Mapping postglacial succession of coniferous tree species in high elevation ecosystems of British Columbia

Mapping postglacial succession of coniferous tree species in high elevation ecosystems of British Columbia | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Mapping postglacial succession of coniferous tree species in high elevation ecosystems of British Columbia Edward Anderson, Courtney G. Collins, Cassandra Elphinstone, Ciara Norton, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7633992/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract In western North America, most glaciers are predicted to disappear by 2100 under a 2-3 degrees Celsius warming scenario. Despite this, little research has been done on postglacial succession in the region. To address this, we leveraged multispectral drone imagery and machine learning techniques to investigate patterns of post-glacial conifer succession in two glacial bays in Garibaldi (Nch'kaSI) Provincial Park: Sphinx Bay and Sentinel Bay. We classified rasters at a 10 cm resolution using multispectral band values from ground-based training data. The random forest classification predicted subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa) dominated in Sentinel Bay and mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana) as the dominant tree in Sphinx Bay. Higher elevations, less sun exposure, and more recent deglaciation in Sentinel Bay indicate that subalpine fir and mountain hemlock follow distinct post-glacial successional patterns, with subalpine fir more tolerant of poorly developed paraglacial soils and mountain hemlock requiring more well developed, mesic soils. These patterns confirm previously documented patterns of forest succession among these species in other areas. We found that machine learning tools can effectively be combined with drone imagery and ground surveys to map vegetation responses to deglaciation, but results can be limited by subjective photointerpretation and sparse data. Forestry Terrestrial Ecology Biogeography glacial retreat forest succession multispectral and hyperspectral imagery conifer british columbia Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7633992","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":516163130,"identity":"39991bb1-f31f-476f-8af8-3145ac770474","order_by":0,"name":"Edward Anderson","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Simon Fraser University, School of Environmental Science","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Edward","middleName":"","lastName":"Anderson","suffix":""},{"id":516163131,"identity":"b2f8d814-c95a-4ac7-ab52-ec2240e45289","order_by":1,"name":"Courtney G. 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