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Detailed observations of stream, soil, and groundwater chemistry were used to determine the role of fire, permafrost and snowmelt processes on the fluxes of carbon, nitrogen and major solutes from interior Alaskan catchments. We examined an experimentally burned watershed and two reference watersheds that differ in permafrost coverage (high, 53%; medium-burn, 18%; and low, 4%) during the FROSTFIRE prescribed burn in July 1999. The fire elevated stream nitrate concentrations for a short period during the first post-fire storm, but nitrate declined thereafter, suggesting that less severe fires that leave an intact riparian zone may have only a short-term effect on stream chemistry. Nevertheless, we found fundamental...
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Concerns about wildland fuel levels and a growing wildland-urban interface (WUI) have pushed wildland fire risk mitigation strategies to the forefront of fire management activities. Mechanical (e.g., shearblading) and manual (e.g., thinning) fuel treatments have become the preferred strategy of many fire managers and agencies. This Joint Fire Science Program funded project seeks to document and quantify mechanical and manual fuel treatment effects on fire behavior. Alaska's Federal and State fire management agencies have identified this 'data gap' as their most important fire science research need and priority. The Nenana Ridge Ruffed Grouse Project Area is 6,000 acres of typical interior Alaska boreal forest located...
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Summary: "Total Hg (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) were examined in muscle and liver samples of salmon species (Chinook: Oncorhynchus tshawytscha; Chum: O. keta; Sockeye: O. nerka; Coho: O. kisutch) and freshwater fish species (Pike: Esox lucius; Grayling: Thymallus arcticus; Whitefish: Caregonus nelsoni) collected in 1999 and 2000 from the Western Alaska rivers (Yukon, Kuskokwim, Nushagak and Kvichak). The THg in salmon muscles has a mean value of 62 ng/g (ww). In Pike muscles, THg has a mean value of 879 ng/g. The mean concentrations of THg in Grayling and Whitefish muscle are 153 ng/g and 32 ng/g respectively. In salmon muscle and liver the MeHg levels constitute 77% and 62% of the THg levels, respectively. In...
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Summary: "Aspects of migration, fattening, and molt in trans-continental passerine migrants were examined during spring and autumn migration in Fairbanks, Alaska (64050' N, 147050' W). From 1992-1998, 25,718 birds of 18 species were banded. Based on median dates of spring and autumn passage, species-level estimates of the duration of breeding range occupation ranged from 48 to 129 days. Adults departed significantly later than immatures in 11 of the 18 species examined and significantly earlier than immatures in only one species, the Alder Flycatcher. Adults had significantly higher fat scores than immatures in most species, but these differences were attributable to the influence of ambient temperatures, length...
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Frost heaving is ubiquitous throughout cold regions, causing damage to building foundations, roads, airfields, railways, utilities, and pipelines. Out of the voluminous body of research conducted over the last 80 years, few studies investigated the mineral surface effects on frost heaving. These previous studies were conducted nearly 50 years ago with rudimentary equipment and on homogeneous and artificial soils that have limited applicability to actual field conditions. The purpose of the research presented here is to investigate the adsorbed cation effects on the frost susceptibility of natural soils through experimental testing. A comprehensive suite of laboratory experiments was conducted on five natural heterogeneous...
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The likely direction of change in soil organic carbon (SOC) in the boreal forest biome, which harbors roughly 22% of the global soil carbon pool, is of marked concern because climate warming is projected to be greatest in high latitudes and temperature is the cardinal determinant of soil C mineralization. Moreover, the majority of boreal forest SOC is harbored in surficial organic horizons which are the most susceptible to consumption in wildfire. This research focuses on mechanisms of soil C accumulation in recently burned (2004) and unburned (61850-1950) black spruce (Picea mariana [Mill.] BSP) forests along gradients in stand productivity and soil temperature. The primary research questions in these three chapters...
