We have found that the northernmost trees in Labrador occur at Napaktok Bay on the Labrador cost, as suggested by early explorers, rather than along either Nakvak Brook, Saklek Fiord, or the Hebron Fiord area as suggested by most modern workers

Elliott, Deborah L.

Short, Susan K.

English

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ARCTIC VOL. 32, NO. 3 (SEPT 1979), P. 201-206 The Northern Limit of Trees in Labrador: A Discussion DEBORAH L.  ELLIOTT' and SUSAN K. SHORT' ABSTRACT. We have found  that the northernmost trees in  Labrador occur at Napaktok Bay on the Labrador coast, as suggested by early explorers, rather than along either Nakvak Brook, Saglek Fiord, or the Hebron Fiord area as suggested by most modern workers. INTRODUCTION Considerable confusion exists in the  literature  concerning  the  northern limit of trees in  Labrador. Early explorers .of northern  Labrador (Coleman, 1921; Wheeler, 1935,  1936; Tanner, 1944) stated  that  the  northernmost  trees  were  to be found at  the inner end of Napaktok (Black Duck) Bay (57" 55' N., 62"  40' W.). More recent maps and texts have indicated trees further north at: 1) Hebron Fiord and the small valley to the north (Wenner, 1947; Hare, 1959; Canada, Dept. Energy, Mines and Resources, 1967, 1968; Rowe, 1972); 2) Saglek Fiord (Hare, 1959; Rowe, 1972); and 3) Nakvak Brook (Canada,  Dept. Energy, Mines and  Resources, 1967; Tuck, 1975) (Fig. 1). Mapping of many of these 'northernmost trees' has been done through air photo interpretation without adequate field checking. We are defining a 'tree' here as a woody plant with a single  main stem at least 2m in height. The  above phytogeographical conflict led to  our  searching  for  the  true limit of trees in Labrador as part of the  Institute of Arctic  and Alpine Research's continuing paleoclimatic and ecological studies of northern  Canada. This field checking was conducted in the summers of 1975 by Short  (Ives, Nichols and Short, 1976; Short, 1978) and in 1978 by Elliott. We were accompanied by Drs. H. Nichols and J. D. Ives in 1975 and Nichols and  K. J. Hansen in 1978. OBSERVATIONS FROM REPORTED NORTHERN TREE SITES The  northernmost  reported  tree  site in Labrador is along Nakvak (Nakhvararsuk)  Brook, at the  southeast end of the Torngat Mountains. Wheeler (1935) states  that  there were early  reports of trees in this  area,  yet in his  own explorations, he found only  willow to  exist  here.  Observations from aircraft in 1975 and 1978 did not show any trees in the  area, only limited shrub cover. In 1957 J.  D. Ives and P. C. Ives discovered a small clone of spruce (probably Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.), less than 2 m in height, on the col between the Koroc River, Quebec, and Nakvak Brook, Labrador (58"37'N, Institute of Arctic and  Alpine Research and  Departments of Geography' and Anthropology', University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309 USA 202 DEBORAH L. ELLIOTT  and SUSAN K. SHORT FIG. 1 .  Map of the northern tree limit in Labrador, Canada. The correct arctic tree limit is shown at Napaktok Bay, with formerly reported northern tree locations (now disproven by our field checking) shown as shrublands. 64’7’30”W) in the Torngat Mountains (pers.  comm., 1978). These plants were at an elevation of about 305 m, considerably above  the limit of trees in the Koroc  drainage.  Because  no  cones  were  seen, it  was assumed that  the  spruce were reproducing by layering. It is  our opinion that  these  spruce  entered  the col from the Koroc drainage and therefore do not reflect the topographic problem of migrating along the  Labrador  coast nor the  controls of the  tree limit in Labrador. Recent vegetation maps of Labrador-Ungava show trees existing in the Saglek Fiord  area. Rowe (1972) shows this area  as  ‘forest and barren’, whereas Hare (1959) uses the terminology ‘forest  tundra’. Aerial reconnaissance in  1975 did not reveal any trees,  and  shrub  cover  is limited to the more  mesic  valley locations. H. Lamb  (pers.  comm., 1978) reports  that  there is a small clone of Populus tremuloides Michx. (quaking aspen)  on  a  scree  face at Saglek Fiord. We have not confirmed this report, nor do we know if the species assumes  a tree-form there.  The  northern limit of quaking aspen on the  Labrador  coast is reported NORTHERN LIMIT OF TREES 203 as the Hamilton RiverlHamilton Inlet complex  by Marie-Victorin (1964) and confirmed by  Short. Canadian topographical maps (Canada,  Dept.  