Influences of terrain drivers on ecosystem dynamics in a post-fire mountainous environment: a case study in Waterton Lakes National Park, Canada

Abstract

Mountain headwater snowpack is a critical water resource for Southern Alberta, and therefore monitoring changes to environments which support snowpack accumulation is imperative for informing land and water management decisions. Wildfires, such as the 2017 Kenow Wildfire in Waterton Lakes National Park, significantly alter vegetation and hydrological patterns. Post-fire vegetation and snowpack were modeled and monitored using multi-spectral airborne lidar to detect changes in distribution relative to local terrain drivers over time. Multi-scalar monitoring of vegetation regeneration showed that vegetation is significantly recovering at field, drone, and airborne scales of measurement. The vegetation models were stratified by terrain to find that factors such as elevation and local microtopography are influential on regeneration patterns. Snowpack models were also stratified by terrain to find that snowpack depth is greater in burned than in unburned areas, and the snowpack maximum depths shifts upslope as vegetation recovers over time. Quantifying the influences of terrain drivers on early post-fire ecosystem recovery is critical for understanding how ecosystems can be expected to recover under climate change conditions.