Cumulative impacts of a gravel road and climate change in an ice-wedge-polygon landscape, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska
Environmental impact assessments for new Arctic infrastructure do not adequately consider the likely long-term cumulative effects of climate change and infrastructure to landforms and vegetation in areas with ice-rich permafrost, due in part to lack of long-term environmental studies that monitor ch...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Canadian Science Publishing
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Arctic Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/as-2021-0014 |
| _version_ | 1811216589284966400 |
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| author | Donald A. Walker Martha K. Raynolds Mikhail Z. Kanevskiy Yuri S. Shur Vladimir E. Romanovsky Benjamin M. Jones Marcel Buchhorn M. Torre Jorgenson Jozef Šibík Amy L. Breen Anja Kade Emily Watson-Cook Georgy Matyshak Helena Bergstedt Anna K. Liljedahl Ronald P. Daanen Billy Connor Dmitry Nicolsky Jana L. Peirce |
| author_facet | Donald A. Walker Martha K. Raynolds Mikhail Z. Kanevskiy Yuri S. Shur Vladimir E. Romanovsky Benjamin M. Jones Marcel Buchhorn M. Torre Jorgenson Jozef Šibík Amy L. Breen Anja Kade Emily Watson-Cook Georgy Matyshak Helena Bergstedt Anna K. Liljedahl Ronald P. Daanen Billy Connor Dmitry Nicolsky Jana L. Peirce |
| author_sort | Donald A. Walker |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Environmental impact assessments for new Arctic infrastructure do not adequately consider the likely long-term cumulative effects of climate change and infrastructure to landforms and vegetation in areas with ice-rich permafrost, due in part to lack of long-term environmental studies that monitor changes after the infrastructure is built. This case study examines long-term (1949–2020) climate- and road-related changes in a network of ice-wedge polygons, Prudhoe Bay Oilfield, Alaska. We studied four trajectories of change along a heavily traveled road and a relatively remote site. During 20 years prior to the oilfield development, the climate and landscapes changed very little. During 50 years after development, climate-related changes included increased numbers of thermokarst ponds, changes to ice-wedge-polygon morphology, snow distribution, thaw depths, dominant vegetation types, and shrub abundance. Road dust strongly affected plant-community structure and composition, particularly small forbs, mosses, and lichens. Flooding increased permafrost degradation, polygon center-trough elevation contrasts, and vegetation productivity. It was not possible to isolate infrastructure impacts from climate impacts, but the combined datasets provide unique insights into the rate and extent of ecological disturbances associated with infrastructure-affected landscapes under decades of climate warming. We conclude with recommendations for future cumulative impact assessments in areas with ice-rich permafrost. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T06:41:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8ff4be34f7ae408ab6bda78367d7d78b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2368-7460 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T06:41:43Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | Canadian Science Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Arctic Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-8ff4be34f7ae408ab6bda78367d7d78b2022-12-22T03:43:43ZengCanadian Science PublishingArctic Science2368-74602022-12-01841040106610.1139/as-2021-0014Cumulative impacts of a gravel road and climate change in an ice-wedge-polygon landscape, Prudhoe Bay, AlaskaDonald A. Walker0Martha K. Raynolds1Mikhail Z. Kanevskiy2Yuri S. Shur3Vladimir E. Romanovsky4Benjamin M. Jones5Marcel Buchhorn6M. Torre Jorgenson7Jozef Šibík8Amy L. Breen9Anja Kade10Emily Watson-Cook11Georgy Matyshak12Helena Bergstedt13Anna K. Liljedahl14Ronald P. Daanen15Billy Connor16Dmitry Nicolsky17Jana L. Peirce18University of Alaska Fairbanks, Department of Biology and Wildlife, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA, 99775University of Alaska Fairbanks, Institute of Northern Engineering, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA, 99775Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Geophysical Institute, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA, 99775Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Geophysical Institute, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA, 99775University of Alaska Fairbanks, Geophysical Institute, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA, 99775Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Geophysical Institute, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA, 99775Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Mol, Belgium, BE-2400Alaska Ecoscience, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA, 99709Institute of Botany, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Plant Science and Biodiversity Center of Bratislava, Slovak Republic, SK845 23University of Alaska Fairbanks, Department of Biology and Wildlife, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA, 99775University of Alaska Fairbanks, Department of Biology and Wildlife, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA, 99775University of Alaska Fairbanks, Department of Biology and Wildlife, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA, 99775Lomonosov Moscow State University, Soil Science Department, Moscow, Russia, 119991Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Geophysical Institute, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA, 99775Woodwell Climate Research Center, Falmouth, Massachusetts, USA, 02540Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA, 99775Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Geophysical Institute, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA, 99775University of Alaska, Department of Geology and Geophysics, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA, 99775University of Alaska Fairbanks, Institute of Northern Engineering, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA, 99775Environmental impact assessments for new Arctic infrastructure do not adequately consider the likely long-term cumulative effects of climate change and infrastructure to landforms and vegetation in areas with ice-rich permafrost, due in part to lack of long-term environmental studies that monitor changes after the infrastructure is built. This case study examines long-term (1949–2020) climate- and road-related changes in a network of ice-wedge polygons, Prudhoe Bay Oilfield, Alaska. We studied four trajectories of change along a heavily traveled road and a relatively remote site. During 20 years prior to the oilfield development, the climate and landscapes changed very little. During 50 years after development, climate-related changes included increased numbers of thermokarst ponds, changes to ice-wedge-polygon morphology, snow distribution, thaw depths, dominant vegetation types, and shrub abundance. Road dust strongly affected plant-community structure and composition, particularly small forbs, mosses, and lichens. Flooding increased permafrost degradation, polygon center-trough elevation contrasts, and vegetation productivity. It was not possible to isolate infrastructure impacts from climate impacts, but the combined datasets provide unique insights into the rate and extent of ecological disturbances associated with infrastructure-affected landscapes under decades of climate warming. We conclude with recommendations for future cumulative impact assessments in areas with ice-rich permafrost.https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/as-2021-0014floodinglandformspermafrostroad dustthermokarstvegetation |
| spellingShingle | Donald A. Walker Martha K. Raynolds Mikhail Z. Kanevskiy Yuri S. Shur Vladimir E. Romanovsky Benjamin M. Jones Marcel Buchhorn M. Torre Jorgenson Jozef Šibík Amy L. Breen Anja Kade Emily Watson-Cook Georgy Matyshak Helena Bergstedt Anna K. Liljedahl Ronald P. Daanen Billy Connor Dmitry Nicolsky Jana L. Peirce Cumulative impacts of a gravel road and climate change in an ice-wedge-polygon landscape, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska Arctic Science flooding landforms permafrost road dust thermokarst vegetation |
| title | Cumulative impacts of a gravel road and climate change in an ice-wedge-polygon landscape, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska |
| title_full | Cumulative impacts of a gravel road and climate change in an ice-wedge-polygon landscape, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska |
| title_fullStr | Cumulative impacts of a gravel road and climate change in an ice-wedge-polygon landscape, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cumulative impacts of a gravel road and climate change in an ice-wedge-polygon landscape, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska |
| title_short | Cumulative impacts of a gravel road and climate change in an ice-wedge-polygon landscape, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska |
| title_sort | cumulative impacts of a gravel road and climate change in an ice wedge polygon landscape prudhoe bay alaska |
| topic | flooding landforms permafrost road dust thermokarst vegetation |
| url | https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/as-2021-0014 |
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