant Organizations: AleutInternationalAssociation(AIA) ArcticAthabaskanCouncil(AAC) GwichinCouncilInternational(GCI) InuitCircumpolarCouncil(ICC)Greenland,AlaskaandCanada RussianIndigenousPeoplesoftheNorth(RAIPON) SaamiCouncil

Thispublicationshouldbecitedas:Walker,D.A.Breen,A.L.,Raynolds,M.K.&Walker,M.D.(Ed).2013.ArcticVegetationArchive(AVA)Workshop,Krakow,Poland,April14-16,2013.CAFFProceedingsReport#10.Akureyri,Iceland.ISBN:978-9935-431-24-0

Coverphoto:FredDanilssamplingawetrelevplotinthehighArcticatIsachsen,EllefRingnesIsland,Canada.DominantspeciesintherelevincludeLuzula nivalis,Alopecurus alpinus,Schistidium holmeniunum,Oncophorus wahlenbergii,Aulacomnium turgidum,Polytrichastrum alpinum,Collema ceraniscum,andLecidia ramulosa.

Backcoverphoto:Fred Danils

Formoreinformationpleasecontact:

CAFF International SecretariatBorgir, Nordurslod600 Akureyri, IcelandPhone: +354 462-3350Fax: +354 462-3390Email: caff@caff.isInternet: www.caff.is

Editing:D.A.Walker,A.Breen,M.K.Raynolds,M.D.WalkerLayout:CourtneyPrice

Acknowledgements

___CAFFDesignatedArea

www.geobotany.uaf.edu

Alaska Geobotany Center

Institute of Arctic Biolog

y

CAFF Flor

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mailto:caff%40caff.is%0D?subject=http://www.caff.is%20

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. 4

Preface ...................................................................................................................................................... 5

21YearstoCommonGround:ProtectingOurSharedBiodiversityLegacy............................................................ 5Marilyn D. Walker

Introductory Talks ................................................................................................................................... 6

OverviewoftheArcticVegetationArchiveWorkshop,14-16April,Krakow,Poland........................................... 6D.A. Walker

Keynote address: Some reflections on the realization of an international pan-Arctic vegetation classification ..........................................................................................................................................12

Fred J.A. Danils

Short and extended abstracts of papers presented at the workshop...............................................17

TowardanAlaskaPrototypefortheArcticVegetationArchive.................................................................................17Amy L. Breen, Martha K. Raynolds, Stephan Hennekans, Marilyn Walker & Donald A. Walker

GreenlandDatastoredintheArcticVegetationArchive(AVA)inMnster...........................................................30Helga Bltmann & Fred J. A. Danils

PhytosocioloyoftheWesternCanadianArctic................................................................................................................34Fred J.A. Danils and Dietbert Thannheiser

YamalandGydanvegetationdatasets...............................................................................................................................41Ksenia Ermokhina

VegetationdatafromborealtundraoftheNorthAtlanticandNorthPacificregions......................................46Anna Maria Fosaa, Fred J. A. Danils, Starri Heimarsson, Ingibjrg S. Jnsdttir and Stephen S. Talbot

Unifyingandanalyzingvegetation-plotdatabasesinEurope:theEuropeanVegetationArchive(EVA)andtheBraun-Blanquetproject.......................................................................................................................................... 51

Borja Jimnez-Alfaro, Iva Apostolova, Andra arni, Milan Chytr , Jnos Csiky, Jrgen Dengler, Panayotis Dimopoulos, Xavier Font, Valentin Golub, Stephan Hennekens, Ute Jandt, Florian Jansen, Zygmunt Kcki, Balzs Kevey, Daniel Krstonosi, Flavia Landucci, Tatyana Lysenko, Vassiliy Martynenko, Ladislav Mucina, John Rodwell, Joop Schamine, Jozef ibk, Urban ilc, Alexey Sorokin, Zvjezdana Stani, Wolfgang Willner, Sergei Yamalov

ApplicationofRussianArcticLocalFloraDatabasetotheIssuesofArcticBiodiversityConservation...... 53O.V. Khitun, T.M. Koroleva, S.V. Chinenko , V.V. Petrovsky, E.B. Pospelova, A.A Zverev

ASyntaxonomicanalysisofthenorthwesttosouthwestvegetationgradientinthewesternpartofEuro-peanRussiaArctic..................................................................................................................................................................... 58

N. E. Koroleva

VegetationoftheVasyakhaRiverBasin(YugorskyPeninsula,Pai-HoyRidge)ACaseStudyofVegeta-tionDiversityintheEuropeanSectoroftheRussianArctic...................................................................................... 61

Ekaterina Kulyugina

SpatialvegetationstructureofsoutherntundrafromthreesectorsoftheSiberianArctic.......................... 65Nikolay Lashchinskiy

VegBank:APermanentOnlineRepositoryforInternationalPlotandRelevData........................................... 67Michael T. Lee and Robert K. Peet

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TheKrakowworkshopwassponsoredbyaworkshopgrantfromtheInternationalArcticScienceCommittee(IASC)withadditionalsupportprovidedbytheU.S.NationalAeronauticsandSpaceAdministration(NASAGrantsNNX09AK56GandNNX13AM20G).TheConservationofArcticFloraandFauna(CAFF),theCAFFFloraGroup,andtheInstituteofArcticBiology,UniversityofAlaskaFairbanks,providedadministrativesupportforthemeeting.WeparticularlythankCAFFpersonnel,TomBarry,CourtneyPrice,andKriFannarLrussonfortheirhelppriortoandduringtheworkshopandforpreparationofthisproceedingsreport.WealsothankthestaffattheFloriaskaGuesthouseinKrakowfortheexcellentlodgingandfacilitiesforthemeeting.TheplanningfortheKrakowworkshoptookplaceattwoearlierworkshopsin2012atAarhusUniversity,Roskilde,DenmarkfundedbyTFINetworksgranttoProf.Chr.Damgaard,EffectStudiesandAdaptationtoClimateChange,undertheNorforskinitiative(20112014).

Acknowledgements

VegetationdataavailableforclassificationofCanadianArcticsites...................................................................... 72Esther Lvesque, William H. MacKenzie, and Greg H.R. Henry

AdatacompilationofCanadianArcticvegetationrelevdataandpreliminaryclassification................... 76William H. MacKenzie

TheRussianinputtotheArcticVegetationArchiveandanexampleofthevalueofplotdataforassess-ingclimatechangeontheTaymyrPeninsula................................................................................................................. 77

N.V. Matveyeva, M.M. Cherosov, & M. Yu Telyatnikov

PhytosociologyoftheSvalbardArchipelagoincludingBjrnyaandJanMayen.............................................82Lennart Nilsen and Dietbert Thannheiser

Approachesforstoringandanalyzinggeobotanicaldata..........................................................................................89Alexander Novakovskiy

ThePan-ArcticSpeciesList(PASL)........................................................................................................................................93Martha K. Raynolds, Amy L. Breen, Donald A. Walker, Reidar Elven, Ren Belland, Nadezda Konstantinova, Hrur Kristinsson

& Stephan Hennekens

VegetationdatasetsforChukotka(Russia).......................................................................................................................97V. Razzhivin

TowardsassessingbiodiversityfeedbackstoclimateintheArctic-futureapplicationoftheAVA...................................................................................................................................................................................102

Gabriela Schaepman-Strub, Maitane Iturrate, Reinhard Furrer

TheArcticVegetationArchiveasasourceforunderstandingspatialdistributionofArcticbiodiversity104Laerke Stewart, Niels M. Schmidt, Mary S. Wisz and Loc Pellissier

PlantcommunitiesofsouthernhypoarctictundraoftheAnabarRiverbasin(North-WestYakutia).............................................................................................................................................................109

Mikhail Yu. Telyatnikov, Elena I. Troeva, Mikhail M. Cherosov, Sergey A. Pristyazhnyuk, Paraskovia A. Gogoleva & Lyudmila A. Pestryakova

Participants and authors ....................................................................................................................112

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Preface

21 Years to Common Ground: Protecting Our Shared Biodiversity Legacy

Marilyn D. WalkerHOMER Energy, Boulder, Colorado, USA, marilyndgwalker@gmail.com

AVAsrootsbeganinBoulder,Colorado,intheSpringof1992,whenIconvenedthefirstCircumpolarArcticVegetationWorkshop,consistingofasmallgroupofdedicatedvegetationspecialistsfromtheUS,Canada,Germany,theSovietUnion,Norway,andFinland.Althoughmanyoftheattendeeshadmetatleastafewoftheotherswhowerepresent,itwasthefirsttimethatagroupofspecialistsinterestedprimarilyinarcticphytosociologyhadevercometogethertofocussolelyontheconceptsofclassification.Thereweremanydifferentapproachesinuseatthetime,andthelanguageandcommunicationbarriersthatexistedweresignificant.

ThepoliticalandtechnologicalchangestheworldwasgoingthroughatthetimewerethecatalystforthedevelopmentofacircumpolarviewoftheArctic.GlasnostopeneduptheSovietUnionandmaderealcollaborationwithourcolleaguespossibleforthefirsttime.TheNationalScienceFoundationhadrecentlylaunchedNSFNET,abackboneofconnectivitythatwouldsoonconnectwithothernetworks,formingthenetworkofnetworkswenowknowastheWorldWideWeb.Satellitedatawerebecomingincreasinglyavailable,switchingtheecologistsviewfromthegroundtospace,wheretheunityoftheregionwasmuchmoreevident.

Studiesofarcticfloraalsoargueforacommonphytosociologicalapproach.Thefloraisregionallydepauperatecomparedtootherpartsoftheglobe,andmuchofitisincommonthroughout.Wherespeciesaremissing,theyoftenhaveecologicalequivalentsthatareassociatedwiththesamecommunitiesasinotherregions.

MytriptotheTaimyrPeninsula,inthesummerof1991asaguestoftheSovietAcademyofSciences,openedmyeyestothecriticalimportanceofsharingdataonvegetationandspeciesdistribution.Agrowinglegacyofdatawasscatteredonbitsofpaper,infiledrawersandnotebooks,andincreasinglyonfloppydisks.AsIeditedandcreatedtheBoulderworkshopvolume(Walkeretal.1994),Igrewtoappreciatethepotentialofdatabasestocreateacommonlanguageandmethodforproperlydescribingandunderstandingarcticvegetation.

Theworkshopconcludedwitharesolutiontocreateaglobaldatabaseofarcticvegetationplots.Realizingthatgoalhastakendecades,againdrivenbyimprovementsindatabasetechnologyaswellasagrowingnationalandglobalawarenessofthevalueofthesedatatoourownheritageandneedtomanageourlands.TheVegbankProject(http://vegbank.org,alsoHarrisetal.2001)tackledmanyofthecomplexissuesregardingdatarights,databasestructure,storageissues,andmore.Vegbankisnowrecognizedasaleadexampleinthegrowingfieldofecoinformatics,whichdependsonreadilyavailabledatafromawidevarietyofsources(Krishna2008).

TheKrakowworkshopisfinallythebeginningoftheconcreterealizationofanarcticvegetationdatabase.Theissuebeforethecommunitynowisnotwhethertodothis,buthowquicklycanitbedone,ascriticaldatasetsarealreadybeinglost.

References

Harris,J.,Walker,M.D.,R.Peet,D.Grossman,andM.Jennings.2001.Aninformationinfrastructureforvegetationscience:Amodelandprototypedatabaseforstoringandintegratingvegetationdata.Posterandabstract,EcologicalSocietyofAmericaAnnualMeeting,Madison,WI.

