Connecting Indigenous Knowledge to Landscape Process Research, Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska

解冻湖覆盖了阿拉斯加北极海岸平原的20%。 另外26%是湖泊排水时形成的盆地造成的，这些排水的解冻湖盆地是植物生物量优先碳积累的场所。 预期的区域变暖可能会调动土壤中被封存的有机碳，导致温室气体的排放。 到目前为止，我们的理解导致解冻湖的形成，扩张和排水在阿拉斯加的过程是有限的，因为模型是特定的平坦，年轻的外（向海）沿海平原，包括该地区的1/3。 此外，湖泊动态的空间和时间分析在很大程度上限于自1948年以来的时期，当时航空照片首次出现在沿海平原的大片地区。为了填补这些空白，我们将采访来自Atqasuk和巴罗那些村庄的因纽特人长老和社区成员。 这些访谈的目的是获得在生活或口头记忆中发生的湖泊形成，扩张和排水的记录，并将记录追溯到几代人之前。 该项目是一个系统的努力，收集数据的解冻湖动态，以了解影响北极沿海平原景观演变的基本地貌过程。 我们将利用土著知识（IK），以确定类型和频率的地方为基础的过程，并将包括那些湖泊的形成，扩大或排水在过去几代人的识别。 然后，我们将使用一套分析方法来验证这些帐户，并绘制时空模式，从而使我们能够评估IK持有人确定的过程的可行性，以解释湖泊动态。通过这种方式，我们希望修改标准的融化湖循环模型，包括当地的过程和扩大的空间范围。研究区域包括外海岸平原和内海岸平原;不同年龄的表面、表层沉积物、地形、地面冰含量和湖泊形态。该项目将通过纳入景观过程的传统知识，扩大来自巴罗和阿特卡苏克的伊努皮亚克长老的参与。通过将土著知识带到这项调查的最前沿，我们可以弥合获得北极环境知识的不同方法之间的实践，文化和认识论差距。通过与社区合作，调查，核实和目录网站相关的伊努皮亚克文化，我们将保留口头传统和当地历史的重要性，伊努皮亚克社区。 开发基于网络的地理信息系统并与现有的巴罗地区信息数据库-因特网地图服务器建立联系，将加强科学家与社区成员之间的沟通，并为改善巴罗和阿特卡苏克社区的教育和外联机会提供一个宝贵的工具。

Thaw lakes cover about 20% of the Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska. Another 26% is scarred by basins that form when lakes drain, and these drained thaw lake basins are sites for preferential carbon accumulation as plant biomass. Anticipated regional warming would likely mobilize sequestered soil organic carbon, resulting in the emission of greenhouse gases. To date, our understanding of the processes leading to thaw lake formation, expansion, and drainage in Alaska is limited because models are specific to the flat, young Outer (seaward) Coastal Plain comprising 1/3 of the region. Further, spatial and temporal analysis of lake dynamics is largely restricted to the period since 1948, when aerial photographs first became available across large regions of the Coastal Plain. To fill in these gaps, we will interview Inupiaq elders and community members from the villages of Atqasuk and Barrow. The objective of these interviews is to obtain accounts of lake formation, expansion and drainage that have occurred within living or oral memory, and extend the record back several generations. This project represents a systematic effort to collect data on thaw lake dynamics in order to understand the basic geomorphic processes influencing landscape evolution on the Arctic Coastal Plain. We will use indigenous knowledge (IK) to identify the type and frequency of place-based processes and will include the identification of those lakes that have formed, enlarged or drained during the past several generations. We will then verify these accounts using a suite of analytical methods, and map the spatiotemporal patterns, thus enabling us to assess the viability of processes identified by IK holders to explain lake dynamics. In this way we hope to modify the standard thaw-lake cycle model to include local processes and expanded spatial extent. The study area includes the Outer and Inner Coastal Plains; surfaces of different age, surficial deposits, relief, ground ice content, and lake morphology.This project will broaden the participation of Inupiaq elders from Barrow and Atqasuk by incorporating traditional knowledge of landscape processes. By bringing indigenous knowledge to the forefront of this investigation, we can bridge the practical, cultural, and epistemological gaps between different methods of obtaining knowledge about the Arctic environment. By working with the community to survey, verify and catalog sites relevant to Inupiaq culture, we will preserve oral traditions and local histories of importance to the Inupiaq community. The development of the web-based GIS and linkages to the existent Barrow Area Information Database - Internet Map Server will strengthen communication between scientists and community members and provide a valuable tool for improving education and outreach opportunities for the communities of Barrow and Atqasuk.