LCC Projects Funded in 2011
Western Alaska LCC 2011 Project Summary (PDF - 502 KB)
The LCC invested $1.3 million dollars into 12 projects in 2011, leveraging $1.75 million dollars in other sources of funding or support. The projects provide a strong foundation for initiating the LCC's applied conservation science efforts, with over half the projects focused on improving understanding of changes in important system drivers such as hydrological and precipitation cycles or permafrost change. The LCC is coordinating co-location of monitoring equipment, expansion of monitoring coverage through joint deployment of equipment, and data sharing among the projects, with the goal of improving project efficiency and effectiveness. Brief overviews of the 12 projects are below; more information is available in the above brochure.
Relationships among projects funded by the Western Alaska LCC in 2011.
- 1) Establishing a Distributed Permafrost Observatory in Western Alaska
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Lead: Vladimir Romanovsky, Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks
Documenting changes in permafrost temperature and stability over time is essential for understanding ecological dynamics in the western Alaska permafrost zone. This project will establish a network of permafrost observatories within the Western Alaska LCC region, in the continuous/discontinuous permafrost boundary area. Active layer and permafrost temperature records will be used to produce a reliable high-resolution model of the present thermal state of permafrost and potentially its past and future changes within western Alaska. - 2) Broad-Scale Lake and Permafrost Dynamics in the Western Alaska LCC Region
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Lead: Guido Grosse, Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks
This project focuses on permafrost change and its effect on lake habitat change in major lake districts of the Western Alaska LCC. Land, resource, and wildlife managers as well as local communities in Western Alaska need spatially explicit information to determine past lake habitat changes, identify spatial patterns that could be correlated to climate, and project future habitat changes. Forecasting future changes will assist with developing habitat conservation plans and assessing the stability of freshwater resources for communities. - 3) Thermal Response of Western Alaska Lakes and Lagoons to Past, Present, and Future Changes in Climate
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Lead: Ben Jones, Alaska Science Center, US Geological Survey
Water temperature in lakes and lagoons play a key role in hydrology, water quality, ecosystem productivity, and suitability as habitat for aquatic organisms (salmon!) and the food webs that support many terrestrial species. The information and data products from this project will fill a fundamental data gap in western Alaska (lake and lagoon surface temperature trends and projections) and can be used by various land managers in climate change studies, habitat evaluations, and land and resource management. - 4) Moored All-Season Vertical Temperature Arrays in Lakes of Kodiak, Togiak, and Alaska Peninsula/Becharof NWRs
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Lead: Bill Pyle, Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge, US Fish and Wildlife Service
Water temperature monitoring is an essential part of lake management and can provide early warning signs of climate change effects using simple, low-cost techniques. The information and data products from this project will provide a framework for better understanding trend in the quality of lake environments in relation to climate change. All proposed study lakes are important and productive sockeye salmon habitat. These data feed directly into the thermal response project (Jones) described above. - 5) Watershed Control of Hydrologic Sources and Thermal Conditions in SW Alaska Streams: A Framework for Forecasting Effects of Changing Climate
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Lead: Daniel Schindler, School of Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences, University of Washington
A warmer and wetter climate will likely have a substantial effect on important aquatic resources in Western Alaska. This project will help provide an understanding of how current precipitation patterns (e.g., snow versus water) interact with watershed topography to control water sources to streams and, therefore, their thermal regimes. Ultimately, it will provide a valuable and accessible model to help managers strategize for adapting to future warmer climates and to protect the aquatic resources of the region. - 6) Timing and Extent of Winter Snow Thaw/Refreeze Events in Alaska 2001-2008
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Lead: Ryan Wilson, The Wilderness Society, Anchorage
