Obtaining baseline data to assess the potential for tree-line and shrub advance in Gates of the Arctic Park and Preserve and Noatak National Preserve

Bret-Harte, Syndonia; Sommerkorn, Martin; Miller, Scott

Shrub expansion and treeline advance are probably the largest land surface changes expected with climate warming in arctic tundra ecosystems. A transition from tundra to shrubs or shrubs to forest changes fundamental ecosystem functions such as productivity, surface energy balance and regional climate, C and N dynamics, hydrology, and habitat for sustaining wildlife populations. Vegetation transitions inherently change the character of a landscape and may affect visitor perceptions. This collaborative project had two main goals: Shrub expansion and treeline advance are probably the largest land surface changes expected with climate warming in arctic tundra ecosystems. A transition from tundra to shrubs or shrubs to forest changes fundamental ecosystem functions such as productivity, surface energy balance and regional climate, C and N dynamics, hydrology, and habitat for sustaining wildlife populations. Vegetation transitions inherently change the character of a landscape and may affect visitor perceptions. This collaborative project had two main goals: 1. To establish a long-term monitoring tool for the assessment of future shrub expansion in the upper Noatak River Basin in Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve and Noatak National Preserve. To address this goal, we carried out four activities: a. Transects were established within existing shrub populations between 12-Mile Slough and Kavachurak Lake and their positions geo-referenced and depicted to enable long-term re-sampling. b. Protocols were developed and documented to characterize plant community composition and structure, and accompanying soil characteristics. c. These protocols were applied to collect data on the current status of vegetation and soils along these transects that will serve as a baseline for future monitoring. d. Low-altitude aerial pictures documenting the current distribution of shrubs were taken that included the transect locations, but integrated them into the larger landscape of the upper Noatak basin. 2. The second main goal of the project was to analyze the data we obtained on vegetation and soils to detect indicators of recent shrub advance and its potential impact on soil characteristics. The project also aimed to contribute to the floristics of the upper Noatak basin by collecting specimens of plants not previously described for the area. Deliverables Schedule The tree-line project produced seven major deliverables: DeliverableID Deliverable TL-1 Sampling protocol TL-2 Digital data files TL-3 Field data collection form scans TL-4 Images TL-5 Air photos TL-6 Air photos map TL-7 Deliverables schedule

Obtaining baseline data to assess the potential for tree-line and shrub advance in Gates of the Arctic Park and Preserve and Noatak National Preserve

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