Energy, Mines and Resources, 1967, 1968) show forest along the first valley (58”12’N, 63’02’W) north of Hebron Fiord. Several hours of hiking in the area revealed no coniferous trees, but- instead a dense shrubland of alder (Alnus crispa (Ait.) Pursh), various willow (Sulix L.) species, and birch (Betula glundulosa Michx.) was observed (Fig. 2). mG.2. Valley north of Hebron Fiord where trees had been mapped. Vegetation of area is an alder-birch-willow shrubland. The dense thickets contain shrubs approaching 2 m in height and 10-15 cm  in diameter. H. Lamb (pers. comm., 1978) visited the same area in 1977, looking for spruce depicted on the Canadian topographical maps. His observations were made from  the  air  and  the  lake  as he  did not go ashore.  Lamb  reports  that  the “ ‘trees’ ” were  “not  quite possible to make out - might have been stunted spruces  but no bleached white old trees  that  I could see; plenty of alder and dwarf birch”. Lamb is correct in expecting, if spruce were present, to see dead, white tree  trunks, which are highly  visible at Napaktok Bay and on  the Kogaluk River Plateau. What he was seeing, from our field checking in this area, was Salir plunifoliu Pursh.,  a shrub willow  which reaches heights approaching 2 m. In 1978, the north wall of Hebron Fiord, where trees had been reported, was briefly searched by air. Once again, no trees were found, only an alder-willow-birch shrubland. There is a herbarium specimen (no. 1034) of white spruce (Picea gluuca (Moench) Voss) from Hebron in the Museum of Natural Sciences, Canada, 204 DEBORAH L. ELLIOTT  and SUSAN K. SHORT which  was collected on 21 July  1936 by Dr. N. Polunin (Gillett, pers. comm., 1978).  This  pecimen has no cones and abnormally short needles.  We attempted to confirm the collection site for this specimen with Dr. Polunin. Since he could not locate his 1936 field notes, he could not say positively that this site was Hebron, nor whether the spruce were on the valley  wall or in the small  valley to the north of the fiord proper. He states,  “I encountered a few scattered dwarf spuce (whether black or white I do not recall but I am pretty sure  there were no Larix) not far inland at one of the most northern settlements, not more than a few kilometres inland at most”. He thinks the place of the ‘little spruce’ was Hebron though  he cannot “be sure enough to let such a mere recollection stand as a record”. In any case, he says “they were mere dwarfs which could scarcely have exceeded a metre in height or been  visible  from the  air” (Polunin, pers. comm., 1978). Dr. J. M. Gillett (pers. comm., 1978), curator of vascular plants at the same museum, states that he  was  in the Hebron area in 1954 and did not see white spruce. In summary, white spruce in a dwarf, shrub-form might at one time have existed somewhere in the Hebron area. This species has not been reported by other botanists working in this area since 1936. Therefore, the species may have been exterminated (either by the natives or a minor  climatic  cooling) or may be so local in extent that it has not been rediscovered. The finding of  FIG.^. Northern  Labrador  tree  limit  at Napaktok  (Black  Duck) Bay. The forest  here is composed of large, upright white spruce (Pima glauca). The trees are very healthy, and many different ages are  present in the  stand. NORTHERN LIMIT OF  TREES 205 Polunin’s original field notes from 1936 would be of great  assistance,  but in any  case we  plan on revisiting the  Hebron  area to  do more intensive searching in the summer of  1979. We propose the next bay south, Napaktok (Black Duck) Bay, as the true northern tree limit. On the glacio-fluvial terraces and lower slopes of the southern part of the  bay,  dense  forests of white spruce were found (Fig. 3). Scattered dwarf  white spruce were found  up-valley and along the higher lake shores forming a stressed altitudinal tree line at ca. 140  m. The forest here, like the shrubland at Hebron, appeared very old and contained many  fallen trees. Reproduction is  taking place, with a wide variety of age classes of trees present. This forest  appears to  be in  equilibrium  with the present climate, in contrast to the northern trees of Keewatin (Elliott, 1 979). The  uppermost,  stunted white spruce  however, were not producing cones. No seedlings were seen in these  areas. Saplings were estimated to be about 100 years old, on  the basis of our previous dendroecological experience;  the ages are being checked. Black spruce  and balsam  fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.) are listed by Gardner (1973) as existing in the  Napaktok Bay forest.  