Krishna,Abhay.2008.Ecoinformatics:wherearewe,wheredowewanttogo,andhowtoreachthere.AvailablefromNaturePrecedings

Walker,M.D.,Danils,F.J.A.&VanderMaarel,E.1994.Circumpolararcticvegetation:Introductionandperspectives.SpecialFeaturesinJournalofVegetationScience5:757920.

mailto:marilyndgwalker%40gmail.com%0D?subject=

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Introductory Talks

Overview of the Arctic Vegetation Archive Workshop, 14-16 April, Krakow, Poland

D.A. Walker

Alaska Geobotany Center, Institute of Arctic Biology and Department of Biology and Wildlife, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA, dawalker@alaska.edu

Introduction

ArcticvegetationdataprovidebaselinedescriptiveinformationregardingthevegetativelandcoverpresentintheArcticundertheprevailingclimate.Thedataarepotentiallyvaluableforawiderangeofstudies,includingfoundationvegetationandsoilclassificationresearch,species-diversitymodels,wildlifehabitatresearch,permafrostmodels,andland-coverandecosystem-changemodeling.Thedataareevenmorevaluablebecauseofthelargetime,costs,andrisksassociatedwithcollectingvegetationdatainremoteareasoftheArctic.ArcticvegetationdatahavebeenintensivelycollectedfrommanypartsoftheArcticsincethe1930sbymanyindividualsusingavarietyofmethodsandarescatteredacrossmanyinstitutionsinavarietyofformats.Notallofthesedataarerecoverable.SomeofthedataaremaintainedinelectronicdatabasesmanagedbyvariousresearchgroupsandagenciesworkingintheArctic.Manyoftheclassicvegetationsurveydataareindangerofbecominglostbecausetheywereneverelectronicallycatalogued.Thus,thereisanurgentneedtoarchivethesedatainaconsistentformatbeforetheyarelost.TheArcticVegetationArchive(AVA)isacoordinatedefforttoidentifyandpreservekeyArcticvegetationdatasetsforuseinapanarcticvegetationclassificationandasaresourceforclimate-changeandbiodiversityresearch.

ThebasicconceptfortheAVAwaslaidoutinCAFFStrategySeriesNo.5(WalkerandRaynolds2011).Additionally,twoworkshopsheldinRoskilde,Denmarkin2012(Walkeretal.2013)laidthefoundationforthisfirstinternationalAVAWorkshop,whichwasheldinKrakow,Poland,14-16April2013,inassociationwiththeArcticScienceSummitWeek2013.ThegoaloftheKrakowworkshopwastobringtogethervegetationscientistsfromthecircumpolarArcticcountriestoprovideafirstestimateofthedataavailableandtobeginbuildingthedatabase.

Background

Severalmilestonesledtothismeeting:

1992 ThefirstInternationalArcticVegetationClassificationWorkshopinBoulder,Colorado,resolvedtodevelopadatabaseofarcticrelevsandaprodromusofvegetationtypesfortheArctic.SeveralpaperspresentedattheworkshopreviewedthestatusofphytosociologicalresearchintheArcticandwerepublishedintheJournal of Vegetation Science (Walkeretal.1994).

2003 2003 TheCircumpolarArcticVegetationMap(CAVMTeam2003,Walkeretal.2005b)waspublishedandhelpedtoredefinetheneedforavegetationclassificationfortheArctic.TheattendeesattheconcludingworkshopinTroms,June2004recommittedthemselvestomakingthenecessarydatabase.SeveralcontributionstotheTromsworkshopwerepublishedinPhytocoenologia(Danielsetal.2005).

2011 TheConservationofArcticFloraandFauna(CAFF)andtheInternationalArcticScienceCommitteeendorsedtheInternationalArcticVegetationDatabaseconcept(laterchangedtotheArcticVegetationArchive).CAFFrecognizestheprojectasanimportantpartofitsArcticbiodiveristybiodiversityeffortsandpublishedtheIAVDConceptPaper(WalkerandRaynolds2011).

2012 TwoworkshopssponsoredbytheNordicNetworkonclimateandBiodiversity(CBIO-NET)inRoskilde,Denmark,helpedtolaythefoundationfortheKrakowworkshopandhighlightedtheapplicationoftheAVAformodelingandpredictingbiodiversitytrendsbasedonpatternsofplantdistributiondatathatcouldbederivedfromanArcticvegetationarchive(Walkeretal.2013).

2013 SupportfromtheInternationalArcticScienceCommittee,CAFF,andtheU.S.NationalAeronauticsandSpaceAdministrationsLand-CoverandLand-UseChangeprogrammadethisworkshoppossible.

mailto:dawalker@alaska.edu

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Summary of the Krakow workshop

Forty-twopeopleparticipatedintheKrakowAVAworkshop.Twenty-fivepaperswerepresentedthatincludedreviewsofthehistoryandneedfortheAVA,thestatusofvegetationdatacollectionandclassificationineachofthecircumpolarcountries,andreviewsofthevariousdatabaseapproachescurrentlyinuse.Mostofthesewereconvertedintoshortpapersforthisproceedingsvolumetoprovidearecordoftheworkshopactivities.

Themajoraccomplishmentsoftheworkshopwere:1)athoroughreviewofthenumbersandqualityofplotsamplesintheeachofthecountries;2)aconsensusamongtheArcticcountriesregardingthegeographicscopeofthedatabase,thetypesofdatathatwillbeincluded,andthegeneralapproachforbuildingthedatabase;and3)theinitialstepsforrecruitingpeopleandresourcestocompletethedatabase.Thefollowingsummarycontainsthedailyactivitiesoftheworkshop,majoraccomplishments,andfinalworkshopresolution.

Day 1: Joint CAFF FG/AVA meeting, review of the AVA concept, species database issues, and potential applications of the AVAThefirstdayofthemeetingcontainedajointmeetingbetweentheAVAgroupandtheCAFFFloraGroupthatmetduringtheprecedingtwodays(April12-13).AfterwelcomesbySkipWalkerandKriFannarLrusson(CAFFProgramOfficer),themeetingbeganwithakeynoteaddressbyFredDanils,whoreviewedthehistoryoftheAVAandneedforthedatabase.MarilynWalker,whoinitiatedtheideaofaninternationalapproachin1992(Walkeretal.1994),reflectedonthe21yearsofprogressininternationalcollaborationanddatabasetechnologythatbroughtustothepointwheresuchanarchiveisnowachievable.Muchoftheremainderofthemorningwasdevotedtospecies-levelissuesrelatedtomaintenanceoftheCAFFspecieslists(presentationsbySteffiIckert-BondandMarthaRaynolds)andlocalfloras(OlgaKhitun).TheCAFFspecieslistsofArcticvascularplants,lichens,andmossesarekeyelementsofthedatabasethatareneededforalistofacceptedspeciesnamesthatareusedacrossalltheplotsamplesinthedatabase.TheselistshavebeencombinedintothePanArcticSpeciesList(PASL),whichisthelistofacceptednamesofvascularplants,mosses,lichensandliverwortsusedintheAVA.Thegrouprecognizedtheneedforregularupdatesofthespecieslists,andageneralconsensuswasreachedregardingthemechanismrequiredtoaccomplishthis.Morespecificsareneededfordevelopingaliverwortlistandindividualsresponsibleforthemosslist.Intheafternoon,thediscussionshiftedtopotentialapplicationsoftheAVAincludingasasourceforunderstandingspatialdistributionofArcticbiodiversity(LocPellisierandLaerkeStewart)andassessingbiodiversityfeedbackstoclimatechange(GabrielaSchaepman-Strub,MaitaneIturrate&ReinhardFurrer).

Day 2: Status of circumpolar vegetation data set and database approaches

Inthemorning,twelvepaperspresentedthestatusofcircumpolarplot-basedvegetationstudies,includingreviewsfromAlaska(AmyBreenetal.),ArcticCanada(EstherLevesqueetal.),Greenland(HelgaBultmanetal.),Scandinavia(LennartNilsen&DietbertThannheiserdeliveredbyFredDanils),theborealtundraregionoftheNorthAtlanticandNorthPacific(AnnaMarieFosaaetal.),Russiaintotal(NadyaMatveyevaetal.deliveredbyElenaTroeva),northwestYakutia(MichaelTeyatnikovetal.)theKolaPeninsula(NataliaKorolevadeliveredbySkipWalker),theEuropeansectoroftheRussianArctic(EkaterninaKulygina),threesectorsofSiberianArctic(KikolayLashchinskyi),theYamalandGydanPeninsulas(KseniaErmokina),andChukotka(VladimirRazzhivin,abstractonly).Intheafternoon,fourpaperspresentedthemaindatabaseapproachesthatarebeingusedfortheEuropeanVegetationArchive(BorjaJimnez-Alfaro),theCanadaNationalVegetationClassification(WillMackenzie),theU.S.NationalVegetationClassification(MikeLee)andtheRussiandatabaseIBIS(AlexanderNovakovskiy).

Day 3: Development of a mission statement, workshop resolution, funding possibilities and publications

Inthemorningthreeworkinggroupsdiscussed:1)themissionandapplicationsoftheAVA,2)thegeographicscopeoftheproject,and3)issuesrelatedtothedatabaseconstruction.Afterreconveningamissionstatementandworkshopresolutionweredevelopedbytheworkshopparticipants.Prospectsforfunding,andplansforpublicationoftheworkshopoutcomeswerealsodiscussedandagreedtoandthemeetingwasadjourned.

Major accomplishments of the workshop

Theworkshopreviewedthestatusofrelevdataanddatabaseapproachesineachofthecircumpolarcountries;developedaresolutionbythecircumpolarArcticvegetationcommunitytorededicateitsmemberstodevelopinganArcticVegetationArchiveusinganapproachthatisacceptabletoallinvolved,andtookthefirststepsneededtorecruitthepeopleandresourcesnecessarytocompletethework.

Mission and justification of the AVAThe mission of the Arctic Vegetation Archive Working Group is to create a database of Arctic plot data, and promote its application to northern issues.

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TheAVAwillbeusefulforawidevarietyofpurposes,including:preservinglegacydatasetsindangerofbeinglost;designing,locatingandextrapolatingfieldexperimentsatArcticObservingStations;identifyingresearchgaps;mappingandremotesensingofvegetation,habitattypes,andlandcover;assessingArcticterrestrialbiodiversityandbiogeographicrelationships;modelingfunctionsandecosystemservicesofArcticvegetation;educatingscientists,thepublicandpolicymakersaboutthevalueofArcticterrestrialsystemsinrelationtolocaltoglobalsystems;industrialandland-useplanning;andconservingandmanagingArcticterrestrialecosystems.

Additionally,theAVAisdirectlyrelevanttoseveralothercircumpolareffortsoftheArcticCouncilandnationalArcticinitiativesincluding:

Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring ProgrammeandtheArctic Biodiversity Assessment:TheAVAisafoundationdatasettoassesschangesinArcticplantbiodiversityandhabitatforothertrophiclevels.

Inter-Act:OneofInter-Actsgoalsisthediscoveryandpreservationofkeylegacyvegetationdatasets. Back to the Future:ManyofthedatasetsarefromoldInternationalBiologicalProgramme(IBP),ongoing

Long-TermEcologicalResearch(LTER)andotherlarge-scaleecosystemstudiesestablishedinthe1960sto1990s.ThesedatasetscontaininformationregardingthebaselineconditionoftheArcticbeforethemoderneraofrapidclimatechange.

Arctic Development and Adaptation to Permafrost in Transition (ADAPT)and other permafrost-related initiatives:Vegetationisthekeyelementofthebufferlayerthatprotectsthepermafrostfromcatastrophicthawing.Aconsistentmeanstocharacterizethislayerwouldbehighlybeneficialtopermafrostscientists.

