Net ecosystem exchange of carbon greenhouse gases in high Arctic ecoregions

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Human activities have elevated global atmospheric concentrations of the greenhouse gases (GHGs) carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) to levels that have resulted in an unequivocal and unprecedented warming of the Earth's climate system. This is especially true in the high Arctic, where in the past century average annual temperatures have increased at almost twice the global rate. In polar desert regions of the high Arctic, large amounts of CO2 could be sequestered from the atmosphere through primary production if tundra vegetation colonizes the desert ecosystem in response to increased warming. In contrast, in regions with large stores of organic carbon in soil, the increased soil activity that will result from permafrost degradation may cause increased decomposition and release of CO2 and CH4 into the atmosphere, positively feeding back on global climate warming. We are proposing to quantify the impacts of climate change on the net exchange of CO2 and CH4 from both terrestrial and aquatic landscapes in Quttinirpaaq National Park, Ellesmere Island, to determine if this region is currently in a phase of net primary productivity or net decomposition, whether future warming will result in positive or negative feedbacks of GHGs to the atmosphere, and what role Arctic ecosystems will play in future trajectories of climate change. However, the costs of conducting research in the Canadian high Arctic are exorbitant. The costs of travel alone for my students to carry out the proposed research program (e.g., return flights Edmonton/Resolute Bay, subsistence at sites, and logistic costs including shipping freight) approximate $40,000 annually. Therefore, any NSERC funding that can augment these high travel costs will in turn free up funds for the direct costs of research and further training of HQP. Furthermore, we wish to ask for additional supplementary funding to attend symposiums to present our findings to communities in the north that are affected by climate change, and foster scientific and social discussion about future directions of our research.