摘要：The study area spans the 15-km-wide ecotone between coastal tundra and open subarctic forest near Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. Study sites include Black Spruce Wetland, White Spruce Forest, Burned Forest, Forest-tundra Tree Island, and Tundra. These ecosystems are representative of ones that dominate the circumpolar north. Mid-winter snowpack characteristics were measured during 2002, 2003, and 2004, including depth, density, and snow water equivalent. These studies reveal differences induced by changing vegetation characteristics and associated microclimates. Despite the dramatic differences in canopy, the post-fire forest snowpack differed little from that of the unburned forests. Interannual variations were much less than intersite variations in most snowpack characteristics. These studies are intended to be repeated annually in order to establish a longitudinal study of snowpack variation across the Arctic treeline during a period of predicted dramatic change in climate.
