The Arctic Long Term Ecological Research (ARC LTER) site is located in the foothills of the Brooks Range, North Slope of Alaska and based out of Toolik Field Station. The Arctic LTER project's goal is to understand and predict the effects of environmental change on arctic landscapes, both natural and anthropogenic. We use long-term monitoring of ecosystem characteristics, experimental manipulation (years to decades) and modeling at ecosystem and watershed scales to gain an understanding of ecosystem structure and function, with the aim to predict the response of arctic ecosystems to environmental change.
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Slide 1: MAT06 Experiments
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Slide 2: Aquatics sampling
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Slide 3: Thermokarst in the Arctic
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Slide 4: Sampling in the snow
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Slide 5: Alan Krakauer
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Slide 6: Jeremy Butler
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Slide 7: Galbraith Lake in the Brooks Range of the North Slope of Alaska, Credit: Jansen Nipko
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Slide 8: Molar Mountain, Brooks Range, from the Dalton Highway, Credit: Jansen Nipko
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Slide 9: Jansen Nipko, undergraduate research student from Brigham Young University, captures the dazzling northern lights above Toolik Lake.
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Slide 10: Field work with a view, Savannah Kjaer and Mayrangelli Torreson of the Arctic LTER terrestrial team hiking bags of fertilizer out to experimental plots that require nutrient addition. Credit: Nicole Williamson
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Slide 11: The Kuparuk River, North Slope, AK - View from Helicopter, Credit: Lindsay Vanfossen
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Slide 12: View of the north side of the Central Brooks Range from camp - Toolik Field Station. Credit: Lindsay Vanfossen
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Slide 13: Arctic spring found on a hike to a mountain called "The Molar." @arctic_oases , spent their summer exploring spring-fed streams on the North Slope of Alaska! Spring-fed streams in this area are the only perennial flowing habitat and 95% of flowing habitats freeze in the winters.Credit: Lindsay Vanfossen
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Slide 14: Autumn in the Arctic at Trevor Creek! The Arctic RIOS (River Integrated Observing through Synoptic Sampling) Team collects continuous biogeochemical data here at the Trevor Creek watershed outlet using in situ sensors throughout the summer season. Additionally, they sample the entire watershed four times throughout the summer with the goal of understanding nutrient dynamics throughout space and time! Credit: Lindsay Vanfossen
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Slide 15: Incredible sunset on Toolik Lake. After a few months of constant daylight, the sun is finally setting on the North Slope of Alaska! Credit: Lindsay Vanfossen
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Slide 16: Streams LTER Research Assistant Frances Iannucci recording dissolved oxygen in a watershed associated with the Arctic LTER. Credit: Aial Shogren
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Slide 17: The elusive muskox stands atop a hill before approaching our truck on the nearby road. Credit: Julia Stuart
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Slide 18: June 6th, 2022. A spring frost on the Arctic tundra. This is the future site of a transplant experiment I am setting up this summer to study mechanisms of Arctic shrubification. Credit: Ruby An
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Slide 19: July 10, 2022. An alpine meadow on the continental divide in the Brooks Range, Alaska. feat. monkshood (Aconitum delphiinifolium), meadow bistort (Polyganum bistorta), and a blooming Arctic scientist (Bjorn Larsen). Credit: Ruby An
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Slide 20: July 15, 2022. Undergraduate researcher Helen Brush oversees phenological data collection on 6 tundra species following a July snow, with unexpected field help from a curious raven. Credit: Ruby An
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Slide 21: August 2, 2022. Tundra microcosms. Undergraduate researcher Helen Brush collecting tundra willow seedlings from frost boils to investigate the establishment of tundra shrubs across the Arctic. Credit: Ruby An
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Slide 22: August 14, 2022. Jade Mountain thermokarst. Ice wedge degradation and thawing permafrost causes the ground to slump, splitting open the tundra and releasing large amounts of greenhouse gases from new microbial processing of ancient soils. Credit: Ruby An
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Slide 23: August 16, 2022. An arctic alder seedling collected near the Sagavanirtok river. These N-fixing shrubs are increasing across the North Slope of Alaska. Credit: Ruby An
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Slide 24: August 18, 2022. A willow seedling (Salix pulchra) from the banks of the Kuparuk river. Credit: Ruby An
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Slide 25: Fox in the snow, Credit: Alan Krakauer
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Slide 26: Hill slope in the foothills of the Brooks range, Credit: Jeremy Butler
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This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation under Grants #DEB-2224743, 1637459, 1026843, 9810222, 9211775, 8702328; #OPP-9911278, 9911681, 9732281, 9615411, 9615563, 9615942, 9615949, 9400722, 9415411, 9318529; #BSR 9019055, 8806635, 8507493. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in the material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. National Science Foundation.