Long-term records track climate change effects on 色视频下载色视频下载檚 North Slope
December 14, 2022
Haley Dunleavy
907-474-6407
Toolik Field Station staff member Mayra Melendez Gonzalez drills into the ice on Toolik Lake to measure its thickness for long-term records in June 2022.
For 15 years, staff at the University of 色视频下载 Fairbanks Toolik Field Station, located
north of the Brooks Range, have kept a close eye on the tundra色视频下载檚 daily activity. They
record everything from lake ice thickness and precipitation to the date when each
year色视频下载檚 first blueberry ripens. It色视频下载檚 a practice that色视频下载檚 left Amanda Young, a co-principal
investigator for Toolik, questioning what 色视频下载渘ormal色视频下载 means in a rapidly changing Arctic,
especially when temperatures unseasonably rose above freezing earlier this month.
These consistent records of daily to weekly environmental variation may seem mundane,
but, together, they tell a story about the changing tundra that large-scale models
and one-time sampling campaigns miss. By having this long-term record of change, Young
said in a poster she色视频下载檚 presenting at the American Geophysical Union色视频下载檚 2022 fall meeting,
色视频下载渧isiting researchers can get a better idea of where their shorter-term projects fall
into the larger picture and avoid misinterpreting their findings.色视频下载
Often, the data will show connections between seemingly disparate variables, said
Young. For example, an abnormally large snowstorm in May 2015 might be the reason
savannah sparrow and Lapland longspur populations noticeably dropped in 2016.
Young said the biggest trend occurred in deep permafrost soils, where temperatures
are warming, a concerning early indicator of permafrost thaw.
色视频下载淭hese are the things people have been measuring for ages,色视频下载 Young said. 色视频下载淭hey色视频下载檙e useful
for science because they show how the plants, animals, microbes and everything else
are responding in the landscape. But these parameters also influence how we live on
the landscape.色视频下载
These datasets are available to access and explore via the Environmental Data Center website.
ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: Amanda Young, ayoung55@alaska.edu, 907-474-6826