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

该奖项全部或部分由2021年美国救援计划法案（公法117-2）资助。海狸是一种非凡的动物，它们通过建造水坝和将线性溪流变成一系列池塘来改造景观。在温带地区，这种工程对低地生态系统的影响已得到广泛认可，但海狸现在正从森林转移到北极苔原地区，在那里它们的范围和影响都是未知的。在北极，永久冻土储存着大量的碳，当海狸工程和水文变化导致景观被淹没时，永久冻土的稳定性就会受到威胁。此外，北极的溪流生物受到低温的限制，但与池塘建设有关的更深的水在冬季会增加水温。这反过来又改变了河流生态，并可能为包括鱼类在内的新物种进入北极创造避难所。生活在受影响地区的人们已经关注到海狸向新地区的扩张，特别是对鱼类、水质和船只通行的潜在影响。这项研究将与当地人共同产生知识，以了解海狸殖民化的担忧和观察到的影响。在海狸池塘的科学实地考察将阐明水文和永久冻土的变化。这种理解将与整个北极地区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。这项研究对我们了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的一个系列，讲述海狸进入苔原的故事。北极海狸观测网（A-BON）将通过卫星图像绘制和跟踪海狸池塘，在过去的半个世纪里观察环北极树木线和苔原环境中的海狸工程。调查人员将与三个阿拉斯加社区（Shungnak， Kotzebue和Noatak）的居民密切合作，记录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。这些观察将提供当地到区域的见解，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，从最初的扰动到持续的景观演变。A-BON将围绕这一问题协调北极周边的努力，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为美国国家科学基金会北极观测网络增加了一个项目，该项目具有强大的遥感组成部分，并辅以强大的当地需求、视角和合作。a - bon将提供对新扰动状态的环北极基线认识。这种知识的共同生产将为大量有关海狸殖民化的影响的相关研究提供信息，从能量循环到鱼类、河岸植被、生存土地利用实践和人类健康。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值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.