Identifying increasing risks of hazards for northern land-users caused by permafrost thaw: integrating scientific and community-based research approaches
Understanding the causes and consequences of environmental change is one of the key challenges facing researchers today as both types of information are required for decision making and adaptation planning. This need is particularly poignant in high latitude regions where permafrost thaw is causing...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2021-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abfc79 |
| _version_ | 1797747660579405824 |
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| author | Carolyn M Gibson Todd Brinkman Helen Cold Dana Brown Merritt Turetsky |
| author_facet | Carolyn M Gibson Todd Brinkman Helen Cold Dana Brown Merritt Turetsky |
| author_sort | Carolyn M Gibson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Understanding the causes and consequences of environmental change is one of the key challenges facing researchers today as both types of information are required for decision making and adaptation planning. This need is particularly poignant in high latitude regions where permafrost thaw is causing widespread changes to local environments and the land-users who must adapt to changing conditions to sustain their livelihoods. The inextricable link between humans and their environments is recognized through socio-ecological systems research, yet many of these approaches employ top-down solutions that can lead to local irrelevance and create tensions amongst groups. We present and employ a framework for the use both of scientific and community-based knowledge sources that provides an enriched and thematic understanding of how permafrost thaw will affect northern land-users. Using geospatial modeling of permafrost vulnerability with community-based data from nine rural communities in Alaska, we show that permafrost thaw is a major driver of hazards for land-users and accounts for one-third to half of the hazards reported by community participants. This study develops an integrated permafrost-land-user system, providing a framework for thematic inquiry for future studies that will add value to large-scale institutional efforts and locally relevant observations of environmental change. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:54:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6f1a047702cf4e01a50d6f6096c7ec6b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:54:46Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-6f1a047702cf4e01a50d6f6096c7ec6b2023-08-09T14:59:51ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262021-01-0116606404710.1088/1748-9326/abfc79Identifying increasing risks of hazards for northern land-users caused by permafrost thaw: integrating scientific and community-based research approachesCarolyn M Gibson0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5227-5303Todd Brinkman1Helen Cold2Dana Brown3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1195-7161Merritt Turetsky4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0155-8666Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph , Guelph ON N1G 2W1, CanadaInstitute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks , Fairbanks, AK 99775, United States of AmericaInstitute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks , Fairbanks, AK 99775, United States of America; Alaska Department of Fish and Game Division of Subsistence , Fairbanks, AK 99775, United States of AmericaInstitute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks , Fairbanks, AK 99775, United States of AmericaInstitute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado Boulder , Boulder, CO 80309, United States of AmericaUnderstanding the causes and consequences of environmental change is one of the key challenges facing researchers today as both types of information are required for decision making and adaptation planning. This need is particularly poignant in high latitude regions where permafrost thaw is causing widespread changes to local environments and the land-users who must adapt to changing conditions to sustain their livelihoods. The inextricable link between humans and their environments is recognized through socio-ecological systems research, yet many of these approaches employ top-down solutions that can lead to local irrelevance and create tensions amongst groups. We present and employ a framework for the use both of scientific and community-based knowledge sources that provides an enriched and thematic understanding of how permafrost thaw will affect northern land-users. Using geospatial modeling of permafrost vulnerability with community-based data from nine rural communities in Alaska, we show that permafrost thaw is a major driver of hazards for land-users and accounts for one-third to half of the hazards reported by community participants. This study develops an integrated permafrost-land-user system, providing a framework for thematic inquiry for future studies that will add value to large-scale institutional efforts and locally relevant observations of environmental change.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abfc79permafrost thawland-usersknowledge integrationcommunity basedthermokarst |
| spellingShingle | Carolyn M Gibson Todd Brinkman Helen Cold Dana Brown Merritt Turetsky Identifying increasing risks of hazards for northern land-users caused by permafrost thaw: integrating scientific and community-based research approaches Environmental Research Letters permafrost thaw land-users knowledge integration community based thermokarst |
| title | Identifying increasing risks of hazards for northern land-users caused by permafrost thaw: integrating scientific and community-based research approaches |
| title_full | Identifying increasing risks of hazards for northern land-users caused by permafrost thaw: integrating scientific and community-based research approaches |
| title_fullStr | Identifying increasing risks of hazards for northern land-users caused by permafrost thaw: integrating scientific and community-based research approaches |
| title_full_unstemmed | Identifying increasing risks of hazards for northern land-users caused by permafrost thaw: integrating scientific and community-based research approaches |
| title_short | Identifying increasing risks of hazards for northern land-users caused by permafrost thaw: integrating scientific and community-based research approaches |
| title_sort | identifying increasing risks of hazards for northern land users caused by permafrost thaw integrating scientific and community based research approaches |
| topic | permafrost thaw land-users knowledge integration community based thermokarst |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abfc79 |
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