Brinkman, Todd: University of Alaska, Fairbanks (Project Lead)
Brown, Caroline: University of Alaska, Fairbanks (Co-Investigator)
Hollingsworth, Teresa: USDA Forest Service (Co-Investigator)
Verbyla, Dave: University of Alaska Fairbanks (Co-Investigator)
Bolton, Bob: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Collaborator)
Chapin, Terry: University of Alaska (Collaborator)
Ruess, Roger: University of Alaska (Collaborator)
Rupp, Scott: University of Alaska (Collaborator)
Turetsky, Merritt: University Of Colorado, Boulder (Collaborator)
Anderson, Daniel: Council of Athabascan Tribal Governments (Participant)
Brown, Dana: University of Alaska (Post-Doc)
Cold, Helen: University of Alaska, Fairbanks (Student-Graduate)
Project Funding:
2015 - 2019
NRA: 2014 NASA: Terrestrial Ecology
Funded by NASA
Abstract:
Increasingly, subsistence harvesters within the ABoVE domain have expressed concern that changes in the environment are influencing their ability to move across landscapes and access traditional hunting, fishing, and gathering areas. Few data have been collected on the biophysical characteristics and mechanisms of environmental disturbances influencing both human movement across landscapes and access to subsistence resources. In addition, the prevalence and spatial-temporal characteristics of subsistence altering disturbances have not been quantified at a regional level. Approaches integrating participatory research, field data, remote sensing, and modeling are needed to analyze and interpret data on these consequential ecosystem dynamics. Our objectives are to: 1) Collaborate with subsistence harvesters to map travel networks and locate sites of ecosystem disturbances influencing access to subsistence resources in boreal Alaska; 2) Document traditional ecological knowledge on the relationships among environmental change, disturbance sites, and access to subsistence resources; 3) Document biophysical characteristics and the underlying mechanisms related to ecosystem disturbances identified by subsistence harvesters; 4) Use integrated modeling to expand the sample size of disturbance observations and determine spatial and temporal extent (frequency, duration, area, severity) of influential disturbances; and 5) Estimate uncertainty and error associated with generalizing findings beyond data collection area. We will collaborate with tribal organizations in ~6 communities to recruit subsistence harvesters into a participatory research program. Using camera equipped GPS units, harvesters will be asked to mark and photograph environmental disturbances influencing their access to subsistence resources for one calendar year. We will conduct semi-structured ethnographic interviews to document local perceptions of the prevalence, causes, and effects of disturbances identified. We will conduct field-based assessments of disturbance sites to document biophysical characteristics and quantify descriptive metrics that will facilitate identification of mechanisms causing disturbances. After we have mapped disturbances, we will use remote-sensing imagery (e.g., Landsat TM scenes, aerial photography) relevant to the study area to evaluate disturbances identified on the ground. Based on relationships among field, remote sensing, and disturbance variables, we will model travel networks and levels of access-related disturbances beyond our study area. Our Phase I efforts will generate spatially- and temporally-explicit maps and models of human access to subsistence resources and an index of the extent of environmental disturbances influencing human movement in rural landscapes. Our research will quantify (with uncertainty) how interactions among environmental changes influence landscape connectivity between humans and provisional-cultural ecosystem services. Data collected and analyzed on ecosystem dynamics associated with subsistence-altering disturbances will facilitate Phase II efforts that assess the societal impact of and response (i.e., adaptation) to disturbances. Phase III will include scenario modeling to project the trajectory of future changes and the consequences of those changes. Our research will advance knowledge on human interaction with ecosystem change (ABoVE primary motivation). Our research also can contribute to other ABoVE projects by providing researchers with a direct connection to communities which may facilitate a better understanding of societal consequences of project findings. Lastly, our spatially-explicit findings may help prioritize Phase II areas for investigation of availability and change in ecosystem services.
Publications:
Brinkman, T. J., Hansen, W. D., Chapin, F. S., Kofinas, G., BurnSilver, S., Rupp, T. S. 2016. Arctic communities perceive climate impacts on access as a critical challenge to availability of subsistence resources. Climatic Change. 139(3-4), 413-427. DOI: 10.1007/s10584-016-1819-6
Brown, D. R. N., Brinkman, T. J., Bolton, W. R., Brown, C. L., Cold, H. S., Hollingsworth, T. N., Verbyla, D. L. 2020. Implications of climate variability and changing seasonal hydrology for subarctic riverbank erosion. Climatic Change. 162(2), 1-20. DOI: 10.1007/s10584-020-02748-9
Brown, D. R. N., Brinkman, T. J., Verbyla, D. L., Brown, C. L., Cold, H. S., Hollingsworth, T. N. 2018. Changing River Ice Seasonality and Impacts on Interior Alaskan Communities. Weather, Climate, and Society. 10(4), 625-640. DOI: 10.1175/WCAS-D-17-0101.1
Cold, H. S., Brinkman, T. J., Brown, C. L., Hollingsworth, T. N., Brown, D. R. N., Heeringa, K. M. 2020. Assessing vulnerability of subsistence travel to effects of environmental change in Interior Alaska. Ecology and Society. 25(1). DOI: 10.5751/ES-11426-250120
Cold, H.S. 2018. Assessing Effects of Climate Change on Access to Ecosystem Services in Rural Alaska. M.S. Thesis. University of Alaska Fairbanks; Fairbanks, AK. 58 p.
Hasbrouck, T. R., Brinkman, T. J., Stout, G., Trochim, E., Kielland, K. 2020. Quantifying effects of environmental factors on moose harvest in Interior Alaska. Wildlife Biology. 2020(2). DOI: 10.2981/wlb.00631
Hasbrouck, T.R. 2018. Distribution of Hunter Groups and Environmental Effects on Moose Harvest in Interior Alaska. M.S. Thesis. University of Alaska Fairbanks; Fairbanks, AK. 70 p.
More details may be found in the following project profile(s):