International Tundra Experiment (ITEX):CharacterizationofcontrolplotsandbaselinestudieswouldbenefitfromaconsistentmeanstocharacterizevegetationacrosstheITEXnetwork.

Arctic Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS):ThenextgenerationofinternationalterrestrialecosystemscientistswouldbenefitimmenselyfromaconsistentinternationalapproachtodescribingthelandcoveroftheArctic.TheAVAwouldprovidethisframework.TheAVAwillstrivetoinvolveyounginvestigatorstodevelop,implement,andusetheAVA.

Types of data to be included

Thepreferreddataarepublishedplotdatafromhomogeneousplantcommunitieswithtablesofcoverpercentagesorcover-abundancescoresforallspecies,includingvascularplants,bryophytes,andlichens,preferablywithaccompanyingenvironmentalandgeographiclocationinformation.Braun-BlanquetorUSNVCprotocolsareideal.Highprioritywillalsobegiventodatasetsthatareindangerofbeinglost.

Geographic framework

TheboundariesoftheArcticarethosedefinedbytheCircumpolarArcticVegetationMap(CAVMTeam2003),whichwillbemodifiedtoincludetheArcticportionoftheKolaPeninsulainRussia.Thedatabasewillalsoincludetheborealmaritimetundraareas(AleutianIslands,Iceland,FaroeIslands,CommodoreIslands).ThegroupofvegetationscientistsworkinginthisregionwillneedtoresolvetheissuesrelatedtoborealspeciesthatwillberequiredforthePASL.

Products of the AVA

TheAVAwillusethePanarcticFloraasacommontaxonomicalbasetodevelopacomprehensivesynthesisofArcticphytosociologicalinformationthroughthepublicationofaProdromusofArcticvegetationsyntaxa(listofplantcommunitytypes);publicationofabibliographyofArcticvegetationstudies,developmentofarevisedsyntaxonomicalclassificationforthecircumpolarArctic,andweb-portalwithdescriptionsphotos,maps,andancillaryinformationrelatedtothevegetationunits.SomeearlypotentialapplicationsoftheAVAaredescribedarecentpublication(Walkeretal.2013),andothersweredescribedatthisworkshop.

Database approaches

Aconceptualframeworkforthedatabase(WalkerandRaynolds2011)wasmodifiedwithdatanodesineachcountry(perhapsseveralforRussia).ThedatabaseTurboveg(HennekensandSchaminee2001)willbethestandardforinitialdataentryandtheproceduresbeingdevelopedfortheEuropeanVegetationArchive(Chytretal.2012)willbeusedasapreliminarymodel.MetadatastandardswillfollowinpartthoseoftheGlobalInventoryofVegetationDatabases(Dengleretal.2011).Protocolsforformattingvegetationandenvironmentaldata,metadata,andminimumrequirementsfordataareunderdevelopmentintwoproto-typedatabasesforGreenlandandArcticAlaska.Wewillstriveformaximumcompatibilitywithdatabasesinothercountries,includingVegBankintheU.S.(Peetetal.2012),VproinCanada(MacKenzieandKlassen2004),andIBIS,adatabasecommonlyusedinRussia.CountriesusingdatabaseapproachesotherthanTurbovegwillrequirevegetationdataexchangestandardscurrentlyunderdevelopment(Wiseretal.2011)toconformtotheAVA.ThePanArcticSpeciesList(Raynoldsetal.n.d.)willbethelistofacceptedplantnames.Thelistwillbeupdatedatregularto-be-determinedintervalsandcross-walkedtoothersynonymsusedintheinitialplotdataandinothernationalvegetationclassificationschemes.TheIASCdataprotocolsregardingdatasharingandcredittodatabasecontributorswillbeused(Parsonsetal.2013).Apreliminaryframeworkanddataflowdiagramwillbeusedinthebeginning.Considerableworkremainstoaddressthedetailsofthedataprotocols.AdatabasegroupchairedbyMarilynWalkerwilldeveloptheprotocols.

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Publication of proceedings of the workshop

Theauthorsofthetalksattheworkshopagreedtoprepare5-6pageshortpapersbasedontheirpresentationsattheworkshop.ThesewillbepublishedasaCAFFProceedingsvolume.TheresultswillbesynthesizedintoapaperthatwillbesubmittedtothejournalAppliedVegetationScienceorotherappropriatejournal.

Funding

FundingfortheAVAwillbepursuedbyeachcountry.TheAlaskaportionhasbeensecuredthroughaNASAgranttoD.A.WalkerthatispartoftheofthedatagatheringphasefortheArcticandBorealVulnerabilityExperiment(ABoVE).TheCanadaHighArcticResearchStation(CHARS)hascommittedtosupportingtheCanadianportionofthedatabase.TheRussianparticipantswillpursueanewmega-grantproposalthatwillbesubmittedtotheGovernmentoftheRussianFederationbyMichaelCherosovandagroupofRussiancolleaguesfromseveralinstitutions.ParticipantsfromtheEUandotherEuropeancountries(CzechRepublic,Iceland,Norway,Denmark,Germany,Poland)willpursuefundingforGreenland,Svalbard,andnorthernScandinavia.Thisisveryimportantbecauseofthelongheritageofphytosociologicalresearchandlargeamountofdatainthesecountriesthatisnotarchived.

Timeline

A6-yeartimeframeiscontingentonfunding.Years1-2willbedevotedtoorganizingnationalworkshops,obtaininginternationalfunding,completingIAVDprototypes,andcollectingthekeydatasets.Duringyears2-4,wewillassembledatafromliteraturesourcesatseveralnodes,buildserversitesoftware,andbuildwebpagesforthedataportal.Inyears5-6wewilltestandreleasetheAVA.

Conclusion

TheAVAwasconceived21yearsagoatthefirstInternationalArcticVegetationClassificationWorkshopinBoulder,COtohelpconsolidatethelargeamountofplotdatafromaroundtheArctictoaidindevelopmentofacircumpolarArcticvegetationclassification.ThevisionfromBoulderwasrevitalizedinKrakowwiththehelpofCAFF,IASC,andtheCBIO-NETworkshops.Thegreatchallengenowistofindthefundingtocompletethetask.

Someofthekeyparticipantsatthe1992BoulderworkshopwerepresentinKrakowandhelpedtogenerateagreatdealofexcitementabouttheproject.Otheraddressesbymembersoftheinternationalvegetationsciencecommunityhelpedeveryonerealizethattimesandtechnologyhadchangedsincethe1992workshop.TheneedfortheAVAisclear,andtheprojectissupportedbyastrongatmosphereofinternationalcollaboration.Furthermore,recentadvancesincomputers,databasetechnologyandvegetationclassificationmethodshavemadevegetationarchivesmuchmorefeasible.Eventhedauntingtaskoffindingthefundsseemsachievable.

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Krakow Resolution for Preparation of an Arctic Vegetation Archive

Whereas, the distribution, characteristics, and history of Arctic flora and vegetation are of essential importance with regard to (1) knowledge of how circumpolar terrestrial ecosystems interact with climate and contribute to the changing earth system, (2) conservation of the biodiversity of these regions; and (3) increasing exploration and development in the circumpolar nations; and

Whereas, our knowledge of Arctic regions and the environmental constraints on Arctic vegetation has increased;

Whereas, no single existing classification accurately portrays the synthesis of existing knowledge of the vegetation of the circumpolar Arctic;

Whereas an Arctic Vegetation Archive will be useful for a wide variety of purposes, including: Preserving legacy data sets in danger of being lost; classifying and analyzing Arctic vegetation; designing, locating and extrapolating field experiments; identifying research gaps; mapping, remote sensing of vegetation, habitat types, and land cover; assessing Arctic terrestrial biodiversity and biogeographic relationships; modeling functions and ecosystem services of Arctic vegetation; educating scientists, the public and policy makers about the value of Arctic terrestrial systems in relation to the global system; land-use planning, conserving and managing Arctic terrestrial ecosystems.

And whereas the International Arctic Research Committee and the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna have endorsed the concept of an international Arctic vegetation database,

Be it resolved that the international community of Arctic vegetation scientists rededicates itself to the following joint tasks:1. Develop an international organizational framework and secure funds for the Arctic Vegetation Archive (AVA). 2. Compile vegetation plot data (relevs) into the AVA using the pan-Arctic species lists as a common taxonomical base.3. Develop a syntaxonomical classification for the circumpolar Arctic; 4. Publish a compilation of Arctic vegetation types (Prodromus) and a bibliography of Arctic vegetation studies. 5. Promote the application of the AVA to northern issues.6. Finally, be it resolved that the undersigned scientists will create a prototype Arctic Vegetation Archive by the 3rd

International Conference on Arctic Research Planning (ICARP III) in 2015.

Signed by 20 members present on the final day of the workshop, 16 April 2013, Krakow, Poland.

Figure 1. From left to right: Back row: Greg Henry, Will MacKenzie, and Christian Bay. Middle row: Skip Walker, Esther Lvesque, Marilyn Walker, Mikhail Cherosov, Fred Daniels, Nikolay Lashchinkskiy, Mike Lee, Elena Troeva, Ekaterina Kulygina, Laerke Stewart, Lynn Gillespie, and Ingibjorg Svala Jonsdottir. Kneeling: Amy Breen, Starri Heimarsson, Edie Barbour, Borja Jmnez-Alfaro, Alexander Novakovskyi Maitane Iturrate Garcia, Helga Bltmann, Olga Khitun, and Gabriela Schaepman-Strub. Photo by Kri Lrusson.

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References

Chytr,M.,Berg,C.,Dengler,J.,Ewald,J.,Hennekens,S.M.,Jansen,F.,Kliekamp,M.,Landucci,F.,May,R.,Rodwell,J.S.,Schamine,J.,Sibik,J.,Valachovic,M.,Vananzoni,R.&Willner,W.2012.EuropeanVegetationArchive(EVA):anewinitiativetostrengthentheEuropeanVegetationSurvey.Page12inW.Willner,editor.21st European Vegetation Survey Workshop,ViennaUniversity,Vienna,Austria.

Dengler,J.,Jansen,F.,Glckler,F.Chytr,M.,DeCseres,M.,Ewald,J.,OLdeland,J.,Peet,R.K.,Finckh,M.,Mucina,L.,Schamine,J.&Spenser,N.2011.TheGlobalIndexofVegetation-PlotDatabases(GIVD):anewresourceforvegetationscience.Journal of Vegetation Science22:582-597.

Hennekens,S.M.&Schaminee,J.H.J..2001.TURBOVEG,acomprehensivedatabasemanagementsystemforvegetationdata.Journal of Vegetation Science12:589-591.

MacKenzie,W.&Klassen,R.2004.VPro User Guide.Parsons,M.,Huber,R.,Pulsife,P.,Tishkov,A.,Yabuki,H.&Rachold,V.2013.AnopendatapolicyforIASC.Paperpresentedat

theArcticScienceSummitWeek13-19April2013,Krakow,Poland.Peet,R.K.,Lee,M.T.,Jennings,M.D.&Faber-Langendoen,D.2012.VegBankapermanent,open-accessarchivefor

vegetation-plotdata.Biodiversity and Ecology4:233-241.Raynolds,M.K.,Breen,A.L.,Walker,D.A.,Elven,R.,Murray,D.F.,Belland,R.,Konstantinova,N.A.,Kristinsson,H.&Hennekens,

S.M.2013(thisvolume).ThePan-ArcticSpeciesList(PASL).Proceedings of the Arctic Vegetation Archive Workshop, 14-16 April, Krakow, Poland.

