Stability of Naturally- and Anthropogenically-Disturbed Upland Tundra Surfaces

University Of Washington, Seattle WA

Investigators

Abstract

The Arctic tundra on the Northslope of Alaska is increasingly impacted by human land use. Areas around and within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge have been designated as part of the National Petroleum Reserve and may potentially experience oil exploration and development. The ability of the tundra to recover from construction and disturbance will be investigated here. Sites that were disturbed in the 1950s-1980s will be resampled to see how fast tundra vegetation recolonizes opened soil surfaces and to explore the mechanisms which promote recolonization. These results would improve our understanding of the sensitivity of the tundra to human impacts.