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The Expedition of the First International Polar Year, 1882-83, by William Barr
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Adams, Peter |
| Copyright Year | 1985 |
| Abstract | In organising the Canadian IGY Expedition to Lake Hazen, 1957-58 (“Operation Hazen”), the Defence Research Board believed that full advantage should be taken of the logistic effort by promoting field work in other disciplines besides geophysics, which was the main purpose of the expedition; the extra cost would be minimal. Accordingly, invitations were issued to other government organizations (including the national museums) to participate by sending field scientists. The present publication is one of the welcome results of thi participation. The authors give a comprehensive account of the vascular plants, which were their main concern during their collaborative work in the 1958 summer and during the junior author’s further work in the 1959 summer. Following a general description of the natural features and climate of the area and a history of its botanical exploration, brought up to date with a note on post-IGY collections, the authors provide an annotated list of the 125 species of vascular plants they collected 32 species more than had previously been recorded from northern Ellesmere Island. Of the species on their list they estimate that perhaps one-third accounts for over 80% of the vegetation, the other species being restricted to certain habitats, such as solifluction lobes, marshes, consolidated scree slopes or bird perches. A description of these and the other more widespread habitats, such as turf hummocks and sandy areas, occupies a good part of the publication, and this is perhaps the most interesting part for the general reader. The authors show that in all habitats plant growth or, indeed, the presence or absence of plants is strongly influenced by aspect to the sun, exposure to the wind and, above all, the availability of moisture from melting snow and glaciers. By a fortunate dispensation of nature the permafrost ensures a high table for such water as there is in the soil. Some plants, e.g., Salk arctica and Saxifraga oppositifolia, are tolerant of most habitats, but others, e.g., the attractive Arnica alpina, are of occasional and local occurrence on rocky clay banks and around animal dens. For some plants altitude in itself, at least up to quite high levels, is not a barrier to growth, provided that moisture is available from melting snow patches; thus, Papaver cornwallisensis was found in flower at an altitude of nearly 1400 m on a nunatak. (In this connection it is worth recording that in 1967 the reviewer collected a moss Grimmia sp. at an altitude of c. 2500 m on Barbeau Peak to the northwest of Lake Hazen.) As might be expected, there is considerable variation between the flowering periods of the plants, which are dependent on the time of disappearance of the snow from particular sites. Some species flourish in both early exposed and late exposed sites, while others are restricted in their flowering periods. The vascular plants as a whole fall mainly into four phytogeographical groups: Circumpolar (73 species), amphi-Atlantic (24 species), wideranging North American (14 species) and endemic North American ( 10 species). In spite of the delay of about a generation since the field work, this publication was well worth waiting for, and it will prove an indispensable guide to all summer visitors -not only botanists to one of the most beautiful areas in the Canadian Arctic. Twenty wellchosen photographs give an excellent idea of most of the habitats and types of vegetation. |
| Starting Page | 346 |
| Ending Page | 347 |
| Page Count | 2 |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| DOI | 10.14430/arctic2422 |
| Volume Number | 38 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://arctic.journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/arctic/index.php/arctic/article/download/2422/2399 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic2422 |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