Walker,D.A.&Raynolds,M.K..2011.An International Arctic Vegetation Database: A foundation for pan-Arctic biodiversity studies.CAFFStrategySeriesReportnr.5.ConservationofArcticFloraandFauna(CAFF),Akureyri,Iceland.

Walker,D.A.,Alsos,I.G.,Bay,C.,Boulanger-Lapointe,N.,Breen,A.L.,Bltmann,H.,Christiansen,T.,Damgaard,C.,Danils,F.J.A.,Hennekens,S.M.,LeRoux,P.C.,Luoto,M.,Pellisier,L.,Peet,R.K.,Schmidt,N.M.,Stewart,L.,Yoccoz,N.G.&Wisz,M.S..2013.RescuingvaluableArcticvegetationdataforbiodiversitymodels,ecosystemmodelsandapan-Arcticvegetationclassification.Arctic:133137.

Walker,M.D.,Danils,F.J.A.&VanderMaarel,E..1994.Circumpolararcticvegetation:Introductionandperspectives.Special Features in Journal of Vegetation Science5:757920.

Wiser,S.K.,Spenser,N.,DeCseres,M.,Kleikamp,M.,Boyle,G.&Peet,R.K.2011.Veg-Xanexchangestandardforplot-basedvegetationdata.Journal of Vegetation Science22:598609.

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Keynote address: Some reflections on the realization of an international pan-Arctic vegetation classification

Fred J.A. Danils

University of Mnster, Institute of Biology and Biotechnology of Plants, Schlossplatz 8, 48143, Mnster, Germany

Introduction

WithpleasureIaddressthekey-notespeechatthisimportantArcticVegetationArchive(AVA)meeting.ThanksareduetoSkipWalkerfortheinvitationandhiskindprefacehighlightingmycontributionstoseveralArcticprojectssuchastheBoulderCircumpolarArcticVegetationMeeting(Walkeretal.1994),theCircumpolarArcticVegetationMap(CAVM-Team2003,Walkeretal.2005),theCircumpolarVegetationClassificationandMappingmeetinginTroms2004,dedicatedtoBorisA.Yurtsev(Danilsetal.2005),theNorthAmericanArcticTransectProject(Walkeretal.2008)andsomeotherCAFFactivities.IwouldliketoalsoacknowledgeespeciallyMarilynWalkerforinvolvingmeearlyintheinternationalArcticvegetationclassificationefforts,andalsothepresentandpaststaffattheAlaskaGeobotanyCenteroftheUniversityofAlaskaanditspredecessortheJointFacilityforRegionalEcosystemAnalysisattheInstituteofArcticandAlpineResearchinBoulder,Colorado,fortheirsuccessfulinitiativesandskillfulleadershipsofprojectsinthefieldofcircumpolarArcticecology,vegetationmappingandclassification.

MuchofmythinkingregardingtheAVAisalreadycoveredinrecentjointpublications(Walker&Raynolds2011,Walkeretal.2013)andreadingtheseisstronglyrecommended.Here,IwouldmainlyliketoadvocatetheapplicationoftheBraun-BlanquetapproachasanindispensabletoolfortheanalysisandclassificationofvegetationbiodiversityoftheArctic.

Some private history and nostalgia

BeforestartingmyreflectionsIliketosaysomenostalgicwordsonmybackgroundandphytosociologicalinterest.IamDutch,bornin1943inArnhem,theNetherlands.MyfirstexpeditiontotheArcticwasin1966.HansdeMolenaar,JanJaapHooftandIwerebiologystudentsoftheUtrechtUniversity(NL).WestudiedthefloraandvegetationoftheAngmagssalikdistrictinSEGreenlandforfourmonthsthatfirstsummer.WewerejustintimetowitnesstheoldGreenlandicwayoflifeinacolderclimatethannow.Hans,andIasstaffmemberoftheUniversityofUtrecht,continuedourstudiesin1968and1969aspartofourPhDtheses(deMolenaar1974,1976,Danils1975,1982).Werevisitedourstudysitesin1981and2007(Danils&deMolenaar2011).ThosefirstthreesummersinSEGreenlandwereparadise-liketimes.Theymademearctophilousandbroadenedmyviewonlife.TheacceptanceofaprofessorshipinGeobotanyattheUniversityofMnster(Germany)1987enabledmetofocusmoreintensivelyonArcticresearch.TheinvitationbyMarilynWalkertoattendtheBouldermeetingin1992cameattherightmomentandopenedthewaytocircumpolarArcticcooperationandlonglastingfriendships.MygeobotanicalinterestandknowledgeoftheArcticincreasedandincludednowlocal,regionalandglobalperspectives.

ThisBouldermeetingwasinstrumentalfornewArcticresearchactivitiesinabroadercontext.Theresolutionfromtheworkshopsaidwewouldprepareacircumpolardatabase,classification,andvegetationmap.Thevegetationmapwaspublishedin2003and2005(CAVM-Team2003,Walkeretal.2005),howeveracircumpolarArcticvegetationdatabaseandclassificationarestilldue.

Phytosociologyrequiresintensivecontactwithnatureandrewardsuswithdeepspeciesandfieldknowledge.Maybethatiswhymakingrelevs,collectingandidentificationofplants,structuringvegetationtablesandclassifyingplantcommunitiesareamongthemostexcitingactivitiesofmylife.Severalleadingscientistsinthefieldsoflichenology,bryologyandvegetationscienceenrichedmyknowledge,includingReinholdTxen,JanBarkman,EddyvanderMaarel,VictorWesthoff,BorisYurtsevandmanyothers.TheywereinstrumentalinfindingmywayintheinternationalandArcticvegetationsciencecommunity.StephenTalbotshowedmetheAleutianIslands,JosephSvobodaandSkipWalkertheCanadianArctic,NadyaMatveyevaandhercolleaguesoftheKomarovBotanicalInstituteinSt.PetersburgintroducedmeintheArcticfloraandvegetationofRussia.VladimirOnipchenkowasinstrumentalinshowingMarinusWergerandmethetaigaandtundraoftheRussianFarEast.IrinaSafronovashowedmethevegetationofKazakhstan.FiveofmystudentsconductedtheirPhDfieldworkinGreenland(HelgaBltmann,BirgitJedrzejek(Sieg),BirgitDrees,ChristophLnterbusch,MichaelGirnth)andoneinIceland(ThomasHvelmann).

The Braun-Blanquet approach

Toconductorpublishecologicalresearchwithoutreferencetothetypeofcommunitytheworkwasconductedinisverymuchlikedepositingaspecimeninamuseumwithoutprovidingalabel(Peet&Roberts2012).AsyntaxonomicalclassificationofvegetationaccordingtotheBraun-Blanquetapproachgroupsplantcommunitytypesinahierarchicalsystemofsyntaxa.Thesyntaxahaveauniquespeciescompositionandnomenclature.Theirnamesarederivedfromplantspecieswithspecificsufficesreflectingtheirhierarchicalstatusandhaveauthorshipwithindicationofyearoffirstvaliddescription.Thissystemallowsapreciseworld-wideidentificationofplantcommunitytypesandprovidesamoreprecisereferenceofa

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vegetationtypeforecological,modelingandmonitoringresearch.Syntaxonomicalunitsarethemostpowerfulelementsintheinternationalscientificcommunicationregardingvegetationtypes.

Simplex sigilum veri;theBraun-Blanquetapproachisintellectuallybrilliantinitssimplicityandthatiswhyitsconceptandmethodologyareappliedworld-wide(cf.Dierschke2011).Theapproachprovidesclassificationofvegetationandderivedkeyinformationonplantcommunityspeciescompositionandstructure,ecologicalsetting,phytogeographyandconnectivitywithintheplantcover.

Thebasicconceptisthatfloristicvariationinplantcoverisnotrandom.Inthesamephytogeographicalregionandunderaboutthesameenvironmentalconditions,similarassemblagesofplantspeciesoccur.Inthefield,eachparticularconcreteassemblageofplantspeciesisconsideredaplant community.Plantcommunitieswithsimilarspeciescompositionaregroupedintoabstractplant community types.Thesephytoceonaareclassifiedinauniqueinductive(bottom-up),hierarchicalsystemofvegetationtypes,characterizedbydiagnosticspecies,intoassociation,alliance,ordersandclasses.Thesehierarchicalgroupsorsyntaxahavearank-specificnomenclaturesimilarinprincipaltorank-basedclassificationapproachusedtodescribeorganisms,suchasthatusedforplantspecies,genera,families,orders,andclasses.Furthermore,therearerulesofnomenclatureforthevariouslevels(syntaxa)intheclassificationsystem,wherebyeachdescribedsyntaxonisidentifiedbyauniquenamethatcontainsthefirstandlastauthorthatdescribedthesyntaxonandthedateofvalidpublicationaccordingtotheRulesoftheInternationalCodeofPhytosociologicalNomenclature(Weberetal.2000).Theserulesarebasedonfiveprinciples(Moravec1968).Eachsyntaxon(withdefiniterank,positionanddelimitation)hasonlyonecorrectname;eachnamecanbecorrectlyusedforonesyntaxononly;thecorrectnameisestablishedaccordingtotherulesbasedonthepriorityprinciple,theassociationisthefundamentalnomenclaturalunit(syntaxon);andthevalidityofnomenclaturalrulesisretroactive.Thisapproachallowsdistinctionandidentificationofvegetationtypesandassuchprovidesaworld-widedetailedcomparisonandclassificationofvegetationtypesaccordingthesamescientificlanguage.

Analytical phase: fieldwork and relevs

Thevegetationisanalyzedbymeansofarelevofarepresentativevegetationplot,homogenousinfloristicalcomposition,vegetationstructure,andhabitat.Inthisplot,abundanceandcover(scale)ofallspecies,andthestructureofthevegetationandenvironmentalconditionsareassessed.Unknownspeciesarecollectedforidentification,andsoilsamplesarecollectedforanalyses.Relevplotsizesdependonvegetationfeatures.Chytr&Otpkov(2003)suggestplotssizesbetweenof4m2(foraquaticandlowgrownherbaceousvegetation)and200m2(forwoodlands)basedonmorethan41,000relevsfromEurope.ExamplesofrelevprotocolswithcombinedestimationofcoverandabundanceofspeciesandotherscalesarepresentedinWesthoffandvanderMaarel(1973).Environmentalconditions,altitude,geographicalposition(GPS)andotherrelevantinformationarecollectedforanalysesinthelaboratory.

Synthesis phase: comparing relevs in tables

Groupsofrelevsareformedaccordingtotheirfloristicsimilarity.Thesegroupsareconceivedasplantcommunitytypes(orphytocoena)havingsimilarfloristiccomposition,vegetationstructureandhabitatconditions.Inearliertimestherearrangingofrelevsinatableofallrelevswasmademanually.Now,manycomputerizednumericalclusteringprogramsareavailable(forasurveyseePeet&Roberts2012).Thecharacterizationofplantcommunitytypesinvolvessortingorrearrangingtheorderoftherelevs(columnsinthetable)andtheorderofspecies(rowsinthetable)suchthatrelevswithsimilarspeciescompositionoccurtogether,andspeciesthataremoreorlesspreferentiallyfoundineachgroupalsooccurtogether.Mathematicalrulesareusedtohelpinthissortingprocesstodetermineofthefidelityofeachspeciestothevarioussyntaxa.Diagnosticspeciesincludeso-calledcharacter species(orfaithfulspecies)thosethatdifferentiatetheplantcommunitytypesagainstallotherplantcommunitytypes,differential speciesthosethatdifferentiateagainstanumberofotherplantcommunitytypes,suchaswithinalocalityorregion,andconstant speciesthosethatoccuratsomehighpercentage,say60%,oftherelevswithintheplantcommunitytype.Ifcharacterspeciesoccur,thentheplantcommunitytypemightbeanassociation,thelowestsyntaxonofthesystem.Theassociationandallothersyntaxaareidentifiedbygroupsofdiagnosticspecies,includingcharacter,differentialandconstantspecies.FormoreinformationaboutthisprocedurethereaderisreferredtoWesthoffandvanderMaarel(1973),Danils(1982),Chytr&etal.(2002)andtheInternationalAssociationforVegetationScientists(IAVS)VegetationClassificationMethodsWebsite:https://sites.google.com/site/vegclassmethods/).Forlargeregionalandglobalclassificationsbasedonthousandsofrelevs,computerprogramsforclassificationofverylargedatasets,suchasTURBOVEGbyHennekens&Schamine(2001)andJUICEbyTich(2002),areavailableontheinternet.