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Summary: "This thesis discusses the history of population movements and migrations on the middle and upper Innoko River in west-central Alaska. The history of research and exploration into the region is synthesized. The bodies of work known as 'place attachment studies' and 'place studies' are presented as a framework with which to understand current perceptions of the movements and migrations. The move from Holikachuk village on the Innoko River to Grayling on the Yukon River in 1963 is examined in detail. The long-term consequences of these movements for the Holikachuk Athabascan people are analyzed"
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Contradictory management objectives in adjacent jurisdictions can affect transboundary wolves and their associated socio-ecological systems. Elite interviews and case study methodology were used in this thesis to explore three transboundary wolf management agreements, their effectiveness, and their impacts on wolves, ecosystems and stakeholders. Separate agreements between the State of Alaska and: Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, and Denali National Park and Preserve, and an agreement between Italy and Switzerland show that despite a diversity of socio-ecological contexts, approaches, and hierarchical level of actors, transboundary wolf agreements are prone to ephemerality. The ephemerality of these agreements...
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The purpose of this study is to understand chipped stone technological behaviors at the Mead Site located in central Alaska. Lithics from each cultural occupation ranging in age from 11,460BP to 1420BP were analyzed and compared. Specific objectives include (1) characterization of variability in raw material and use for each cultural component, (2) description of lithic stages of reduction represented in each component, (3) description of the basic lithic industries represented, and (4) the identification and characterization of spatial organization and lithic behaviors. Results indicate (1) the tools and debris from Cultural Zone (CZ) 1b and CZ2 show preferential use of local materials, while the tools from CZ3b...
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The National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) is committed to conserving fish, wildlife, and plants for current and future generations of Americans. Given a rapidly changing climate, managers may employ various adaptation strategies to meet legislated mandates. I explore how ecological context, policy, perceptions and available ecological knowledge inform adaptation strategies. In Chapter 2, I develop an ecosystem vulnerability framework to better understand how climate change risk and ecosystem resilience interact to impact the NWRS. With GIS, I rank refuges based on historic temperature change, historic precipitation change, and sea-level rise risk. To index resilience, I rank refuges based on refuge size, landscape...
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Lime treatment of soil is the practice of introducing lime to soil to improve subgrade conditions or to improve a soil's properties to meet construction aggregate qualifications. Lime treated soils commonly exhibit improvements in moisture density, strength, and thaw performance. Although lime treatment has been practiced in many regions of the United States and Canada for several decades, it is not practiced in Alaska. The purpose of this study was to determine potential of improving commonly encountered Alaskan soils with lime treatment. The two soils analyzed during this study were a silt from the Fairbanks area and a silty gravel from the Anchorage area. These soils were analyzed due to their similarity with...
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The Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System's Fire Weather Index (FWI) system models 3 levels of fuel moisture within the forest floor using simple environmental inputs. Wildland fire managers in interior Alaska have expressed concern that the FWI System does not take northern latitude factors such as long day lengths and permafrost into account. During the 1999 fire season destructive sampling methods were employed to monitor moisture content throughout the feather moss profile in 3 interior Alaska black spruce stands. Measured moisture contents were compared to the FWI System's fuel moisture predictions. The FWI System followed general trends of the seasonal fuel moisture within the feather moss profile. However,...
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This research explores the effects of climate change throughout the Holocene by investigating a multi-component site at Butte Lake, Alaska. This research combines expectations generated from ethnographic models to evaluate site use conditioned by environmental constraints within the theoretical framework of human behavioral ecology. Analysis of lithic materials, faunal remains, and site structure are evaluated to determine site type by occupational component. The results of this research show that a period of low effective moisture during the early Holocene (9000 to 5000 cal BP), as well as a period of both low temperature and increased effective moisture associated with the Neoglacial (3500 to 1500 cal BP) had...
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In Alaska, there exists a substantial knowledge gap of key climate drivers and filling these gaps is vital since life and the economy are inexorably linked with climate in the state. This thesis identifies and investigates three topics that advance the understanding of Alaska climate variability: the role of large-scale climate in Interior river ice breakup, the link between climate and arctic tundra vegetation, and climate divisions based on objective methods. River ice breakup in the Yukon-Kuskoswim watershed is occurring earlier by 1.3 days decade-1 1948-2008 and displays large year-to-year variability. April-May Interior Alaska air temperatures are the best predictor of river ice breakup and were linked to El...
