The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System Facilitates Shrub Establishment in Northern Alaska
The Arctic tundra is undergoing many environmental changes in addition to increasing temperatures: these changes include permafrost degradation and increased shrubification. Disturbances related to infrastructure can also lead to similar environmental changes. The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS)...
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The Arctic Institute of North America
2018
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.14430/arctic4729 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/download/67767/51663 |
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crarcticinstna:10.14430/arctic4729 2024-06-09T07:41:34+00:00 The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System Facilitates Shrub Establishment in Northern Alaska Dwight, Rosemary A. Cairns, David M. 2018 http://dx.doi.org/10.14430/arctic4729 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/download/67767/51663 unknown The Arctic Institute of North America http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ARCTIC volume 71, issue 3 ISSN 1923-1245 0004-0843 journal-article 2018 crarcticinstna https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic4729 2024-05-14T12:53:42Z The Arctic tundra is undergoing many environmental changes in addition to increasing temperatures: these changes include permafrost degradation and increased shrubification. Disturbances related to infrastructure can also lead to similar environmental changes. The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) is an example of infrastructure that has made a major imprint on the Alaskan landscape. This paper assesses changes in shrub presence along the northernmost 255 km of the TAPS. We used historical satellite imagery from before construction of the TAPS in 1974 and contemporary satellite imagery from 2010 to 2016 to examine changes in shrub presence over time. We found a 51.8% increase in shrub presence adjacent to the pipeline compared to 2.6% in control areas. Additionally, shrub presence has increased significantly more in areas where the pipeline is buried, indicating that the disturbances linked to pipeline burial have likely created favorable conditions for shrub colonization. These results are important for predicting potential responses of tundra vegetation to disturbance, which will be crucial to forecasting the future of Arctic tundra vegetation. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic permafrost Tundra Alaska Arctic Institute of North America Arctic ARCTIC 71 3 |
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Open Polar |
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Arctic Institute of North America |
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crarcticinstna |
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description |
The Arctic tundra is undergoing many environmental changes in addition to increasing temperatures: these changes include permafrost degradation and increased shrubification. Disturbances related to infrastructure can also lead to similar environmental changes. The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) is an example of infrastructure that has made a major imprint on the Alaskan landscape. This paper assesses changes in shrub presence along the northernmost 255 km of the TAPS. We used historical satellite imagery from before construction of the TAPS in 1974 and contemporary satellite imagery from 2010 to 2016 to examine changes in shrub presence over time. We found a 51.8% increase in shrub presence adjacent to the pipeline compared to 2.6% in control areas. Additionally, shrub presence has increased significantly more in areas where the pipeline is buried, indicating that the disturbances linked to pipeline burial have likely created favorable conditions for shrub colonization. These results are important for predicting potential responses of tundra vegetation to disturbance, which will be crucial to forecasting the future of Arctic tundra vegetation. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Dwight, Rosemary A. Cairns, David M. |
spellingShingle |
Dwight, Rosemary A. Cairns, David M. The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System Facilitates Shrub Establishment in Northern Alaska |
author_facet |
Dwight, Rosemary A. Cairns, David M. |
author_sort |
Dwight, Rosemary A. |
title |
The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System Facilitates Shrub Establishment in Northern Alaska |
title_short |
The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System Facilitates Shrub Establishment in Northern Alaska |
title_full |
The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System Facilitates Shrub Establishment in Northern Alaska |
title_fullStr |
The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System Facilitates Shrub Establishment in Northern Alaska |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System Facilitates Shrub Establishment in Northern Alaska |
title_sort |
trans-alaska pipeline system facilitates shrub establishment in northern alaska |
publisher |
The Arctic Institute of North America |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.14430/arctic4729 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/download/67767/51663 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Arctic permafrost Tundra Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic permafrost Tundra Alaska |
op_source |
ARCTIC volume 71, issue 3 ISSN 1923-1245 0004-0843 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic4729 |
container_title |
ARCTIC |
container_volume |
71 |
container_issue |
3 |
_version_ |
1801370114246836224 |