The Carbon Balance of Arctic River Deltas: Tundra Fire as an Agent of System Change, 2015-2016
The summer of 2015 was an extraordinary year for fire in the Arctic, including in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, presaging a future where tundra and boreal fire is far more common. Remarkably, the area burned in the YK Delta in 2015 exceeds the total area burned from 1940-2014 combined. The response of...
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dataone:doi:10.18739/A2610VS6X 2024-06-03T18:46:30+00:00 The Carbon Balance of Arctic River Deltas: Tundra Fire as an Agent of System Change, 2015-2016 Sarah Ludwig Robert M Holmes Susan Natali John Schade Paul Mann These data are from the Yukon-Kuskokwim River Delta, Alaska, approximately halfway between Bethel and St. Mary's. The area is flat with numerous lakes and wetlands. Terrestrial landscapes are peat plateaus roughly 1-3 meters above wetlands, stream, and lakes. ENVELOPE(-163.3736,-162.3953,61.3053,61.1861) BEGINDATE: 2015-09-01T00:00:00Z ENDDATE: 2016-09-28T00:00:00Z 2018-01-18T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.18739/A2610VS6X unknown Arctic Data Center Dataset 2018 dataone:urn:node:ARCTIC https://doi.org/10.18739/A2610VS6X 2024-06-03T18:16:24Z The summer of 2015 was an extraordinary year for fire in the Arctic, including in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, presaging a future where tundra and boreal fire is far more common. Remarkably, the area burned in the YK Delta in 2015 exceeds the total area burned from 1940-2014 combined. The response of the YK Delta in the first year post-fire will set the stage for longer-term changes in delta carbon storage and transport among tundra, aquatic and marine systems, and to the atmosphere. Quantifying carbon export and understanding the immediate ecosystem response to fire is critical because long-term recovery is, to a considerable degree, dependent on short-term responses. A major question that this research will address is how fire influences the amount and form of carbon transported from delta ecosystems seasonally and in the first year following fire. Ultimately, these results will inform long-term trajectories of the vulnerability and fate of delta carbon pools. This research will significantly improve our understanding of the role of fire in the loss of both modern and ancient carbon from arctic river deltas, which contain >10% of the Arctic’s massive permafrost carbon store. This funding will allow project scientists to engage with Alaska Native faculty and students in STEM-focused teacher training programs at the tribal college in Bethel, which will provide teachers with experience conducting research on climate change and arctic system science and the opportunity to develop curriculum focused on climate change and the feedbacks that result from fire and other changes in ecosystems in the Yukon River Delta. This project will also improve the infrastructure for arctic research and teaching at a small Undergraduate Institution in central Minnesota. Arctic river deltas are hotspots for carbon storage, occupying <1% of the pan-Arctic watershed but containing >10% of carbon stored in arctic permafrost. They are also heterogeneous mosaics of linked terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and are susceptible to changes in land, river, and marine systems. The vulnerability of carbon stored in arctic river deltas is a major unknown and is critically important as climate warming and increasing fire frequency may make this carbon vulnerable to transport to aquatic and marine systems and to the atmosphere. The goal of this proposal is to examine the immediate effects of fire on carbon storage in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and exchange between terrestrial and aquatic components of the Delta. By extension this work will yield critical insights into how the carbon balance of deltas in the arctic system will change over the coming decades as warming continues and fire frequency increases. Dataset Arctic Climate change Kuskokwim Peat permafrost The Carbon Balance of Arctic River Deltas: Tundra Fire as an Agent of System Change Tundra Yukon river Alaska Yukon Arctic Data Center (via DataONE) Arctic Yukon ENVELOPE(-163.3736,-162.3953,61.3053,61.1861) |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Arctic Data Center (via DataONE) |
op_collection_id |
dataone:urn:node:ARCTIC |
language |
unknown |
description |
