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Thermokarst And Wildfire: Effects Of Disturbances Related To Climate Change On The Ecological Characteristics And Functions Of Arctic Headwater Streams, Julia Rose Larouche
Thermokarst And Wildfire: Effects Of Disturbances Related To Climate Change On The Ecological Characteristics And Functions Of Arctic Headwater Streams, Julia Rose Larouche
Graduate College Dissertations and Theses
The Arctic is warming rapidly as a result of global climate change. Permafrost - permanently frozen ground - plays a critical role in shaping arctic ecosystems and stores nearly one half of the global soil organic matter. Therefore, disturbance of permafrost will likely impact the carbon and related biogeochemical processes on local and global scales. In the Alaskan Arctic, fire and thermokarst (permafrost thaw) have become more common and have been hypothesized to accelerate the hydrological export of inorganic nutrients and sediment, as well as biodegradable dissolved organic carbon (BDOC), which may alter ecosystem processes of impacted streams.
The biogeochemical …