Collaborative Reseach: Effects of Climate-Landscape Interactions on Soil Carbon Storage and Cycling in Arctic Alaska

Linda B. Brubaker  (Principal Investigator current)
           
Abstract    

     OPP-9615947   BRUBAKER, LINDA  UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON     OPP-9615986
     KLING, GEORGE  UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN     OPP-9616288  HU, FENG  UNIVERSITY OF
     MINNESOTA-TWIN CITIES    Researchers will examine the role of climate forcing
     and landscape character on the evolution of vegetation cover and soil carbon
     storage in the central Arctic foothills of Alaska. A combination of field
     methods, modeling and paleoreconstruction will be used to determine the spatial
     variation of ecosystem processes on different age landscapes.  The results of
     this study will provide an indication of expected changes to the carbon balance
     in the arctic due to changes in tundra ecology as a result of global climate
     change.  The study is important for understanding the role of tundra as a
     source or reservoir of terrestrial carbon that may be added to or extracted
     from the atmosphere under proposed greenhouse climate conditions.