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AWRA Alaska Northern-Region Meetings
November 12, 2008: Ken Tape, Shrub Expansion in Arctic Alaska, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alaska, Fairbanks Shrub Expansion in Arctic Alaska Ken Tape A multitude of evidence suggests that deciduous shrubs are replacing low-growing tundra vegetation in many parts of the arctic. This shift in vegetation is the major landscape change underway in the arctic, and it is profoundly altering a host of ecosystem processes. Repeat photography shows that while some areas have changed radically, other areas remain unchanged. Measurements from photographically-identified expanding and stagnant shrub patches suggest that there exist floristic and environmental properties distinguishing areas that are changing from those that are not changing. These results take a preliminary step toward predicting where vegetation change is occurring, with potential for broad extrapolation. The role of soil moisture and river discharge in changing the land surface will also be discussed. |