Syntaxonomical phase: identification and classification of plant communities

Thistime-consumingphaseincludestheidentificationofthesyntaxonomicalpositionoftheplantcommunitytypesbycomparingitwithothersyntaxaalreadydescribedintheexistingsyntaxonomicalliteraturethathaveusedtheCodeofPhytosociologicalNomenclature(Weberetal.2000).AnexampleofahierarchyofsyntaxaassociatedwithArcticsaltmarshvegetationisinTable1.Theuseofaprodromus,orchecklist,ofnamesofdescribedsyntaxa,ifoneexists,isveryhelpfulinthisphase,suchastheseriesBibliographia Phytosociologica SyntaxonomicastartedandeditedbyTxen(1971-1986)withdeliveryof39classeswiththeirsubordinatedorders,alliancesandassociations.Foraneffectiveapproachtoproduceapan-Arctic

https://sites.google.com/site/vegclassmethods

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syntaxonomicalvegetationclassificationsysteminnearfuture,thedevelopmentofapan-Arcticchecklistofvascularplant,bryophytesandlichensandregionalsyntaxonomicalchecklistsareindispensable(seeRaynoldsetal.2013,thisvolume)

InterestingconsiderationsabouttheclassconceptinsyntaxonomywerepresentedbyPignattietal.(1995)takingintoaccounttheecologicalcharacterization,coherenceofthegeographicaldistributionofcharacterspeciesandthecommonspatialstructureofthevegetation.

Table 1. Example of syntaxomic classification scheme of saltmarsh vegetation of Arctic Europe.

1.ClassJuncetea maritimaeBr.-Bl.InBr.-Bl.,RoussineetNgre19521.1.OrderPuccinellietalia phryganodisHada1946

1.1.1.AlliancePuccinellion phryganodisHada1946(saline)1.1.1.1.AssociationPuccinellietum phryganodisHada1946(lowsaltmarsh)

1.1.1.2.AssociationFestuco-Caricetum glareosaedeMolenaar1974(highsaltmarsh)1.1.2.AllianceDupontion fisheri Hada1946(sub-saline)

Feasibility of a pan-Arctic syntaxonomic vegetation classification

SeveralfactorsmaketheArcticafeasibleareatodevelopaBraun-Blanquetclassificationfortheentirebiome.First,thefloraofvascularplants,bryophytesandlichensisratherpoor,ratherwellknownandstillintact.Thetotalnumberofvascularplantspeciesisabout2,200(withapomictsthenumbergrowstoabout2800(Danilsetal.2013)),bryophytesabout900species(Danilsetal.2013),andlichensabout1750species(Dahlberg&Bltmann2013).Thefloristicuniformityishighduetothehighpercentageofcircum-Arcticandcircum-borealspecies.Vegetationstructureisalsoratheruniformandsimple,relatedtotheyoungpostglaciallandscapesandharshenvironmentalconditions.Thelandsurfaceisstillrelativelyundisturbedbyhumanpopulationandactivities,sothetundraandpolardesertvegetationarestillintact.Fromacircumpolarviewthevegetationisratheruniformaswell.Manygoodvegetationclasseshaveapan-Arcticdistribution.Examplesinclude,thenon-acidicsedgeanddwarfshrubclassCarici rupestris-Kobresietea bellardiiOhba1974,theacidicdwarfshrubheathclassLoiseleurio-VaccinieteaEgglerexSchubert1960,andthecryptogam-richherbclassofthepolardesertDrabo corymbosae-Papaveretea dahlianiDanilsetal.2013ined.).

Albeittherearestillmanyandhugeknowledgegaps,muchvegetationinformationisavailableinglobal(CAVM;CAVM-Team2003,Walkeretal.2005),regional(EVM,Bohn&Neuhusletal.2000/2003)andlocalvegetationsurveysandmaps.ThereareverymanyplotanalysesmadeacrossArcticregionsandthereareseveralexcellentregionalvegetationmonographs(e.g.Matveyeva1998,surveyinDanilsetal.2005,Kohlod2007,Vonlanthenetal.2008;forRussiaseealsothemanypublicationsinthejournalVegetationofRussiaRussianGeobotanicalJournalISSN2073-0659).TheactivitiesoftheEuropeanVegetationSurvey(EVS)resultedinthehierarchicalfloristicclassificationsystemofplant,lichenandalgalcommunitiesofEurope(Mucinaetal.2013)thatcouldbetakenasanexampleofwhatwecanachievefortheArcticvegetation.Athoroughsurveyofvegetationclasses(27)andsubordinatesyntaxaforGreenlandisclosetopublicationnow(Danils&Bltmann2013inprep.).Inmyopinionthereisenoughplot-basedinformationtostartfirstwithaninventoryofplotanalyses;thenstorethisinformationinarchives,andmakesyntaxonomicalchecklistsinordertoproduceafirstcircumpolarvegetationclassificationschemeintheformofanArctic-wideprodromus.Letusseewhatisavailablesofarandthenusethismaterialforapan-Arcticsyntaxonomicclassification.Theproductionofpan-Arcticchecklistwithauniformnomenclatureforvascularplants,bryophytesandlichensisconditio sine qua non.Raynoldsetal.(2013,thisworkshop)presentabetaversionofthepan-ArcticSpeciesList(PASL)thatincludesvascularplants,bryophytesandlichens.Althoughthisundoubtedlywillbemodifiedasweproceed,itistheplacetostart.

The importance for research and nature management

RegardingtheongoingchangeintheArctic(seee.g.Meltofte2013),anArctic-wideclassificationbasedonthehierarchicsyntaxonomicBraun-Blanquetapproachwouldbeextremelyvaluableandbeneficialtoscientificandappliedresearchforseveralreasons:

Sinceplantspeciesandplantcommunitiesarethebuildingblocksandmainstructuralunitsofterrestrialecosystems,theBraun-Blanquetapproachisanindispensabletoolforlandscapeecologicalresearch.Asyntaxonomic-basedvegetationsurveyandmapprovidekeyinformationonthebiodiversityandecologicalsettingofthelandscapeandlandscapequality.Suchdataareindispensableforqualityassessmentsofhabitattypesandconservationlegislation(cf.EUHabitatsDirective).Thedatacanalsobeusedinred-listingofplantspeciesandvegetationtypes.Habitatsareeasilyidentifiedbytheirsyntaxonomicname,thusbysyntaxa!

Relevdataareeasilyintegratedintospeciesandecosystemmodelingeffortsbecausethedatacontainrelativelyconsistentdetailedplot-basedinformationaboutspecies,theirabundance/cover,andoftengeographicalandenvironmentalinformation.

Aphytosociologicalstudyofanareaishighlybeneficialindevelopinghypothesesinbiodiversityandecologicalresearch.

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Phytosociologicalknowledgeisindispensableintheselectionofmonitoringandsurveillancesitesforclimate-changerelatedstudies.

Thesyntaxonomicalclassificationsystemallowsgeneralizationandextrapolationofresultsofexperimentalecologicalresearch.

ThusthestatementofPeetandRoberts(2012)would,inmyopinion,bestrongerifitfocusedonsyntaxaandreadtoconductorpublishecologicalresearchwithoutreferencetothesyntaxontheworkwasconductedinisverymuchlikedepositingaspecimeninamuseumwithoutprovidingalabel.

Insummary,theBraun-Blanquetplantcommunityclassificationapproachisanexcellenttoolforassessingplant-speciesandplant-communitybiodiversityatlocal,regionalandglobalscales,andprovidesasolidbaseforlandscapeprotectionandmanagement.

The AVA

TheresolutionoftheBouldermeetingidentifiedtheneedtoprepareacircumpolardatabase,classification,andvegetationmap.Thevegetationmapwaspublishedin2003and2005(CAVM-Team2003,Walkeretal.2005).ThecircumpolarArcticvegetationclassificationanditsnecessarydatabasestillneedtobeachieved.HereinKrakowwehavetheopportunitytobeginthesetwoothertasks.ConceptualdiagramsoftheInternationalArcticVegetationDatabase(IAVD)orArcticVegetationArchive(AVA)andthedataflowwerepresentedinWalker&Raynolds(2011).ThesediagramsmightbeusedasguidelinesforfurtherdiscussionsinthenextdaysinKrakow.

References

Bohn,U.,Neuhusl,U.incooperationwithGollub,G.,Hettwer,C.,Neuhuslov,Z.,Schltter,H.&Weber,H.2000/2003.Map of the Natural Vegetation of Europe 1:2500000parts1-3.Bonn,Germany.

CAVMTeam.2003.Circumpolar Arctic Vegetation Map.Scale1:7,500000.ConservationofArcticFloraandFauna(CAFF)MapNo.1.U.S.FishandWildlifeService,Anchorage,Alaska.

Chytr;M.&Otpkov,Z.2003.PlotsizesusedforphytosociologicalsamplingofEuropeanvegetation.Journal of Vegetation Science,14:563-570.

Chytr,M.,Tich,L.,Holt,J.&Botta-Dukt,Z.2002.Determinationofdiagnosticspecieswithstatisticalfidelitymeasures.Journal of Vegetation Science,13:70-90.

Dahlberg,A.&Bltmann,H.2013.Chapter10.Fungi.InMeltofte,H.(ed.)Arctic Biodiversity Assessment - Status and Trends in Arctic Biodiversity:302-319,ConservationofArcticFloraandFauna.Akureyri.ISBN978-9935-431-22-6(inpress).

Danils,F.J.A.1975.VegetationoftheAngmagssalikDistrictSoutheastGreenlandIII.Epilithicmacrolichencommunities.Meddelelser om Grnland,198,3:1-32.

Danils,F.J.A.1982.VegetationoftheAngmagssalikDistrict,SoutheastGreenland,IV.Shrub,dwarfshrubandterricolouslichens.Meddelelser om Grnland,Bioscience,10.

Danils,F.J.A.,Elvebakk,A.,Talbot,S.S.&Walker,D.A.(eds.)2005.ClassificationandmappingofarcticvegetationAtributetoBorisA.Yurtsev.Phytocoenologia,35:715-1079.

Danils,F.J.A.&deMolenaar,J.G.2011.FloraandVegetationofTasiilaq,FormerlyAngmagssalik,SoutheastGreenland:AComparisonofDatabetweenAround1900and2007.Ambio,40:650-659.

Danils,F.J.A.,deMolenaar,J.G.,Chytr,M.&Tich,L.2011.VegetationchangeinSoutheastGreenland?Tasiilaqrevisitedafter40years.Applied Vegetation Science,14:230-241.

Danils,F.J.A.,Gillespie,L.&Poulin,M.2013.Chapter9.Plants.InMeltofte,H.(ed.)Arctic Biodiversity Assessment. Status and Trends in Arctic Biodiversity: 258-301. Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna.Akureyri.ISBN978-9935-431-22-6(inpress).

