Conference: Leveraging a Statewide Database for better Collaboration and Coordination of Observing efforts Across Alaska: A Stream Temperature Training in Interior Alaska

University Of Alaska Anchorage Campus, Anchorage AK

Investigators

Abstract

The temperature of freshwater is important for fish growth, distribution, and productivity. Alaska has many different types of freshwater habitats and commercially and culturally important fisheries that depend on cold water. However, until recently, state-wide freshwater temperature data was challenging to access and use. A public database (AKTEMP) was recently developed to allow people to upload and download freshwater temperature data across the state to help inform research, conservation, and management actions. To help people use this database, a training workshop in Fairbanks will be held for organizations based in Interior Alaska, where temperature datasets are sparse. Outreach efforts will include targeted invitations to Tribal organizations, federal agencies, and state agencies in the region. The training will cover how to collect stream temperature data and how to use the AKTEMP database, with time in both the field and the classroom. The temperature training will facilitate the creation of a new temperature observing network that will increase collaboration and coordination among data collectors in Interior Alaska. One goal is improved freshwater temperature coordination efforts in Alaska. The major anticipated outcome from this work is a substantial increase in freshwater temperature information from Interior Alaska, filling a crucial data gap in an area with culturally important fisheries currently threatened by warming freshwater habitats. Stream temperature data are critical for understanding the impacts of climate change in aquatic ecosystems and is an important input to stream temperature and salmon growth models. As other data types, such as hydrographic, climatic, and topographic datasets, have become more widely available, empirical stream temperature datasets remain a crucial data gap to parameterize and validate stream temperature models in many parts of Alaska. The Yukon-Kuskokwim basins of Interior Alaska have experienced warming that threatens Chinook and chum salmon populations that provide food resources for Alaska Native communities in the region. This training will convene interested parties, including representatives from Tribal organizations, and federal and state agencies, from across Interior Alaska to learn how to select sites and deploy data loggers, perform recommended quality assurance steps, download, and analyze stream temperature data, and use the new statewide stream temperature database, AKTEMP. This training will result in formation of a new temperature observing network in Interior Alaska, filling a crucial data gap in our understanding of stream temperatures in this region of the Arctic and empowering collection of stream temperature data by local organizations in remote regions of Alaska. 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.