20 Years Of Canadian Observational Data Show Steady Movement Of Boreal Forest To The North - CBC

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As part of International Polar Year research, Ian Olthof and his team at the National Research Council in Ottawa are poring over thousands of satellite photos of Ivvavik National Park, which straddles the tree line west of Aklavik, N.W.T.

The satellite images are being compared to similar photographs taken of the park 20 years ago in order to see how vegetation normally found in southern climates is slowly invading the tundra.

"What we're primarily seeing is that there is an increase in vegetation in northern Canada," Olthof, who is with the council's Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, told CBC News in an interview.

"Areas that were normally occupied by herbs, for example, are becoming occupied by shrubs. We're seeing a migration of the tree line northwards. These sorts of changes have implications on wildlife and the people who depend on wildlife in the North." Olthof said his team also expects to see shrubs and herbs displacing non-vascular plants, such as lichens and mosses, that have long existed on the tundra.

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http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/08/19/arctic-plants.html