Dierschke,H.2010.Developmentandtasksofsyntaxonomy:thestatusattheendofthe20thcenturyandscopesforthefuture.Eco-habitat: JISE Research,17(1):109-137.

Gannibal,B.&MatveyevaN.(eds.)2001-2012.Vegetation of RussiaRussianAcademyofSciencesISSN2073-0659.HennekensS.M.&SchamineJ.H.J.2001.TURBOVEG,acomprehensivedatabasemanagementsystemforvegetationdata.

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andFauna.Akureyri.ISBN978-9935-431-22-6(inpress).deMolenaar,J.G.1974.VegetationoftheAngmagssalikDistrictSoutheastGreenlandI.Littoralvegetation.Meddelelser om

Grnland,198(1):1-79.deMolenaar,J.G.1976.VegetationoftheAngmagssalikDistrictSoutheastGreenlandII.Herbandsnow-bedvegetation.

Meddelelser om Grnland,198,2:1-266.Moravec,J.1968.ZudenProblemenderPflanzensoziologischenNomenklatur.InR.Txen(ed.)Pflanzensoziologische

Systematik:142-154.Junk,DenHaag.Mucina,L.,Bltmann,H.,Dierssen,K.etal.2013.VegetationofEurope:Hierarchicalfloristicclassificationsystemofplant,

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Toward an Alaska Prototype for the Arctic Vegetation Archive

Amy L. Breen1,2, Martha K. Raynolds1, Stephan Hennekans3, Marilyn Walker1,4 & Donald A. Walker1

1Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, AK, USA, 2International Arctic Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, AK, USA 3Alterra, Wageningen UR, Netherlands 4Homer Energy, Boulder, Colorado, USA

Abstract

WecreatedanAlaskaprototypedatabasefortheArcticVegetationArchive(AVA).Apreliminarysurveyofkeyvegetation-plotdatainArcticAlaskarevealedover3,000relevsfromsitesontheSewardPeninsula,BrooksRange,ArcticFoothillsandCoastalPlain.Mostofthesedatasetsarehighqualityandincludecompletespecieslistsandcoverestimatesforvascularplants,mosses,andlichensfromsmall,representativeareasofhomogeneousvegetation.TheAlaskaArcticVegetationArchive(AAVA)utilizestheprogramTURBOVEG,acomprehensivedatamanagementsystemforvegetation-plotdata.WeconstructedabetaversionofthePanArcticSpeciesListforuseinTURBOVEGtoprovideastandardofspeciesnomenclaturefortheentireArcticbiomeandhaveimportedapproximately500relevstodate.Weanticipateatwo-yeartimelineforcompletionoftheAAVAandpresentthestepswehavetakentocreatethearchiveandthestepsthatstillremainforusebyotherregionalarchiveefforts.

Introduction

ThegoaloftheArcticVegetationArchive(AVA)istouniteandharmonizerelevdatafromtheArctictundrabiomeforuseindevelopingapan-Arcticvegetationclassificationandasaresourceforclimate-changeandbiodiversityresearch(Walkeretal.2013,WalkerandRaynolds2011).TheAVAwillbeanopenaccessdatabasecomprisedofregionalarchivesfromthevariousArcticnationsthatwillbethefirsttorepresentanentireglobalbiome.HerewepresentthestatusofanAlaskaprototypefortheAVA.Wefirstshareourfindingsfromapreliminarysurveyofkeyvegetation-plotdatafromArcticAlaska.Next,wegiveanupdateonthestatusoftheAlaskaArcticVegetationArchive(AAVA)andproposealistofrequiredandrecommendedmetadataandenvironmentalheaderdataforinclusionintheAVA.Finally,weconcludebyoutliningtheremainingstepstowardcompletionoftheAVA.

Preliminary Survey of Relevs from Arctic Alaska

Apreliminarysurveyofkeyvegetation-plotdatarevealedover3,000relevsfromArcticAlaska(Fig.1andTable1).Thesedataarescatteredacrossmanyinstitutionsinavarietyofformatsrangingfromspreadsheets,todatareportsandpublications,tofieldnotebooks.RelevshavebeencollectedalongtheprimaryArcticenvironmentalgradients,includingtemperature,soilpH,soiltexture,andsoilmoisture.Mostofthesedatasetsarehighqualityandincludecompletespecieslistsandcoverestimatesforvascularplants,mossesandlichensfromsmallrepresentativeareasusually1-100m2.Themorerecentvegetationplotsarealsogeoreferencedandincludesupplementaryinformationsuchasbiomass,canopystructure,soilsdata,andenvironmentalsummaries.

Therichesthistoryofvegetation-plotdatacollectioninArcticAlaskaisperhapsfromsitesontheCoastalPlain.ThisincludesearlyworkbyAlJohnson(Johnsonetal.1966)atCapeThompsonsponsoredbytheAtomicEnergyCommissiontoassesstheareafortheproposedProjectChariotandbyPatWebberaspartoftheInternationalBiologicalProgrammeTundraBiomeprojectatBarrow(Webber1978).PatWebbersstudentswerealsoquiteactivestudyingvegetationontheCoastalPlain.VeraKomrkovcollectedvegetation-plotdataatAtqasuk(Komrkov&Webber1980)and

Short and extended abstracts of papers presented at the workshopin alphabetical order of the first author

Figure1: Locality of key vegetation-plot data in Arctic Alaska. The three bioclimate subzones (CAVM Team 2003) in Arctic Alaska are shown and the quantity and quality of data are indicated by the size and color of the points. The southern boundary of Subzone E is treeline and the gray area is boreal forest. The numbers on the map for each data set coincide with Table 1.

18

theFishCreekOilWellSite(Lawsonetal.1978andKomrkov1983),andJimEbersoleworkedattheOumalikWellSite(Ebersole1985)aspartoftheUSGeologicalServicesNationalPetroleumReserve-Alaskacleanupactivities.Inaddition,SkipWalkercollectedvegetation-plotdataatthePrudhoeBayOilfields(Walker1985)andMarilynWalkerworkedatpingosatmultiplestudyareasonthecentralCoastalPlain(Walker1990)fortheirdoctoralresearch.Twositesonthecoastalplain,BarrowandtheOumalikWellSite,wererepeatsampledtoassessvegetationchangeafterapproximately40(Villarrealetal.2012)and10years(Forbesetal.2001),respectively.

RelevshavealsobeencollectedfromseveralotherlocalitiesinArcticAlaska.ThesesitesrangefromNome(Hanson1953),BeringLandBridgeNationalPreserve(Jorgensonetal.2009),andQuartzCreekandCouncil(Raynoldsetal.2002)ontheSewardPeninsulatoCapeKrusenstern(Jorgensonetal.2009)andtheKobuk(Racine1976,Breen2010)andNoatakRivers(Young1974,Breen2010)innorthwesternAlaska.IntheBrooksRange,plotdataareavailablefromtheArrigetchPeaks(Cooper1986),GatesoftheArcticNationalParkandPreserve(Jorgensonetal.2009)andtheArcticNationalWildlifeRefuge(Jorgensonetal.1994&2010,Breen2010).Severalstudiescollecteddatafromlong-distancetransectsincludingfrostboils(Kadeetal.2005)andwillowcommunities(Schickhoffetal.2002)alongasouth-northtransectfollowingtheDaltonHighwayfromthefoothillsoftheBrooksRangenorthtotheCoastalPlainandfromsitesthatvaryinsoilpHandmoisture(Edwardsetal.2000)alongawest-northtransectfromtheSewardPeninsulanorthwesttoIvotukandnorthtoBarrow.Inthefoothills,relevdataarealsoavailablefromImnavaitCreek(Walkeretal.1987),ToolikLake(Walkeretal.1991),HappyValley(Walkeretal.1997)andUmiat(Churchill1957).

Status of the Alaska Arctic Vegetation Archive

TheAlaskaArcticVegetationArchiveutilizesTURBOVEG(v.2.100;HennekensandSchaminee2001)whichisacomprehensivedatamanagementsystemforvegetation-plotdata.TURBOVEGwasdevelopedforstoring,editingandselectingofrelevsforthetaskofproducinganationalvegetationclassificationforTheNetherlands.Sincethen,theprogramhasevolvedtobecomethestandardfordatastoragefortheEuropeanVegetationArchivewhichisaninitiativeaimedatestablishingandmaintenanceofasingledatarepositoryofvegetation-plotobservations(http://euroveg.org/eva-database).

ThefirststeptowardcreatingtheprototypewastoconstructaspecieslisttoprovideastandardofspeciesnomenclaturefortheentireArcticbiome(Murray1994).WehavenowcompletedthistaskandthebetaversionofthePanArcticSpeciesList(PASL)isavailableforuseandreview(Raynoldsetal.2013,thisworkshop).ThePASLwasdevelopedfromthechecklistsofvascularplants,lichens,mosses,andliverwortsbytaxonomistswithintheConservationofArcticFloraandFaunaWorkingGroup.

Thesecondstepwastoimportthemostreadilyavailablehighqualityvegetation-plotdataintoTURBOVEGdatabasesforproofofconcept.ThefirstrelevsweimportedintotheprototypewerefromMarilynWalkersPhDdissertationstudyingpingosontheCoastalPlain(Walker1990,293relevs)whichisappropriategivenherleadershiproleinthe1995BoulderWorkshopthatleadtotheresolutiontocreatetheArcticVegetationArchivenearly20yearsago(Walkeretal.1995).TheotherdatasetsintheprototypetodateincluderelevsfromToolikLake(Walker1991,81relevs),ImnaviatCreek(Walker1987,84relevs),andHappyValley(Walker1997,56relevs)intheArcticFoothills.

Onceweimportedthefirstvegetation-plotdataintotheAAVA,thenextstepthatisongoingistostandardizerequiredprojectmetadataandheaderdataincludedintheenvironmentalmatrix.WewillaskthatallcontributorssubmittingrelevstotheAVAmeetthesestandards.ThisisanecessaryandimportanttaskasitwillassurethedataincludedareofhighqualityandcaneventuallybeincludedinacircumpolarclassificationofArcticvegetation.TheproposedmetadataandheaderdatastandardsarepresentedinTables2&3forreview.WeviewthesestandardsasastartingpointfordiscussionandanticipatethesewillberefinedandimprovedaswemoveforwardwiththeAVA.

ThemostrecentstepwehavetakenistoregistertheAAVAintheGlobalIndexofVegetation-PlotDatabases(GIVD;Dengleretal.2011).TheGIVDisaninternetresourceaimedatregisteringmetadataonexistingvegetationdatabasesworldwide.ThestatusoftheAAVAislistedasemergingandhasbeenassignedauniqueidentifier(NA-US-014).WeanticipateeachoftheregionalarchivesintheAVAwillregisterindependentlyandupdatetheirstatusastheirarchivesevolve.

Figure 2: Sampling a 1 x 1-m relev in moist acidic tussock tundra post-fire on the Seward Peninsula in western Alaska.

http://euroveg.org/eva-database

19

Timetable for Completion of the AAVA

WerecentlyreceivedfundingfromtheU.S.NASAprogramtoassembletheAAVAinpreparationforNASA'snextmajorfieldcampaigncalledtheArcticBorealVulnerabilityExperiment(ABoVE;http://cce.nasa.gov/terrestrial_ecology/above/).Table5outlinesouranticipated2-yeartimetableforcompletingthemajortaskstowardcreatingtheAAVA.TheBoulderWorkshopscheduledforOctober2013willfocusontheAlaskaandCanadaportionsoftheArctic.ThemajorgoaloftheworkshopistoreviewthestatusofrelevdatafromArcticAlaskaandbeginthetaskofassemblingthesedataintotheAAVAwithconsistentformatandmetadata.Weanticipatebeginninganalysistoclassifyplantcommunitiesandpreparingamanuscriptfromthe

http://cce.nasa.gov/terrestrial_ecology/above/

20

resu

ltsonc

eth

eAAV

Ais

com

plet

e.