These were not seen, but may be found subsequently when the  entire  area is explored on  foot.  They were not seen through aerial reconnaissance, as might be expected due to the different foliage colours of the species. SUMMARY The northern tree limit on the Labrador coast is at Napaktok Bay. This limit is formed by a true  forest, in contrast  o  either  the  open lichen woodlands or the  scattered dwarf spruce in the  forest-tundra  ecotone which form the tree limit in western Canada. The better our understanding of the modern geographic limits, and  the environmental factors controlling the limits, of plant communities and individual taxa in the Canadian arctic and subarctic,  the more accurate will  be our interpretation of the dendroecological and palynological data relevant to the Holocene migration of the northern Canadian tree limit. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This is a  contribution to U.S. National Science Foundation  grants  DEB78-07560 and ATM77-17549. The research was also supported by grants-in-aid of research from the Arctic  Institute of North  America,  the  Explorers  Club,  Sigma Xi, the Graduate School of the  University of Colorado,  and  the  Smithsonian  Institution. We would like to thank K. J .  Hansen for her assistance in the field in 1978, Drs. H .  Nichols and J .  D.  Ives for  their  supervision in Labrador,  encouragement of our studies, and comments on the manuscript, and Drs. J. T. Andrews, R. G. Barry, J .  A. Larsen, P. J .  Webber, Y. A. Linhart, H. A. Fritts, W. W. Fitzhugh, and R. Stuckenrath for their discussions and  support of our  work  in Labrador-Ungava. 206 DEBORAH L. ELLIOTT and SUSAN K. SHORT REFERENCES CANADA, DEFT. ENERGY, MINES and RESOURCES. 1967. Topographical map 14L (Hebron). Mapping and Charting Establishment, Dept. National Defence. National Defence. Survey Memoir 124. N.W.T.: some preliminary observations. Arct. Alp. Res. 1 l(2): (in press). other regions of Canada. University of Montreal, Canada. 236 pp. -. 1968. Topographical maps 14E/15 and 14L/3. Mapping and Charting Establishment, Dept. COLEMAN. A .  P. 1921. Northeastern part of Labrador, and New Quebec. Canada, Geological ELLIOTT. D. L. 1979. The  current regenerative capacity of the northern Canadian trees, Keewatin, GARDNER.G. 1973. Analytic catalogue of plant species from the arctic and subarctic of Quebec and GILLETT, J. M. 1978. Personal communication (Museum of Natural Sciences, Ottawa, Canada). HARE, F. K. 1959. A photo-reconnaissance survey of Labrador-Ungava. Canada, Geographical IVES, I. D. and IVES,  P. c. 1978. Personal communication (University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, -., NICHOLS. H .  and SHORT, s. 1976. Glacial history and paleoecology of northeastern LAMB, H .  1978. Personal communication (Botany School, Cambridge University, Cambridge, MARIE-VICTORIN,  FRERE. 1964. nore Laurentienne. Les Presses de 1’Universite de Montreal, POLUNIN, N .  1978. Personal communication (Geneva, Switzerland). ROWE. J. s. 1972. Forest regions of Canada. Canada, Dept. of the Environment, Canadian Forestry Service Publication no. 1300. 172 pp. SHORT, s. K. 1978. Holocene palynology in Labrador-Ungava: Climatic history and culture change on the central  coast. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Colorado. TANNER, V. 1944. Outlines of the geography, life, and customs of Newfoundland-Labrador. Acta Geographica, 8: 1-907. TUCK. J. A. 1975. Prehistory of Saglek Bay, Labrador: Archaic and palaeo-eskimo occupations. Canada, National Museum of Man Mercury Series, Archaeological Survey of Canada Paper no. 32,  272 pp. Branch, Mines and Technical Surveys Memoir 6.83 pp. U.S.A.). Nouveau-Quebec and northern Labrador. Arctic, 29: 48-52. U.K.). Montreal. 925 pp. WENNER. C. G. 1947. Pollen diagrams from Labrador.  Geografkka Annaler, 29:  137-373. WHEELER. E. P. 1935. The Nain-Okak section of Labrador. Geograohical Review 25:  240-254. 475-48 1 .  -. 1938. Topographical notes on a  journey across Labrador. Geographical Review, 28: 

The Northern Limit of Trees in Labrador: A Discussion

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The Northern Limit of Trees in Labrador: A Discussion

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