LIVE from the FIELD ..."Climate Change at Arctic's Edge" Research Site: Churchill Northern Studies Centre, Churchill MB, Canada, 58E 45' N, 93E 50'W took place 13-23 February 2007. Earthwatch Institute Fellow and AMS Education Resource Agent John Moore, traveled to the Arctic's Edge to participate as part of the Winter Team V expedition at the Churchill study area in Manitoba Canada.
Mr. Moore reported "LIVE from the FIELD" to kickoff the 2007 International Polar Year allowing students from his class and around the world to get a unique feeling of place and current and on-going field reseach being conducted by EarthWatch.
The key Research Objectives of the project are:
Evaluate Climate Change impacts on key environmental factors regulating dominant terrestrial ecosystems at the Arctic treeline, Establish and monitor permanent Long-Term Environmental Monitoring Sites, Maintain year-round monitoring of key abiotic ecosystem components (e.g., microclimate, soils, snowpack, and permafrost), Conduct growing season studies to quantitatively characterize key biotic ecosystem components (e.g., organic carbon budgets, plant phenology, plant species diversity and composition, small mammal populations, Conduct winter studies to characterize the ecosystems during the freeze season (e.g., snowpack depth, density, temperature profiles), Experimentally manipulate microenvironments to (1) facilitate revegetation on anthropogenic disturbances and (2) asses what factors limit tree growth on the tundra and control the position of the Arctic treeline.
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