USGS Yukon River Basin Project: Alaskan Forest and Glacier Climate Change Research Grant

The YRB Project is specifically seeking a recipient that has ongoing research interests and demonstrated capabilities in the collection and analysis of tree ring and other tree growth measurements of all the major species contributing to carbon uptake and storage in the boreal forest of the Alaska YRB, including the non-commercial species black spruce and the broadleaf tree species Alaska birch and aspen. Research interests and history should be at large regional spatial scales to facilitate comparisons with satellite-derived data sets. YRB interests include updating of legacy tree-ring data sets to reflect the effects of recent Alaska climate anomalies, adequate time depth (200+ yrs perspective) to place recent forest changes into context, and investigations of mechanisms of climate influence on tree growth using techniques such as stable isotope analysis. The recipient will work with USGS and other investigators to interpret and provide landscape context for ongoing CEN and Alaska Science Center glacier research, calibrate temperature and other climate influences on tree growth/carbon uptake, and apply scenario data of plausible future climates to project likely changes.

Once completed, the glacier volume and monitoring data sets will be critical to scientists, resource managers, and policy makers involved in National Park management activities and investigations at a variety of spatial scales. It is anticipated that these data sets will be useful for site-specific, regional, and Arctic or subarctic-wide assessments of the degree to which glacier volume is influenced by evolving climate change. In addition, the calibration and validation results and models will facilitate predictions about the anticipated changes to glacier volume stemming from projected climate change scenarios.