Biology
Biology Component
In phase III of Alaska EPSCoR, the science components are integrated into one program addressing social-ecological systems in Alaska. Here the biology component is described.
Climate is changing in Alaska at one of the fastest rates of anywhere on Earth, causing dramatic changes in the distribution of plants, animals and microbes. Climate is projected to warm even more rapidly during the 21st century, likely altering ecosystem services and human-environment interactions. A limited understanding of controls over biodiversity at high latitudes, as well as a woefully incomplete knowledge of current distributional limits for many species, prevents scientists from making reliable predictions concerning future changes in biodiversity and ecosystem services in response to these expected changes. We propose a biology research focus to study both the patterns and processes that influence changing species distributions and abundances.
We have two goals in this area. The first is to identify the influence of geography, geology, and climate on past species migrations with the intent of predicting future changes in species distributions and abundances. We will focus on how past climate changes have influenced changing distributions of economically and ecologically important subsistence, cash-generating and genetic-model species in relation to environmental variables. We will develop GIS-based models to predict influences of environmental change on migration and range shifts of important Alaskan organisms. Understanding the changing abundance of economically important species is integral to the planning and maintenance of subsistence-based economies in Alaskan communities.
The second goal is to study mechanisms influencing the vulnerability of co-evolved species relationships that are cornerstones of ecosystem integrity. This research will focus on lingering key uncertainties concerning the occurrence and abundance of plants across the landscape: interactions with beneficial and harmful microbes that often determine the tipping point between system resilience and vulnerability. These two research areas enable us to study both gradual response to climatic change and abrupt thresholds, which together determine patterns of resilience and vulnerability.
In phase III of Alaska EPSCoR, the science components are integrated into one program addressing social-ecological systems in Alaska. Here the biology component is described.
Climate is changing in Alaska at one of the fastest rates of anywhere on Earth, causing dramatic changes in the distribution of plants, animals and microbes. Climate is projected to warm even more rapidly during the 21st century, likely altering ecosystem services and human-environment interactions. A limited understanding of controls over biodiversity at high latitudes, as well as a woefully incomplete knowledge of current distributional limits for many species, prevents scientists from making reliable predictions concerning future changes in biodiversity and ecosystem services in response to these expected changes. We propose a biology research focus to study both the patterns and processes that influence changing species distributions and abundances.
We have two goals in this area. The first is to identify the influence of geography, geology, and climate on past species migrations with the intent of predicting future changes in species distributions and abundances. We will focus on how past climate changes have influenced changing distributions of economically and ecologically important subsistence, cash-generating and genetic-model species in relation to environmental variables. We will develop GIS-based models to predict influences of environmental change on migration and range shifts of important Alaskan organisms. Understanding the changing abundance of economically important species is integral to the planning and maintenance of subsistence-based economies in Alaskan communities.
The second goal is to study mechanisms influencing the vulnerability of co-evolved species relationships that are cornerstones of ecosystem integrity. This research will focus on lingering key uncertainties concerning the occurrence and abundance of plants across the landscape: interactions with beneficial and harmful microbes that often determine the tipping point between system resilience and vulnerability. These two research areas enable us to study both gradual response to climatic change and abrupt thresholds, which together determine patterns of resilience and vulnerability.