Landscape Change in the Western Arctic

Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region

Tags: permafrost; vegetation; fire, songbirds, carbon

Principal Investigator: Lantz, Trevor C. (31)
Licence Number: 17716
Organization: University of Victoria
Licensed Year(s): 2025 2024 2023
Issued: Apr 23, 2025
Project Team: Meghan Hamp, Logan McLeod,

Objective(s): 1) Use remote sensing to document regional landscape change. 2) Use field sampling and monitoring to determine the causes and impacts of regional changes in vegetation and permafrost.

Project Description: This licence has been issued for the scientific research application No. 6190. 1) Use remote sensing (Landsat, QuickBird, InSAR, Airphotos, and Remotely Piloted Aerial Systems (RPAS)) to document regional landscape change (tundra fire, infrastructure, saline flooding, slumps, subsidence, vegetation change, lake drainage / expansion, etc.). 2) Use field sampling and monitoring to determine the causes and impacts of regional changes in vegetation and permafrost. Objective 1) Use remote sensing (Satellite Imagery, LiDAR, Airphotos, RPAS, etc.) to document the rate and extent of landscape change in the NWT (tundra fire, infrastructure impacts, saline flooding, slumps, subsidence, vegetation change, lake drainage / expansion, etc.). To quantify landscape change across a range of spatial scales since the 1980s we are using a combination of moderate and high resolution satellite images, aerial photos, and helicopter imagery. We also conduct low-altitude (<300 ft) multicopter RPAS surveys over small areas (1-10 ha). These surveys are in full compliance with Transport Canada’s regulations and permitting for operating an RPAS. We are using this information to map the rate, extent, and location of landscape change across the Beaufort Delta Region and to predict areas that are likely to be most sensitive to change in the future. To identify the drivers of observed changes we will also use statistical analyses to compare our maps of landscape change with biophysical data from a variety of sources. Objective 2) Use plot-based monitoring and intensive field surveys to determine the causes and impacts of regional changes in vegetation and permafrost. Over the past 10 years we have established a network of sites (disturbed and undisturbed) that we are using to monitor vegetation, permafrost, soils, and water quality. Specifically, we are using plot or transect based methods and instruments attached to data loggers to measure vegetation (composition, structure, and population structure), soils (pH, moisture, and nutrient availability), permafrost (thaw depth and ground temperature), and snow (late-winter depth and snow water equivalent). Over the next five years, we will continue to visit these sites to monitor change. In 2024, our fieldwork will focus on three research projects. The first project will examine the environmental factors associated with northern vegetation dynamics in the Richardson Mountains, Yukon North Slope, and the Dempster and Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk highway corridors. The second project will explore the impacts of retrogressive thaw slumping on ground thermal regime, vegetation structure, soil carbon capture, and avian community composition in the Tuktoyaktuk Coastlands. The third project will explore the effects of tundra fire severity and return interval on habitat, avian community composition, vegetation structure, biomass, soil carbon storage, and ground thermal regime. Fieldwork for these projects involves measuring vegetation structure and composition (height, stem density, and percent cover), and a suite of abiotic variables (thaw depth, soil chemistry, gravimetric moisture, etc.) at field sites across the Tuktoyaktuk Coastlands and Richardson Mountains, and at sites along the Dempster / Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk highway corridors. Vegetation height, green vegetation fraction, and terrain characteristics (slope, potential soil moisture, etc.) will also be measured at the landscape scale (0.5 km2) using RPAS imagery. Avian soundscapes will be gathered with passive acoustic monitoring and used to characterize species communities and vegetation-abundance relationships. Soils will be characterized by collecting soil samples with manual soil augers and CO2 and CH4 fluxes will be measured using static chambers. Aboveground biomass will be measured using 1m2 clip plots to collect and weight aboveground vegetation. We will continue to provide periodic presentations (in person or via zoom) at the regular meetings of regional co-management organizations (HTCs, RRCs, GRRB, PCMB, FJMC). When possible we will arrange to make presentations at northern scientific meetings (CIMP Results workshops, Inuvialuit Research Days, Gwich’in Water Summit etc.) and present as part of the speakers series at the Western Arctic Research Centre. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from: May 30 - December 31, 2025