Increases in air temperatures and depth of insulating snow cover during winter are accelerating the rate of permafrost thaw. In areas of ice-rich permafrost, widespread thermokarst is having significant consequences for biogeochemical cycling and surface hydrology. Ted Schuur
A recent shift in the Alaska fire regime has increased the frequency and size of high-severity fires that combust deep organic layers, exposing mineral soil and favoring the invasion of hardwoods. Within the BNZ LTER Regional Site Network, many sites that were dominated by black spruce prior to burning in 2004 have now converted to dense birch stands with very different vegetation and ecosystem characteristics (BD1 site). Roger Ruess
Via @ArcticLagoons on Twitter
BLE LTER
VCR-LTER-site-lightning-talk-2020 VCR Site Lightning Talk, delivered at May 2020 Science Council Meeting by Keryn Gedan.
Site Lightning Talk from the 2020 Science Council Online meeting, for the Arctic LTER.
Dana out in the lagoon with another local fisher working on the CNH project (left) and SDSU collaborator Jean Wencélius (right). Matthew Lauer, SDSU (CC BY 4.0)
Dana performing an algae assay to measure herbivory in the lagoon. Lauren Enright, UCSB (CC BY 4.0)
The Wormherders take soil samples from the SLIME experiment site on the northern shore of Lake Bonney. On their left is the dive hut used by other LTER scientists who dove under the ice to collect lake sediment samples. On their right is a sensor station that records information from buried soil moisture sensors on the lakeshore. Natasha Griffin (CC BY 4.0)
Dr. Byron Adams (left) and Alyssa Pike (right) sort newly collected soil samples. Later, they’ll analyze the soil animals and chemistry in the samples to understand how the soil ecosystem is changing as Lake Bonney rises. Natasha Griffin (CC BY 4.0)
The ‘Wormherders’ make their way across the permanent ice cover over Lake Bonney to their research site.
The elusive muskox stands atop a hill before approaching our truck on the nearby road. Julia Stuart (CC BY 4.0)
