Journal article
Multiple factors influence plant richness and diversity in the cold and dry boreal forest of southwest Yukon, Canada
SK Paudel, PO Waeber, SW Simard, JL Innes, CR Nitschke
Plant Ecology | SPRINGER | Published : 2016
Abstract
The intermediate disturbance hypothesis (IDH) is regarded as an appropriate model for understanding plant diversity–disturbance relationships in the boreal region. However, concern has been raised over its applicability across such a broad region, in particular, in low productive areas of the region such as the cold, dry region of the southwest Yukon. We examined plant richness and diversity in relation to the IDH in the context of both disturbance and productivity gradients. We then tested whether environmental variation and resource quantity interacted with development stage to shape richness patterns in the region. We found that richness and diversity did not conform to the IDH but that e..
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Awarded by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Funding Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the Champagne and Aishihik First Nation, Yukon, Canada for allowing us to work within their traditional territory: "Shaw Ni Thaw". Specifically, we would like to thank Roger Brown (Champagne and Aishihik First Nation, Yukon, Canada) and Aynslie Ogden (Forest Management Branch, Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, Government of Yukon, Canada) for their support. We would also like to thank the three anonymous reviewers for their excellent critique and suggestions which had improved this work significantly. This work has been financially supported by Forest Management Branch, Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, Government of Yukon, and through a National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Grant (235773).