Abstract: The flora and vegetation of ice-cored moraines of the Klutlan Glacier were analyzed. Annual growth rings of shrubs or trees in the plots were used to estimate the age of each plot. Major vegetation types distinguished include Crepis nana, Dryas drummondii, Hedysarum mackenzii, Hedysarum-Salix, Salix-Shepherdia canadensis, Picea-Salix, Picea- Arctostaphylos, Picea-Ledum, and Picea-Rhytidium. Six other vegetation types are described from windthrow areas, drainage channels, volcanic tephra slopes, lake margins, fens, and drained lakes. Vegetational succession relates to moraine age and stability, with the Crepis nana type as the pioneer vegetation developing through the other vegetation types to the Picea-Rhytidium type on the oldest moraines.

Authors: Birks, H.J.B.

Map Scale: 1 : 0

Citation: Birks, H.J.B., 1980. The present flora and vegetation of the moraines of the Klutlan Glacier, Yukon Territory, Canada; a study in plant succession. Quaternary Research, vol. 14, issue 1, p. 60-86.