Documenting, Describing, and Mapping Environmental Changes Influencing Human Travel and Access in Boreal Alaska
Todd J. Brinkman, Helen Cold, Teresa Hollingsworth, Caroline Brown, Dana Brown, Dave Verbyla, Terry Chapin
Poster presented at the NSF-LTER symposium, March 21, 2017
LTER Network poster presented at the NSF symposium, March 21, 2017
Scenarios can help communities think about alternative futures, but using them to drive decisions requires dat
Air pollution control efforts have succeeded in reducing sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions, but decades of acid rain have leached calcium and magnesium from Northeastern forest soils. These changes have increased the mobility of dissolved organic matter, and possibly altered soil organic matter dynamics, altering the long-term trajectory for forest ecosystems. What does the acid rain story say about when, where, and how recovery is possible?
About 30% of global carbon stocks reside in the vegetation and deep, carbon-rich soils of Arctic tundra and boreal forest biomes. Wildfires—which are becoming more frequent with warmer and drier weather in the Arctic—have the potential to either stabilize or accelerate regional and global warming through carbon feedbacks.
Introduction to the 2017 LTER Symposium at NSF, but Executive Board Chair Peter Groffman.
Synopsis Even as sea-level rise, drought, and fire increase pressures on some ecological systems, others are benefitting from protection and restoration efforts. But some changes are not reversible. Long-term research employs observations of past changes, together with long-running experiments and modeling to understand the processes responsible for sustaining ecological functions. Drawing on concrete examples and… Read more »