The summer of 2015 was an extraordinary year for fire in the Arctic, including in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, presaging a future where tundra and boreal fire is far more common. Remarkably, the area burned in the YK Delta in 2015 exceeds the total area burned from 1940-2014 combined. The response of the YK Delta in the first year post-fire will set the stage for longer-term changes in delta carbon storage and transport among tundra, aquatic and marine systems, and to the atmosphere. Quantifying carbon export and understanding the immediate ecosystem response to fire is critical because long-term recovery is, to a considerable degree, dependent on short-term responses. A major question that this research will address is how fire influences the amount and form of carbon transported from delta ecosystems seasonally and in the first year following fire. Ultimately, these results will inform long-term trajectories of the vulnerability and fate of delta carbon pools. This research will significantly improve our understanding of the role of fire in the loss of both modern and ancient carbon from arctic river deltas, which contain >10% of the Arctic’s massive permafrost carbon store. This funding will allow project scientists to engage with Alaska Native faculty and students in STEM-focused teacher training programs at the tribal college in Bethel, which will provide teachers with experience conducting research on climate change and arctic system science and the opportunity to develop curriculum focused on climate change and the feedbacks that result from fire and other changes in ecosystems in the Yukon River Delta. This project will also improve the infrastructure for arctic research and teaching at a small Undergraduate Institution in central Minnesota. Arctic river deltas are hotspots for carbon storage, occupying <1% of the pan-Arctic watershed but containing >10% of carbon stored in arctic permafrost. They are also heterogeneous mosaics of linked terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and are susceptible to changes in land, river, and marine systems. The vulnerability of carbon stored in arctic river deltas is a major unknown and is critically important as climate warming and increasing fire frequency may make this carbon vulnerable to transport to aquatic and marine systems and to the atmosphere. The goal of this proposal is to examine the immediate effects of fire on carbon storage in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and exchange between terrestrial and aquatic components of the Delta. By extension this work will yield critical insights into how the carbon balance of deltas in the arctic system will change over the coming decades as warming continues and fire frequency increases. |
format |
Dataset |
author |
Sarah Ludwig Robert M Holmes Susan Natali John Schade Paul Mann |
spellingShingle |
Sarah Ludwig Robert M Holmes Susan Natali John Schade Paul Mann The Carbon Balance of Arctic River Deltas: Tundra Fire as an Agent of System Change, 2015-2016 |
author_facet |
Sarah Ludwig Robert M Holmes Susan Natali John Schade Paul Mann |
author_sort |
Sarah Ludwig |
title |
The Carbon Balance of Arctic River Deltas: Tundra Fire as an Agent of System Change, 2015-2016 |
title_short |
The Carbon Balance of Arctic River Deltas: Tundra Fire as an Agent of System Change, 2015-2016 |
title_full |
The Carbon Balance of Arctic River Deltas: Tundra Fire as an Agent of System Change, 2015-2016 |
title_fullStr |
The Carbon Balance of Arctic River Deltas: Tundra Fire as an Agent of System Change, 2015-2016 |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Carbon Balance of Arctic River Deltas: Tundra Fire as an Agent of System Change, 2015-2016 |
title_sort |
carbon balance of arctic river deltas: tundra fire as an agent of system change, 2015-2016 |
publisher |
Arctic Data Center |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.18739/A2610VS6X |
op_coverage |
These data are from the Yukon-Kuskokwim River Delta, Alaska, approximately halfway between Bethel and St. Mary's. The area is flat with numerous lakes and wetlands. Terrestrial landscapes are peat plateaus roughly 1-3 meters above wetlands, stream, and lakes. ENVELOPE(-163.3736,-162.3953,61.3053,61.1861) BEGINDATE: 2015-09-01T00:00:00Z ENDDATE: 2016-09-28T00:00:00Z |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-163.3736,-162.3953,61.3053,61.1861) |
geographic |
Arctic Yukon |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Yukon |
genre |
Arctic Climate change Kuskokwim Peat permafrost The Carbon Balance of Arctic River Deltas: Tundra Fire as an Agent of System Change Tundra Yukon river Alaska Yukon |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change Kuskokwim Peat permafrost The Carbon Balance of Arctic River Deltas: Tundra Fire as an Agent of System Change Tundra Yukon river Alaska Yukon |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.18739/A2610VS6X |
_version_ |
1800866896574152704 |