Life Sciences Commons^™

The Impact Of Decadal Land Cover Change On The Global Warming Potential Of Beringian Arctic Tundra, David Hwei-Len Lin

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Arctic terrestrial ecosystems play an important role in the global carbon cycle. If arctic warming continues to rise as projected, large amounts of soil carbon stored in these ecosystems could be released to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide or methane and positively enhance greenhouse warming. Thus, improving understanding of the likely future state and fate of arctic soil carbon, and the carbon uptake potential of arctic terrestrial ecosystems are well recognized research priorities.

At the pan-arctic scale, decadal increases in NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), an index of vegetation productivity, have been observed from satellite imagery, indicating a general greening …

Recent Changes In The Growth And Nutrient Limitation Of Benthic And Pelagic Algae In Arctic Tundra Ponds, Christina Hernandez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Arctic ponds are a dominant feature in Barrow, Alaska. Ponds may function as carbon sinks during the growing season from production of photosynthetic organisms like algae; however, little work has been done on this topic. Environmental changes have been occurring in the Arctic stemming from climate change and human perturbations. The focus of this study was to assess a historically studied region for changes in algal primary production that may have been produced due to increases in temperature over the past 40 years and increased human development. Additionally, this study aimed to determine nutrient limitation of algal production in the …