Arctic Beaver Observation Network (A-BON): Tracking a new disturbance regime

该奖项的全部或部分资金来自《2021年美国救援计划法案》(公法117-2)。海狸是一种非凡的动物，它通过建造水坝并将线性溪流转变为一系列池塘来设计景观。这种工程对低地生态系统的影响在温带地区得到了广泛的认可，但海狸现在正从森林迁移到北极冻土带地区，那里的影响和程度尚不清楚。在北极，常年冻土--永久冻土--储存了大量的碳，当河狸工程和水文变化导致地形被淹没时，永久冻土的稳定性就会受到威胁。此外，北极的溪流生命受到低温的限制，但与池塘建设相关的更深的水在冬天会增加水温。这反过来又改变了河流生态，并可能为迁入北极的新物种创造避难所，包括鱼类。生活在受影响地区的人们关切地观察到海狸向新地区的扩张，特别是对渔业、水质和船只使用的潜在影响。这项研究将与当地人共同制作知识，以了解人们关注的问题和观察到的海狸殖民的影响。在河狸池塘进行的科学实地考察将阐明水文和永久冻土的变化。这一理解将与整个北极海狸池塘的卫星图像相结合，以确定海狸工程的程度和最近的变化。这项研究对我们理解当前和未来的北极生态系统至关重要；它将通过教育和媒体广泛分享，包括Netflix关于海狸进入冻土带的系列报道。北极海狸观察网(A-BON)将通过使用卫星图像绘制和跟踪海狸池塘的地图，观察过去半个世纪北极区树线和冻土带环境中的海狸工程。调查人员将与阿拉斯加三个社区(Shungnak、Kotzebue和Noatak)的居民密切合作，记录对海狸栖息地和活动的长期、经验观察，特别是对景观和鱼类造成的变化。这些观察将提供地方到区域的洞察力，澄清海狸到达的时间和对社会生态系统的影响。科学实地考察将描述海狸如何改变水生和陆地冻土带环境的物理属性，从最初的扰动到正在进行的景观演变。A-BON将协调北极圈围绕这一问题的努力，鼓励当地社区、科学家和土地管理者之间的对话和数据共享。A-Bon为NSF北极观测网络组合增加了一个项目，该项目具有强大的遥感组成部分，并辅之以当地强烈的需求、视角和合作。A-BON将提供北极地区对新的干扰制度的基线理解。这一知识的联合产生将为大量关于海狸定居的影响的相关研究提供信息，从能源循环到鱼类、河岸植被、自给自足的土地利用做法和人类健康。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2)Beavers are remarkable animals that engineer the landscape by building dams and transforming linear streams into a series of ponds. The impact of this engineering on lowland ecosystems is widely recognized in temperate regions, but beavers are now moving from the forest into arctic tundra regions, where their extent and impacts are unknown. In the Arctic, perennially frozen ground – permafrost – stores vast amounts of carbon, and the stability of permafrost is jeopardized when the landscape is inundated due to beaver engineering and changes in hydrology. Furthermore, stream life in the Arctic is limited by low temperatures, but deeper water associated with pond building increases water temperature in winter. This in turn alters stream ecology and may create refugia for new species moving into the Arctic, including fish. Beaver expansion into new areas has been observed with concern by people living in affected regions, particularly potential impacts to fish, water quality, and boat access. This research will co-produce knowledge with local people to understand concerns and observed impacts of beaver colonization. Scientific fieldwork at beaver ponds will illuminate changes in hydrology and permafrost. This understanding will be combined with satellite images of beaver ponds across the entire Arctic to determine the extent of beaver engineering and recent changes. This research is vital to our understanding of the current and future arctic ecosystem; it will be shared widely through education and media, including a Netflix series featuring beavers moving into tundra.The Arctic Beaver Observation Network (A-BON) will observe beaver engineering across circumarctic treeline and tundra environments during the last half-century by mapping and tracking beaver ponds using satellite imagery. Investigators will work closely with residents of three Alaskan communities (Shungnak, Kotzebue, and Noatak) to document long-term, experiential observations of beaver habitat and activity, particularly changes wrought to the landscape and to fish. These observations will provide local to regional insights clarifying the timing of beaver arrival and the impacts to socio-ecological systems. Scientific fieldwork will characterize how beavers alter physical attributes of the aquatic and terrestrial tundra environment, from initial perturbation to ongoing landscape evolution. A-BON will coordinate circumarctic efforts surrounding this issue, encouraging dialogue and data sharing among local communities, scientists, and land managers. A-BON adds to the NSF Arctic Observing Network portfolio a project with a strong remote sensing component complemented by a strong local need, perspective and collaboration. A-BON will provide a baseline circumarctic understanding of a new disturbance regime. This co-production of knowledge will inform a multitude of related studies on the ramifications of beaver colonization, from energy cycling to fish, riparian vegetation, subsistence land-use practices and human health.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.