Mid-winter icing events have the potential to lead to population declines of grazing caribou and to some species of small mammals due to reduced survival and reproduction associated with restricted access or lack of forage. Population-level effects of icing events remain unclear partly due to limited information on icing events in Alaska. The assessment results will provide a baseline data set and remote sensing method both of which will have broad interest to a large community of users, allowing them to better understand the recent past, better link changes in ecological drivers and responses of wildlife populations, and helping them plan for the future. - 7) Direct Snow Condition Monitoring at Key Ecological Sites in Remote Western Alaska
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Lead: Anne Orlando, Selawik National Wildlife Refuge, US Fish and Wildlife Service
Climate change is likely to alter snow patterns and characteristics, impacting vegetation, hydrology, permafrost condition, wildlife, and the Alaskans who depend on these resources. Currently, many areas of western Alaska are lacking important data related to snowpack and snow conditions, including the prime winter range for the Western Arctic Caribou Herd (WACH). This project will help monitor snow conditions, which are vital to understanding and predicting landscape level impacts of climate change in western Alaska. - 8) Develop an "Existing Vegetation" Map for the Western Alaska LCC Region
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Lead: Michael Fleming, Images Unlimited, Anchorage
A consistently mapped vegetation data layer for Alaska is needed for conservation management entities across the state. This project will develop a baseline vegetation product using the same basic data and analysis methodology across the entire region. When combined with an ongoing USFS project, the majority of the state will be mapped using the same methodology. This revised data layer will provide an important tool for not only fish and wildlife management agencies but also for fire management, development projects, and climate change modeling. - 9) Integrated Ecosystem Model for the Western Alaska LCC
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Lead: T. Scott Rupp, Scenarios Network for Alaska Planning, University of Alaska Fairbanks
Initially funded by the Arctic LCC, this multi-year effort is integrating existing models of vegetation, disturbance, and permafrost into one complete ecosystem model for the state of Alaska. The project is supported by Arctic and Western AK LCCs, as well as the Alaska Climate Science Center. The model will integrate existing models on climate, vegetation, disturbance, hydrology, and permafrost components to improve understanding and provide accurate change projections to land managers and other groups. - 10) The Tundra in Transition: Unraveling the Dynamics of Western Alaska Caribou-Tundra Ecosystems
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Lead: Don Spalinger, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alaska Anchorage
Tundra dynamics in southwestern Alaska are poorly understood, yet these systems are critical to support caribou populations. Caribou in southwest Alaska are an important subsistence resource and potentially an indicator of ecosystem function. Understanding the causes behind caribou population declines in the area needs to include an understanding of tundra dynamics and habitat quality. The five caribou herds in southwestern Alaska occupy climatically and topographically unique landscapes allowing a great opportunity to identify habitat-limiting factors on caribou population dynamics. This project will establish baseline information of vegetation drivers and nutrient cycling that effect caribou population dynamics. - 11) Assessing the Vulnerability of Western Alaska Ecosystems and Subsistence Resources to Non-Native Plant Invasion
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Lead: Joan Hope, Alaska Association of Conservation Districts
To assess the vulnerability of a region to invasive plants, documentation of the presence or absence of invasive plants is necessary. This project will expand on work initiated by the EPA to identify invasive plants in rural communities in the Bristol Bay region. Between the two efforts, 26 villages will be inventoried for invasive plant species; this will provide both an essential baseline for understanding the potential impact from these plants and the opportunity to treat the existing populations before they invade new areas. The second part of the project, courtesy of a University of Alaska Fairbanks graduate student, will use these data to assess the vulnerability of important subsistence plants (blueberry and low-bush cranberry) to changes in pollination, as key insect species can be drawn to invasive plant populations. - 12) Climate Change Health Assessments for Three Coastal, Riverine, and Lake System Communities
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Lead: Susan Flensburg, Bristol Bay Native Association
Bristol Bay communities seek local scale information to mitigate negative climate effects and develop healthy methods for adaptation. Residents dependent on subsistence plant and wildlife species are concerned about threats to food and water resources, public safety, and infrastructure. This project will develop assessment reports about climate change issues related to the local environment for a community in each region (lake, riverine, coastal) that will help those communities address related issues, and provide information useful to neighboring communities.