| Titre | Declining sand dune activity in the southern Canadian prairies: historical context, controls and ecosystem implications |
| Auteur | Hugenholtz, C H; Bender, D; Wolfe, S A |
| Source | Aeolian Research vol. 2, 2-3, 2010 p. 71-82, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aeolia.2010.05.002 |
| Année | 2010 |
| Séries alt. | Secteur des sciences de la Terre, Contribution externe 20090325 |
| Éditeur | Elsevier |
| Document | publication en série |
| Lang. | anglais |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aeolia.2010.05.002 |
| Media | papier; en ligne; numérique |
| Formats | pdf |
| Province | Alberta; Manitoba; Saskatchewan |
| SNRC | 62; 72; 82H; 82I; 82P |
| Lat/Long OENS | -114.0000 -96.0000 52.0000 49.0000 |
| Sujets | dunes; dépôts éoliens; dépôts glaciaires; Holocène; fluctuations climatiques; végétation; sables; transport des sediments; érosion; paléoenvironnement; écosystèmes; diversification biotique;
sédimentologie; géologie des dépôts meubles/géomorphologie; Cénozoïque; Quaternaire |
| Illustrations | location maps; photographs; graphs |
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| Programme | Impacts des changements climatiques et adaptation dans le secteur des ressources naturelles et d'autres secteurs clés de l'économie, Géosciences de changements climatiques |
| Résumé | (disponible en anglais seulement)
Sandhills are islands of biodiversity in the southern Canadian prairies that sustain habitat for many rare and endangered species. These unique areas consist of
large expanses of dune fields now mostly stabilized by grassland vegetation. Historically, the number of active dunes has decreased significantly due to vegetation stabilization, resulting in a dramatic decline of open-sand habitat for a variety of
dunedependent species. Without a certain level of wind erosion, opportunities for establishment of earlystage, species-rich vegetation types are diminished and open-sand habitat decreases by encroachment of the surrounding grassland vegetation. The
current trend of dune stabilization, however, implies that wind erosion is decreasing, thereby threatening the continued existence of a variety of dune-dependent plants, arthropods and vertebrates, as well as other less-specialized species that
benefit indirectly from these habitats. By reviewing factors contributing to the historical decline of active dunes, as well as the ecological implications of dune stabilization, the aim of this paper is to establish the biophysical context for new
land management strategies that conserve valued landscape components, such as active dunes, and the processes therein. As dune stabilization continues management interventions will be required to sustain or re-establish open sand and the species that
rely on these habitats. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 261394 |
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