1 Assessing the Sensitivity of Alaska’s Coastal Rainforest Ecosystem to Changes in Glacier Runoff
Coastal temperate rainforests watersheds along the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) are experiencing some of the highest rates of glacier volume loss on earth (Arendt et al., 2002; Berthier et al., 2010). Glaciers currently cover 18 % of the land area that drains to the GOA and runoff from glaciers accounts for...
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| Language: | English |
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| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.686.8373 http://sealab.uas.alaska.edu/pdfs/USGS_Glacier_CESU_proposal_HoodPyare_June2011.pdf |
| Summary: | Coastal temperate rainforests watersheds along the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) are experiencing some of the highest rates of glacier volume loss on earth (Arendt et al., 2002; Berthier et al., 2010). Glaciers currently cover 18 % of the land area that drains to the GOA and runoff from glaciers accounts for about half of the land-to-ocean flux of freshwater into the GOA (Neal et al., 2010). Understanding the climate-induced vulnerability of this freshwater flux is critical considering that the changes expected from glacier runoff are much larger than those projected for other components of the water cycle (IPCC, 2007). Moreover, the North Pacific Landscape Conservation Cooperative (NPLCC) has recognized the importance of understanding changes in terrestrial snow and ice cover, its effects on freshwater discharge, and ways in which this drives highly productive nearshore marine ecosystems. These research priorities are aligned with those of the North Pacific Research Board (NPRB), which has focused on improving understanding of the coupling between nearshore waters of the Alaska Coastal Current and the influx freshwater from terrestrial sources. At a landscape level, changes in glacier runoff shift the timing and volume of freshwater and nutrients delivered from coastal temperate rainforests to the eastern North Pacific Ocean |
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