Tabl

e 1

Prel

imin

ary

list o

f key

veg

etat

ion-

plot

dat

a fro

m A

rctic

Ala

ska.

Poin

t on

M

ap

Aut

hor(

s) (D

ate)

Loca

tion

Pub-

lishe

d Re

lev

s

Unp

ub-

lishe

d Re

lev

s

rele

v S

ize

(m2 )

Spec

ies

Dat

aEn

viro

n-m

enta

l D

ata

Plan

t Co

mm

uni-

ties

Iden

ti-

fied

Geo

ref-

eren

ced

Form

atA

ppli-

cabl

e to

the

AVA

vasc

ular

pl

ants

bryo

-ph

ytes

liche

ns

1W

alke

r,D.A

.(19

85)

Prud

hoeBa

yOilfi

eld

93-

1-10

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

PDF

yes

1,9

Walke

rM.D

.,(199

0)Ping

oco

mm

unities

onth

eCe

ntralA

rctic

Coa

stalPlain

(Kup

aruk

,Pru

dhoe

Bay

,To

olikRiver,K

adlero

shilik

stud

yarea

s)

293

-12

.5

(2m

diam

-et

er)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

Turb

oveg

yes

2,3,4

,5,6

Kade

,A.,D.A

.Walke

r&M

.K.R

ayno

lds

(200

5)

Fros

tboilsalong

theNor

th-

ernAlask

aArctic

Trans

ect

(How

eIsland

,Dea

dhor

se,

Fran

klinBluffs

,Sag

won

Uplan

ds,H

appy

Valley)

117

-1

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

Exce

lye

s

6W

alke

r,D.A

.,N.A

.Au

erba

ch,T

.K.N

et-

tleto

n,A

.Gallant

&S.

M.M

urph

y(199

7)

Hap

pyValley

56-

19.6

(5m

diam

-et

er)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes-

mos

tEx

cel

yes

7W

alke

r,D.A

.&N

.Ba

rry(199

1)and

W

alke

r,M.D

.,D.A

.W

alke

r&N

.A.A

uer-

bach

(199

4)

ToolikLak

e73

-19

.6

(5m

diam

-et

er)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

Turb

oveg

yes

8W

alke

r,D.A

.,N.

D.L

eder

er&

M.D

.W

alke

r(19

87)a

nd

Walke

r,M.D

.,D.A

.W

alke

r&N

.A.A

uer-

bach

(199

4)

Imna

viatCre

ek81

-19

.6

(5m

diam

-et

er)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

Turb

oveg

yes

9,10

Schick

hoff,U

.,M.D

.W

alke

r&D

.A.W

alke

r(200

2)

Willow

com

mun

ities

along

th

eDalto

nHighw

ay85

-50

or1

00ye

sye

sye

sye

sye

sye

sPD

Fye

s

1 The

statu

sof

Ver

aKo

mr

kov

'sre

lev

sfrom

theNationa

lPet

roleum

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erve

-Alask

aisunk

nownan

dlik

elyca

nnot

bere

cove

redafte

rher

dea

thin

200

5.O

urm

ainpo

into

fcon

tactis

her

fir

sthus

band

,Dr.JiKo

mreatth

eDep

artm

ento

fBot

any,Fac

ultyofS

cien

ce,U

nive

rsity

ofS

outh

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emia,

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Bud

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ice,Cze

chRep

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21

Poin

t on

M

ap

Aut

hor(

s) (D

ate)

Loca

tion

Pub-

lishe

d Re

lev

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Unp

ub-

lishe

d Re

lev

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rele

v S

ize

(m2 )

Spec

ies

Dat

aEn

viro

n-m

enta

l D

ata

Plan

t Co

mm

uni-

ties

Iden

ti-

fied

Geo

ref-

eren

ced

Form

atA

ppli-

cabl

e to

the

AVA

vasc

ular

pl

ants

bryo

-ph

ytes

liche

ns

11W

ebbe

r(19

78)

andVilla

rrea

l,S.,

R.D

.Hollis

ter,D.R

.Jo

hnso

n,M

.J.L

ara,

P.J.W

ebbe

r&C.E

.Tw

eedie(201

2)

Barrow

430

(197

8)

+33

0(201

2)

-1(197

2)+

0.1(201

2)

yes

noye

sye

sye

sye

sEx

cel

yes

11,1

2Pe

terson

,K.M

.(197

8)Ba

rrow

and

Atq

asuk

--

-ye

sno

nono

nono

HardCo

pyno

11,

12,15,

17

Edwards

,E.J.,A.

Moo

dy&

D.A

.W

alke

r(20

00)

Wes

tern

Alask

aArctic

Tran

sect(B

arro

w,A

tqas

uk,

Oum

alik,Ivo

tuk)

15-

100

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes-

mos

tHardCo

pyye

s

11,2

1Elias,S.A

.,S.K.S

hort,

D.A

.Walke

r&N

.A.

Auer

bach

(199

6)

Barrow

and

Bar

terIslan

d59

-80

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

noHardCo

pyye

s

12Ko

mr

kov

,V.&

P.J.

Web

ber(

1980

)Atq

asuk

73-

unkn

own

yes

nono

yes

yes

unkn

own

HardCo

pyye

s

13La

wso

n,D

.E.,J.

Brow

n,K.R

.Eve

rtt,

A.W

.Joh

nson

,V.

Kom

rko

v,B

.M.

Mur

ray,D

.F.M

urray

&P.J.W

ebbe

r.(197

8)

andKo

mr

kov

,V.

(198

3)

Fish

Cre

ek15

-0,2

yes

nono

yes

yes

unkn

own

HardCo

pyye

s

14Jo

rgen

son,M

.T.,J.E.

Roth

,E.R

.Pullm

an,

R.M

.Bur

gess,M

.K.

Rayn

olds

,A.A

.Stic

k-ne

y,M

.D.S

mith

&T.

M.Z

imm

er.(19

97)

ColvilleRive

rDelta

293

-2.50

0ye

sye

sye

sye

sye

sye

sun

know

nye

s

15Eb

erso

le,J.J.(19

85)

Oum

alik-un

distur

bed

87-

25ye

sye

sye

sye

sye

sno

HardCo

pyye

s

15Eb

erso

le,J.J.(19

85)

Oum

alik-distur

bed

61-

25ye

sno

noye

sye

sno

HardCo

pyye

s

16Ch

urch

ill,E

.D.(19

55)

Um

iat

80-

1ye

sno

nono

yes

noPD

Fye

s1 T

hestatu

sof

Ver

aKo

mr

kov

'sre

lev

sfrom

theNationa

lPet

roleum

Res

erve

-Alask

aisunk

nownan

dlik

elyca

nnot

bere

cove

redafte

rher

dea

thin

200

5.O

urm

ainpo

into

fcon

tactis

her

fir

sthus

band

,Dr.JiKo

mreatth

eDep

artm

ento

fBot

any,Fac

ultyofS

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ce,U

nive

rsity

ofS

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emia,

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ice,Cze

chRep

ublic

.

22

Poin

t on

M

ap

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hor(

s) (D

ate)

Loca

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Pub-

lishe

d Re

lev

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Unp

ub-

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d Re

lev

s

rele

v S

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(m2 )

Spec

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Dat

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l D

ata

Plan

t Co

mm

uni-

ties

Iden

ti-

fied

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ref-

eren

ced

Form

atA

ppli-

cabl

e to

the

AVA

vasc

ular

pl

ants

bryo

-ph

ytes

liche

ns

18Ko

mr

kov

,V.&

J.D.

McK

endr

ick(198

8)1

Nationa

lPet

roleum

Re-

serv

e-Alask

aSa

ndReg

ion

608

25ye

sun

-kn

own

un-

know

nye

sye

sun

know

nun

know

nun

-kn

own

19,2

0Ra

ynolds

,M.K.,C.R.

Mar

tin,D

.A.W

alke

r,A.M

oody

,D.W

irth,

C.Tha

yer-Sn

yder

(200

2)

Coun

cila

ndQ

uartzCr

eek

52.

100

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

Exce

lye

s

22Jo

rgen

son,J.C.,J.

M.V

erH

oef.&M

.T.

Jorg

enso

n(201

0)

Arctic

Nationa

lWild

life

Refu

ge60

-12

0ye

sye

sye

sun

know

nye

sye

sPD

Fye

s

22Jo

rgen

son,J.C.,P.E.

Joria

,T.R

.McC

abe,

B.R.R

eitz,M

.K.

Rayn

olds

,M.E

mer

s&

M.A

.Wilm

s(199

4)

Arctic

Nationa

lWild

life

Refu

ge13

2-

3.60

0ye

sye

sye

sye

sye

sye

sun

know

nye

s

23Jo

hnso

n,A

.W.,

L.A

.Viere

ck,R

.E.

John

son,and

H.

Melch

ior(

1966

)

Cape

Tho

mps

on54

-4,04

6.9

(1acre)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

noun

know

nye

s

24Co

oper

(198

6)

Arriget

chM

ount

ains

372

-1-

30

(var

ies)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

noHardCo

pyye

s

25Ba

tten

(197

7)La

kePet

ers

--

-ye

sno

nono

yes

noHardCo

pyno

26Jo

rgen

sen,M

.T.,J.

E.Rot

h,P.F.M

iller,

M.J.M

acan

der,M.S

.Duff

y,A

.F.W

ells,G

.V

Fros

t&E.R

.Pullm

an

(200

9)

Arctic

Net

wor

kof

Nationa

lPa

rks,Pr

eser

vesan

dMon

umen

ts

793

-31

5

(20m

diam

eter

)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

unkn

own

yes

27Ra

cine

(197

6)Ko

bukRive

rValley

--

-ye

sno

nono

nono

HardCo

pyno

28Yo

ung(197

4)Noa

takRive

r-

--

yes

nono

nono

noHardCo

pyno

29Mur

ray,D

.F.(19

74)

KillikRive

r-

--

yes

nono

nono

noHardCo

pyno

1 The

statu

sof

Ver

aKo

mr

kov

'sre

lev

sfrom

theNationa

lPet

roleum

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erve

-Alask

aisunk

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nnot

bere

cove

redafte

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thin

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5.O

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ainpo

into

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,Dr.JiKo

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eDep

artm

ento

fBot

any,Fac

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ce,U

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rsity

ofS

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Boh

emia,

esk

Bud

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ice,Cze

chRep

ublic

.

23

Poin

t on

M

ap

Aut

hor(

s) (D

ate)

Loca

tion

Pub-

lishe

d Re

lev

s

Unp

ub-

lishe

d Re

lev

s

rele

v S

ize

(m2 )

Spec

ies

Dat

aEn

viro

n-m

enta

l D

ata

Plan

t Co

mm

uni-

ties

Iden

ti-

fied

Geo

ref-

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ced

Form

atA

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AVA

vasc

ular

pl

ants

bryo

-ph

ytes

liche

ns

30Br

een,A

.L.(20

10)

Balsam

pop

lars

tand

sin

theArctic

Foo

thillsan

dwes

tern

Alask

a

25-

varie

sde

pend

ing

upon

the

size

oft

he

stan

d

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

Exce

lye

s

31Han

son,H

.C.(19

53)

Nom

e70

-1

yes

nono

noye

sno

PDF

yes

1 The

statu

sof

Ver

aKo

mr

kov

'sre

lev

sfrom

theNationa

lPet

roleum

Res

erve

-Alask

aisunk

nownan

dlik

elyca

nnot

bere

cove

redafte

rher

dea

thin

200

5.O

urm

ainpo

into

fcon

tactis

her

fir

sthus

band

,Dr.JiKo

mreatth

eDep

artm

ento

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any,Fac

ultyofS

cien

ce,U

nive

rsity

ofS

outh

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emia,

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Bud

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ice,Cze

chRep

ublic

.

