Disjunct jack pine (Pinus banksiana) populations of the boreal forest in eastern Canada: expanding, declining, or stable?

Author:

Payette Serge1,Delwaide Ann2,Couillard Pierre-Luc3,Pilon Vanessa1

Affiliation:

1. Département de biologie and Centre d’études nordiques, Université Laval, 1045, av. de la Médecine, bureau 3058, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada.

2. Département de géographie, Université Laval, 2405 rue de la Terrasse, bureau 1203, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada.

3. Direction des inventaires forestiers, Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs, 5700 4e ave ouest, bureau A108, Québec, QC G1H 6R1, Canada.

Abstract

Plant species are unique in their biological traits and biogeographical history, resulting in distinctive species distributions. Continuous and fragmented ranges of varying size and shape have captured the interest of biogeographers. Fragmented distribution into isolated populations is a common pattern of temperate and boreal species caused by contraction and expansion processes. Jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.), a North American tree species, is among a multitude of species showing range distributions fragmented to isolated populations. Whether disjunct jack pine forests are remnants of larger Holocene populations or newly established populations due to long-distance transport remains unanswered. We used a retrospective approach based on soil macrocharcoal analysis to address the question of residency of a disjunct population in the boreal forest. The studied forest forms a disjunct population of a former regional population that has contracted since the mid-Holocene. Short to moderately long fire intervals occurred over the last 6000 years to maintain the species in a fire-prone, sandy environment assuring its regeneration and survival. Disjunct distributions similar to the studied pine population are often caused by regional extirpation of populations in which environmental contraction produces small ecological refugia where local conditions remain suitable through time for a species to complete its life cycle.

Publisher

Canadian Science Publishing

Subject

Plant Science,Ecology,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

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