Vast areas of boreal peatlands are impacted by linear disturbances known as seismic lines. Tree removal and ground disturbance alter vegetation communities and are expected to change ecosystem functioning. As boreal landscapes continue to be disturbed by linear disturbances, understanding the magnitude and mechanisms of vegetation and phenology changes is the first step toward predicting carbon cycling changes across broad spatial scales. We investigate seismic line disturbances on peatland plant community composition and phenological patterns using readily available digital photography at a bog and a fen in Alberta, Canada. Our objectives were to: (a) compare the understory peatland vegetation on seismic lines with those in adjacent undisturbed areas using two phenological metrics (green and red chromatic coordinates); (b) evaluate if vegetation greenness is directly related to vegetation community composition, and (c) determine whether plot-scale greenness predicts plant productivity. We found that areas of peatlands intersected by seismic lines have an earlier seasonal peak (maximum greenness) compared to undisturbed areas, and vegetation communities had a stronger relationship to greenness and gross primary production (GPP) at disturbed areas relative to undisturbed areas. This change in understory vegetation results in greater CO₂ uptake in disturbed areas. We demonstrate an easy-to-use application of digital photography that successfully quantifies phenological changes in boreal peatland vegetation. This nondestructive method for understanding vegetation phenology eliminated the need for fixed infrastructure and allowed us to expand our sampling capacity and study sites while allowing for repeated measures in the future.

中文翻译：

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线性干扰使北方泥炭地植物群落向更早的高峰绿化转变

北方泥炭地的广大地区受到称为地震线的线性干扰的影响。树木移除和地面干扰会改变植被群落，预计会改变生态系统的功能。随着北方景观继续受到线性干扰的干扰，了解植被和物候变化的幅度和机制是预测广泛空间尺度碳循环变化的第一步。我们在加拿大艾伯塔省的沼泽和沼泽地使用现成的数字摄影研究泥炭地植物群落组成和物候模式的地震线扰动。我们的目标是： (a) 使用两个物候指标（绿色和红色色度坐标）比较地震线上的林下泥炭地植被与相邻未受干扰地区的植被；(b) 评估植被绿度是否与植被群落组成直接相关，以及 (c) 确定地块尺度绿度是否预测植物生产力。我们发现，与未受干扰的区域相比，地震线相交的泥炭地区域具有更早的季节性峰值（最大绿度），并且相对于未受干扰的区域，植被群落与受干扰地区的绿度和初级生产总值 (GPP) 之间的关系更强。林下植被的这种变化导致更多的二氧化碳 与未受干扰地区相比，受干扰地区的植被群落与绿度和初级生产总值 (GPP) 之间的关系更强。林下植被的这种变化导致更多的二氧化碳 与未受干扰地区相比，受干扰地区的植被群落与绿度和初级生产总值 (GPP) 之间的关系更强。林下植被的这种变化导致更多的二氧化碳₂受干扰地区吸收。我们展示了一种易于使用的数码摄影应用，它成功地量化了北方泥炭地植被的物候变化。这种用于了解植被物候的非破坏性方法消除了对固定基础设施的需求，使我们能够扩大采样能力和研究地点，同时允许未来重复测量。