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Project ID: 12-3-01-27

Year: 2012

Date Started: 08/01/2012

Ending Date:  12/31/2013

Title: Impacts of Past Warming Episodes on Fire Frequency, Carbon Fluxes and Soil Erosion in the Alaskan Boreal Forest: Lessons from the Past

Project Proposal Abstract: As part of my dissertation, I propose to study the interactions between climate change, wildland fires, and post-fire permafrost thaw over the last 1,000 years (permafrost; permanently frozen ground occurring in boreal regions). The last 1,000 years has seen sizable climate changes in Alaska including the Medieval Warm Period (MWP, AD 950-1250), the Little Ice Age (LIA, AD 1300-1900), and the dramatic warming trend that has occurred in Alaska since AD 1950 (1). My overall research question is: What effects have warming episodes in the recent past had on fire frequency, carbon fluxes, and soil erosion in black spruce forest in Interior Alaska? To study the these interactions I will use a unique time series provided by annually layered lake sediment records (varves). Through these varved records, I will be able to quantify the changing inputs of charcoal, and thaw-induced soil erosion from Interior Alaskan watersheds at annual time steps. Results of this study will be useful in forecasting how wildland fire regimes and boreal-forest landscapes could respond to further climatic warming over the coming century. This project is being proposed for the climate change and fire category of the GRIN fellowship.

Principal Investigator: Daniel H. Mann Ph.D.

Agency/Organization: University of Alaska-Fairbanks

Branch or Dept: SNRAS-School of Natural Resources & Agricultural Sciences

Other Project Collaborators

Type	Name	Agency/Organization	Branch or Dept
Budget Contact	Jason W. Theis	University of Alaska-Fairbanks	SNRAS-School of Natural Resources & Agricultural Sciences
Grants and Agreements Contact	Gwendolen M. Griscavage	University of Alaska-Fairbanks	Grants & Contract Administration
Lead Reviewer	Penny M. Morgan	University of Idaho	Department of Forest Resources
Lead Reviewer	Monique E. Rocca	Colorado State University	Department of Forest, Rangeland & Watershed Stewardship
Student Investigator	Benjamin V. Gaglioti	University of Alaska-Fairbanks	SNRAS-School of Natural Resources & Agricultural Sciences

Project Locations

Consortium

Alaska

Level	State	Agency	Unit
STATE	AK	PRIVATE	Private lands

Project Deliverables

There is no final report available for this project.
There are no deliverables available for this project.

Supporting Documents

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