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This dissertation presents a multi-dimensional analysis of site structure and organization at a multi-component deeply buried stratified site in the Tanana Basin in Interior Alaska, Gerstle River. The primary objective of this research is to investigate patterning among the lithics, fauna, features, stratigraphy, and radiometric dating, within and among components and intra-component hierarchical spatial aggregates. These analyses are situated within and are explored in terms of technological and spatial organization. Given the longevity of microblade technology (12000 BP to ∼1000 BP) and its presence in very different climatic and biotic regimes, understanding how microblades were used within a technological system...
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The forests of Tanana River Basin in Interior Alaska have a history of disturbance. Four issues reflecting forest disturbance, important to include in current management strategies for these lands, were researched: (1) disturbance history of the Tanana Valley; (2) Alaska Interagency Fire Management Plan: a case study; (3) prescribed natural fire in Alaska: possibilities and complexities; and (4) past use of prescribed fire in white spruce: a summary with particular reference to Alaska. Through researching historical archives, conducting field visits, interviewing land and fire managers and reviewing current planning documents, I reached four major conclusions: (1) there is lack of use of historical facts regarding...
map background search result map search result map Temporal patterns of migration, molt, and fat storage among high-latitude passerine migrants Assessment of total mercury and methyl mercury in selected subsistence fish in Western Alaska Site structure and organization in Central Alaska: Archaeological investigations at Gerstle River Tree growth history, climate sensitivity, and growth potential of black and white spruce along the middle Kuskokwim River, Alaska Quantifying the effects of fuels reduction treatments on fire behavior and post-fire vegetation dynamics - Final Report to the Joint Fire Science Program.  Disturbance history in the Tanana River Basin of Alaska: Management implications Managing the National Wildlife Refuge System with climate change: The interaction of policy, perceptions, and ecological knowledge Duff moisture dynamics in black spruce feather moss stands and their relation to the Canadian forest fire danger rating system Soil environment characteristics inventory and long-term monitoring in the Rock Creek Watershed, Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska The governance of wolves in transboundary regions: A triquetrous study of ephemeral agreements transcending sub-national and national boundaries Integrating climate change with human land use patterns: Archaeology of Butte lake northeast Lithic analysis at the Mead Site, central Alaska Lime treatment of interior and south-central Alaskan soils Assessing river ice breakup date, coastal tundra vegetation and climate divisions in the context of Alaska climate variability Export of carbon, nitrogen and major solutes from a boreal forest watershed: The influence of fire and permafrost Mechanisms of soil carbon stabilization in black spruce forests of interior Alaska: Soil temperature, soil water, and wildfire Experimental study of adsorbed cation effects on the frost susceptibility of natural soils Human Impact on Fire Regime in Interior Alaska "They left their teacups full and their zeniths in the house" : Innoko River population movements and migrations Quantifying the effects of fuels reduction treatments on fire behavior and post-fire vegetation dynamics - Final Report to the Joint Fire Science Program.  Lithic analysis at the Mead Site, central Alaska Temporal patterns of migration, molt, and fat storage among high-latitude passerine migrants Export of carbon, nitrogen and major solutes from a boreal forest watershed: The influence of fire and permafrost Site structure and organization in Central Alaska: Archaeological investigations at Gerstle River Integrating climate change with human land use patterns: Archaeology of Butte lake northeast Tree growth history, climate sensitivity, and growth potential of black and white spruce along the middle Kuskokwim River, Alaska Soil environment characteristics inventory and long-term monitoring in the Rock Creek Watershed, Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska "They left their teacups full and their zeniths in the house" : Innoko River population movements and migrations Lime treatment of interior and south-central Alaskan soils Disturbance history in the Tanana River Basin of Alaska: Management implications Experimental study of adsorbed cation effects on the frost susceptibility of natural soils Assessing river ice breakup date, coastal tundra vegetation and climate divisions in the context of Alaska climate variability The governance of wolves in transboundary regions: A triquetrous study of ephemeral agreements transcending sub-national and national boundaries Managing the National Wildlife Refuge System with climate change: The interaction of policy, perceptions, and ecological knowledge Duff moisture dynamics in black spruce feather moss stands and their relation to the Canadian forest fire danger rating system Mechanisms of soil carbon stabilization in black spruce forests of interior Alaska: Soil temperature, soil water, and wildfire Human Impact on Fire Regime in Interior Alaska Assessment of total mercury and methyl mercury in selected subsistence fish in Western Alaska