Cumulative impacts of a gravel road and climate change in an ice-wedge-polygon landscape, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska
Environmental impact assessments for new Arctic infrastructure do not adequately consider the likely long-term cumulative effects of climate change and infrastructure to landforms and vegetation in areas with ice-rich permafrost, due in part to lack of long-term environmental studies that monitor ch...
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English French |
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Canadian Science Publishing
2022
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2021-0014 https://doaj.org/article/8ff4be34f7ae408ab6bda78367d7d78b |
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:8ff4be34f7ae408ab6bda78367d7d78b 2023-05-15T14:22:23+02:00 Cumulative impacts of a gravel road and climate change in an ice-wedge-polygon landscape, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska Donald A. Walker Martha K. Raynolds Mikhail Z. Kanevskiy Yuri S. Shur Vladimir E. Romanovsky Benjamin M. Jones Marcel Buchhorn M. Torre Jorgenson Jozef Šibík Amy L. Breen Anja Kade Emily Watson-Cook Georgy Matyshak Helena Bergstedt Anna K. Liljedahl Ronald P. Daanen Billy Connor Dmitry Nicolsky Jana L. Peirce 2022-12-01 https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2021-0014 https://doaj.org/article/8ff4be34f7ae408ab6bda78367d7d78b en fr eng fre Canadian Science Publishing doi:10.1139/as-2021-0014 2368-7460 https://doaj.org/article/8ff4be34f7ae408ab6bda78367d7d78b undefined Arctic Science, Vol 8, Iss 4, Pp 1040-1066 (2022) flooding landforms permafrost road dust thermokarst vegetation geo envir Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2022 fttriple https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2021-0014 2023-01-22T19:24:19Z Environmental impact assessments for new Arctic infrastructure do not adequately consider the likely long-term cumulative effects of climate change and infrastructure to landforms and vegetation in areas with ice-rich permafrost, due in part to lack of long-term environmental studies that monitor changes after the infrastructure is built. This case study examines long-term (1949–2020) climate- and road-related changes in a network of ice-wedge polygons, Prudhoe Bay Oilfield, Alaska. We studied four trajectories of change along a heavily traveled road and a relatively remote site. During 20 years prior to the oilfield development, the climate and landscapes changed very little. During 50 years after development, climate-related changes included increased numbers of thermokarst ponds, changes to ice-wedge-polygon morphology, snow distribution, thaw depths, dominant vegetation types, and shrub abundance. Road dust strongly affected plant-community structure and composition, particularly small forbs, mosses, and lichens. Flooding increased permafrost degradation, polygon center-trough elevation contrasts, and vegetation productivity. It was not possible to isolate infrastructure impacts from climate impacts, but the combined datasets provide unique insights into the rate and extent of ecological disturbances associated with infrastructure-affected landscapes under decades of climate warming. We conclude with recommendations for future cumulative impact assessments in areas with ice-rich permafrost. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Climate change Ice permafrost Prudhoe Bay Thermokarst wedge* Alaska Unknown Arctic Arctic Science |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Unknown |
op_collection_id |
fttriple |
language |
English French |
topic |
flooding landforms permafrost road dust thermokarst vegetation geo envir |
spellingShingle |
flooding landforms permafrost road dust thermokarst vegetation geo envir Donald A. Walker Martha K. Raynolds Mikhail Z. Kanevskiy Yuri S. Shur Vladimir E. Romanovsky Benjamin M. Jones Marcel Buchhorn M. Torre Jorgenson Jozef Šibík Amy L. Breen Anja Kade Emily Watson-Cook Georgy Matyshak Helena Bergstedt Anna K. Liljedahl Ronald P. Daanen Billy Connor Dmitry Nicolsky Jana L. Peirce Cumulative impacts of a gravel road and climate change in an ice-wedge-polygon landscape, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska |
topic_facet |
flooding landforms permafrost road dust thermokarst vegetation geo envir |
description |
Environmental impact assessments for new Arctic infrastructure do not adequately consider the likely long-term cumulative effects of climate change and infrastructure to landforms and vegetation in areas with ice-rich permafrost, due in part to lack of long-term environmental studies that monitor changes after the infrastructure is built. This case study examines long-term (1949–2020) climate- and road-related changes in a network of ice-wedge polygons, Prudhoe Bay Oilfield, Alaska. We studied four trajectories of change along a heavily traveled road and a relatively remote site. During 20 years prior to the oilfield development, the climate and landscapes changed very little. During 50 years after development, climate-related changes included increased numbers of thermokarst ponds, changes to ice-wedge-polygon morphology, snow distribution, thaw depths, dominant vegetation types, and shrub abundance. Road dust strongly affected plant-community structure and composition, particularly small forbs, mosses, and lichens. Flooding increased permafrost degradation, polygon center-trough elevation contrasts, and vegetation productivity. It was not possible to isolate infrastructure impacts from climate impacts, but the combined datasets provide unique insights into the rate and extent of ecological disturbances associated with infrastructure-affected landscapes under decades of climate warming. We conclude with recommendations for future cumulative impact assessments in areas with ice-rich permafrost. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Donald A. Walker Martha K. Raynolds Mikhail Z. Kanevskiy Yuri S. Shur Vladimir E. Romanovsky Benjamin M. Jones Marcel Buchhorn M. Torre Jorgenson Jozef Šibík Amy L. Breen Anja Kade Emily Watson-Cook Georgy Matyshak Helena Bergstedt Anna K. Liljedahl Ronald P. Daanen Billy Connor Dmitry Nicolsky Jana L. Peirce |
author_facet |
Donald A. Walker Martha K. Raynolds Mikhail Z. Kanevskiy Yuri S. Shur Vladimir E. Romanovsky Benjamin M. Jones Marcel Buchhorn M. Torre Jorgenson Jozef Šibík Amy L. Breen Anja Kade Emily Watson-Cook Georgy Matyshak Helena Bergstedt Anna K. Liljedahl Ronald P. Daanen Billy Connor Dmitry Nicolsky Jana L. Peirce |
author_sort |
Donald A. Walker |
title |
Cumulative impacts of a gravel road and climate change in an ice-wedge-polygon landscape, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska |
title_short |
Cumulative impacts of a gravel road and climate change in an ice-wedge-polygon landscape, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska |
title_full |
Cumulative impacts of a gravel road and climate change in an ice-wedge-polygon landscape, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska |
title_fullStr |
Cumulative impacts of a gravel road and climate change in an ice-wedge-polygon landscape, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska |
title_full_unstemmed |
Cumulative impacts of a gravel road and climate change in an ice-wedge-polygon landscape, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska |
title_sort |
cumulative impacts of a gravel road and climate change in an ice-wedge-polygon landscape, prudhoe bay, alaska |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2021-0014 https://doaj.org/article/8ff4be34f7ae408ab6bda78367d7d78b |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Climate change Ice permafrost Prudhoe Bay Thermokarst wedge* Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Climate change Ice permafrost Prudhoe Bay Thermokarst wedge* Alaska |
op_source |
Arctic Science, Vol 8, Iss 4, Pp 1040-1066 (2022) |
op_relation |
doi:10.1139/as-2021-0014 2368-7460 https://doaj.org/article/8ff4be34f7ae408ab6bda78367d7d78b |
op_rights |
undefined |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2021-0014 |
container_title |
Arctic Science |
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1766294985864380416 |