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

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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.