Assessing the state of initial post-fire vegetation regeneration following a severe montane wildland fire

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dc.contributor.authorAspinall, Jesse
dc.contributor.supervisorChasmer, Laura
dc.contributor.supervisorHopkinson, Christopher
dc.date.accessioned2023-11-01T17:06:47Z
dc.date.available2023-11-01T17:06:47Z
dc.date.issued2023
dc.degree.levelMasters
dc.description.abstractThis thesis utilized field and remote sensing methods to examine post-fire vegetation changes in moisture endmember sites within Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, Canada, following the 2017 Kenow Wildland Fire. Field data collected annually from 2018 to 2021 were used to validate multi-temporal RPAS and LiDAR datasets. Results indicate that biomass peaked in 2019, declining annually until 2021, corresponding with rising temperatures and below-average precipitation. RPAS optical imagery and Structure from Motion (SfM) effectively modelled vegetation height and biomass at the plot scale, while LiDAR active Normalized Burn Ratio (aNBR) effectively modelled biomass at the valley scale. Forest-based regression models indicated that proxies for moisture availability, like topographic position, distance to Cameron Creek, and elevation, influenced vegetation growth. This study demonstrated the utility of RPAS and LiDAR for quantifying post-fire vegetation regeneration across different scales and highlights the impact of moisture on vegetation recovery in this montane valley.
dc.description.sponsorshipParks Canada funding for my support, provided to Drs. Hopkinson, Chasmer, and Flanagan, NSERC Discovery Grant Program provided to Dr. Chasmer, NSERC SPG-N Canada Wildfire, Western Economic Diversification Canada to Chris Hopkinson, and the Canadian Foundation for Innovation to Chris Hopkinson.
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10133/6614
dc.language.isoen
dc.proquest.subject0368
dc.proquest.subject0799
dc.proquest.subject0768
dc.proquestyesYes
dc.publisherLethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Dept. of Geography and Environment
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Geography and Environment
dc.publisher.facultyArts and Science
dc.relation.ispartofseriesThesis (University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science)
dc.subjectLidar remote sensing
dc.subjectRemote sensing
dc.subjectFire ecology
dc.subjectWildfire
dc.subjectWildland fire
dc.subjectRPAS remote sensing
dc.subjectStructure from motion
dc.subjectMontane environment
dc.subjectCanada
dc.subjectAlberta
dc.subjectWaterton Lakes National Park
dc.subjectKenow Wildfire
dc.subjectMontane ecology
dc.subjectVegetation regeneration
dc.subject.lcshWaterton Lakes National Park (Alta.)
dc.subject.lcshUpland ecology--Alberta--Waterton Lakes National Park
dc.subject.lcshWildfires--Alberta--Waterton Lakes National Park
dc.subject.lcshForest fires--Environmental aspects--Alberta--Waterton Lakes National Park
dc.subject.lcshOptical radar
dc.subject.lcshDissertations, Academic
dc.titleAssessing the state of initial post-fire vegetation regeneration following a severe montane wildland fire
dc.typeThesis
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