24

Table 2 Project metadata for the Arctic Vegetation Archive. The proposed fields required for inclusion in the AVA are indicated with an asterisk. All other fields are recommended for inclusion.

Project Metadata1

Field name ID1 Source2 Type3 Description

Project description

Project name* PROJ_NAME AVA C Projecttitle.

GIVD code* PROJECT TV C GlobalIndexofVegetationDatabasescode,willbeincludedinheaderdata.

Projectdescription PROJ_DESC AVA C Briefdescriptionofthestudy.

Author name* AUTH_NAME TV C Relevprimaryauthor(s).

Locality* LOCALITY AVA C Specificprojectlocality,willbeincludedinheaderdata.

Country* COUNTRY TV C Country,willbeincludedinheaderdata.

Number of relevs* RELEVE_NO AVA N Numberofrelevsinthedataset.

Numberofclassifiedrelevs

CLASSIF_NO AVA N Numberofrelevsinthedatasetforwhichsyntaxonisknown.

Reference* REFE_NAME TV C Ifdataarepublished,includeprimaryreference(s).

Data quality

Taxonomic expertise* EXPERT AVA C Pop-uplist:expert, collections made and sent to experts for determination, moderate, poor.

Permanentlymarked MARKED AVA C Arerelevspermanentlymarked?(yesorno)

Markingmethod MARK_METH AVA C Ifrelevsarepermanentlymarked,specifymethods.

Collection* COLLEC AVA C Pop-uplist:relev, other.

Collectionmethod COLL_METH AVA C Ifdidnotuserelevs,specifycollectionmethodandsource.

Minimumarea MINI_AREA AVA C Relevminimumarearequirementssatisfied?(yesorno)

Homogeneity HOMOGEN AVA C Homogeneityrequirementssatisfied?(yesorno)

Mosses* MOSS_IDENT TV C Atleast80%ofmossesidentified?(yesorno)

Liverworts* LIV_IDENT AVA C Atleast80%ofliverwortsidentified?(yesorno)

Lichens* LICH_IDENT TV C Atleast80%oflichensidentified?(yesorno)

Georeference* GEOREF AVA C Aretherelevsgeoreferenced?(yesorno)

Sitedescription SITE_DESC AVA C Aretherelevsaccompaniedbyadescriptionofthesite?(yesorno)

Vegetationdescription VEGE_DESC AVA C Aretherelevsaccompaniedbyadescriptionofthevegetation?(yesorno)

Soilsdescription SOIL_DESC AVA C Aretherelevsaccompaniedbyadescriptionofthesoils?(yesorno)

Quality score* QUALITY AVA C Pop-uplist:very high quality:acceptableformostapplicationsincludingvegetationclassificationandenvironmentalanalysis(completevascularplant,moss,andlichenspecieslists;coverabundanceorpercentagecoverforallspecies;goodenvironmentaldatathatincludesalltheminimumheaderdata,includingsoildata;goodgeoreferenceatlandscapelevel(GPScoordinates)),intermediate quality a-e:acceptableforsomeapplications(specifyweakpointsinthedataset(a.incompletespecieslist,b.seriousproblemswithplanttaxonomy,c.noorweakenvironmentaldata,d.noorweaksoildata,e.noorweakgeoreference),unacceptable qualitya-d,notusefulformostvegetationclassificationsoranalyses(a.notplotdata,b.veryincompletespecieslist,c.noenvironmentalorheaderdata,d.nogeoreference).

1 For consistency, we suggest column headers across the various prototypes. Column headers are limited to ten characters.2 The source of the proposed fields is either Turboveg (TV) or the AVA. Turboveg includes many fields as standard within the program.3 Fields are either characters (C) or numbers (N).

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Table 3 Environmental header data for the Arctic Vegetation Archive. The proposed fields required for inclusion in the AVA are in bold and indicated with an asterisk. All other fields are recommended for inclusion.

Relev header data1

Field name ID1 Source2 Type3 Description

Relev description

Relev number* RELEVE_NR TV N RelevnumberisgeneratedautomaticallyinTurboveg.

Fieldrelevnumber FIELD_NR AVA C Relevnumberusedinthefieldbytheauthor(s).

ProjectID?

Locality* LOCALITY AVA C Fromprojectmetadata.Shouldbeaspecificlocalityfortheplot.

Country* COUNTRY AVA C Fromprojectmetadata.

GIVD code* PROJECT TV C Fromprojectmetadata.OruseProjectID

Author* AUTHOR TV C Fromprojectmetadata.Shouldbeplotcollector.

Date* DATE TV C Dateofcollection(yyyy/mm/dd).

Relev size* SURF_AREA TV N Sizeofthereleve(m2).

Standsize STAND_AREA

AVA N Sizeofthestand(m2).

Coverabundancescale

COVERSCALE TV C Pop-uplist:percentage, Braun/Blanquet (old), Braun/Blanquet (new), Londo, presence/absence, Ordinale scale (1-9), Barkman, Doing & Segal, Doing, constancy classes, Domin, Colin, Tansley, Didukh, Numbers

Plantcommunityname

COMM_NAME

AVA C Syntaxonname,formalorother.Willspecifythesourceofthenameinthenextfield.

Sourceofplantcommunityname

COMM_SOUR

AVA C Pop-uplist:Braun-Blanquet syntaxon name, USNVC name, CNVC name, Russian nomenclature system, field community name, other. Ifother,specify.

Locality

Locality code* COUNTRY TV C Generatedforprojectmetadata.

Georeference* GEOREF AVA C Istherelevgeoreferenced?(yesorno)Ifyes,providesubsequentfields.

Georeference source*

GEO_SOURC AVA C Pop-upList:GPS, Google Earth, map, aerial photograph.

Latitude LATITUDE TV N Latitude(decimaldegrees).

Longitude LONGITUDE TV N Longitude(decimaldegrees).

Geodeticdatum GEO_DATUM AVA C IfrelevsaregeoreferencedusingaGPSormap,includethedatum.

Altitude ALTITUDE TV N Altitudeofrelev(m).

Site description

Slope INCLINATIO TV N Slopeofrelev(degrees).

Aspect EXPOSITION TV N Aspectofrelev(degrees).

Habitat* HABITAT AVA C Pop-uplist:moderate to well-drained uplands (including zonal sites),wetland, riparian, snowbed, rocky barrens, zoogenic, saline, dune.

Snowduration DUR_SNOW AVA C Pop-uplist:snow free all year, snow free most of the winter but some snow cover persists after a storm that is blow free soon afterward, snow free prior to melt out but with snow most of winter, snow free immediately after melt out, snow bank persists 1-4 weeks after melt out, very short snow free period, deep snow all year.

1 For consistency, we suggest column headers across the various prototypes. Column headers are limited to ten characters.2 The source of the proposed fields is either Turboveg (TV) or the AVA. Turboveg includes many fields as standard within the program.3 Fields are either characters (C) or numbers (N).

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Relev header data1

Field name ID1 Source2 Type3 Description

Exposure EXPOSURE AVA C Pop-uplist:protected from winds, moderate exposure to winds, exposed to winds, very exposed to winds

Stability STABILITY AVA C Pop-uplist:stable, subject to occasional disturbance, subject to prolonged but slow disturbance such as solifluction, annually disturbed, disturbed more than once annually.

Disturbance* DISTURBAN AVA C Pop-uplist:natural vegetation or anthropogenically disturbed. What about type of distubance? What about concentrated animal use? Burned? Flooding, Soils distubance...etc

Soils description

Soilclassification SOIL_CLASS AVA C Pop-uplist:US Soil Survey, Canadian Classification, Russian Classification, FAO-UNESCO, other, none. If other, specify.

Soilclassificationmethod

SOIL_METH AVA C Ifothersoilclassificationmethod,specifymethodandsource.

Soiltype SOIL_TYPE AVA C Descriptionofthesoil.Thiswillbespecifictotheclassificationsystemused.

Organiclayerdepth ORG_DEPTH AVA N Depthoforganiclayer(cm).

Humustype?

SoilpH SOIL_PH AVA N pHofthesoil.

Soilmoisture* SOIL_MOIST AVA C Pop-uplist:dry, moist, wet, aquatic.

Vegetation Description

Covertotal COV_TOTAL TV N Totalvegetationcover(%).

Covershrubs COV_SHRUBS

TV N Shrubcover(%).

Coverdwarfshrubs COV_DSHRUB

AVA N Dwarfshrubcover(%).

Covergraminoids COV_GRAMIN

AVA N Graminoidcover(%).

Coverherbs COV_HERBS TV N Herbcover(%).

Coverbryophytes COV_BRYOP AVA N Bryophytecover(%).

Coverlichens COV_LICHEN TV N Lichencover(%).

Coveralgae COV_ALGAE TV N Algaecover(%).

Coversoil COV_SOIL AVA N Soilcover(%).

Coverrock COV_ROCK TV N Rockcover(%).

Coverwater COV_WATER TV N Watercover(%).

Coverlitter COV_LITTER TV N Littercover(%).

Meancanopyheight MEAN_CANOPY

AVA N Meanheightofthecanopywithinthestand.

Maximumcanopyheight

MAX_CANOPY

AVA N Maximumheightofthecanopywithinthestand.

Vascularplants NO_VPLANT AVA N Speciesnumberofvascularplants.

Mosses NO_MOSS AVA N Speciesnumberofmosses.

Liverworts NO_LIVER AVA N Speciesnumberofliverworts.

Lichens NO_LICHEN AVA N Speciesnumberoflichens.

Species NO_SPECIES AVA N Totalnumberofspecies.

Other

Remarks REMARKS TV C Comments.1 For consistency, we suggest column headers across the various prototypes. Column headers are limited to ten characters.2 The source of the proposed fields is either Turboveg (TV) or the AVA. Turboveg includes many fields as standard within the program.3 Fields are either characters (C) or numbers (N).

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Table 4 Timetable for recovery of key vegetation-plot data from Arctic Alaska and creation of an Alaska Arctic Vegetation Archive.

Tasks for Recovery of Key Plot Data for the Alaska Arctic Vegetation Archive Start Year Planned Completion1

Task1.AlaskaAVAWorkshopinBoulder

-Participantswillincludeauthorsofvegetationdatasets2013 31.okt.13-Askparticipantstobringtheirdatatostandardizeandformatforinclusion

intheAAVAduringtheworkshop

Task2.DevelopprototypeAVAdatabaseforArcticAlaska

2.1Inventoryandassessthequalityofavailablevegetationdatasets 2013 31.okt.13

2.2Sendoutinventoryforexternalreview 2013 31.okt.13

2.3Standardizeprojectmetadataandheaderdata 2013 31.g.13

2.4StandardizePASLrevisions&updates 2013 31.des.14

2.5PrioritizevegetationdatasetsforinclusionintheAAVA 2013 31.g.13

2.3Recovervegetationdataincluding: 2013 31.des.14

-formattomeetstandards - -

-enterorformatdatathatisonlyavailableasaPDForhardcopy - -

-compileotherplotrelatedfiles(eg,photographs,soilprofiles,maps,PDFsoforiginalreportsorpublications)toincludeinGeobotanicalCatalog - -

2.4UpdateentryinGlobalIndexofVegetationDatabases(GIVD) 2013 Ongoing

2.5Exportveget