Integrating snow science and wildlife ecology in Arctic-boreal North America
Snow covers Arctic and boreal regions (ABRs) for approximately 9 months of the year, thus snowscapes dominate the form and function of tundra and boreal ecosystems. In recent decades, Arctic warming has changed the snowcover’s spatial extent and distribution, as well as its seasonal timing and durat...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IOP Publishing
2019-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aaeec1 |
| _version_ | 1797748162505474048 |
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| author | Natalie T Boelman Glen E Liston Eliezer Gurarie Arjan J H Meddens Peter J Mahoney Peter B Kirchner Gil Bohrer Todd J Brinkman Chris L Cosgrove Jan U H Eitel Mark Hebblewhite John S Kimball Scott LaPoint Anne W Nolin Stine Højlund Pedersen Laura R Prugh Adele K Reinking Lee A Vierling |
| author_facet | Natalie T Boelman Glen E Liston Eliezer Gurarie Arjan J H Meddens Peter J Mahoney Peter B Kirchner Gil Bohrer Todd J Brinkman Chris L Cosgrove Jan U H Eitel Mark Hebblewhite John S Kimball Scott LaPoint Anne W Nolin Stine Højlund Pedersen Laura R Prugh Adele K Reinking Lee A Vierling |
| author_sort | Natalie T Boelman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Snow covers Arctic and boreal regions (ABRs) for approximately 9 months of the year, thus snowscapes dominate the form and function of tundra and boreal ecosystems. In recent decades, Arctic warming has changed the snowcover’s spatial extent and distribution, as well as its seasonal timing and duration, while also altering the physical characteristics of the snowpack. Understanding the little studied effects of changing snowscapes on its wildlife communities is critical. The goal of this paper is to demonstrate the urgent need for, and suggest an approach for developing, an improved suite of temporally evolving, spatially distributed snow products to help understand how dynamics in snowscape properties impact wildlife, with a specific focus on Alaska and northwestern Canada. Via consideration of existing knowledge of wildlife-snow interactions, currently available snow products for focus region, and results of three case studies, we conclude that improving snow science in the ABR will be best achieved by focusing efforts on developing data-model fusion approaches to produce fit-for-purpose snow products that include, but are not limited to, wildlife ecology. The relative wealth of coordinated in situ measurements, airborne and satellite remote sensing data, and modeling tools being collected and developed as part of NASA’s Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment and SnowEx campaigns, for example, provide a data rich environment for developing and testing new remote sensing algorithms and retrievals of snowscape properties. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:00:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c77a3d72dba14192818e78a9b290c786 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:00:57Z |
| publishDate | 2019-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-c77a3d72dba14192818e78a9b290c7862023-08-09T14:38:41ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262019-01-0114101040110.1088/1748-9326/aaeec1Integrating snow science and wildlife ecology in Arctic-boreal North AmericaNatalie T Boelman0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3716-2372Glen E Liston1Eliezer Gurarie2Arjan J H Meddens3Peter J Mahoney4Peter B Kirchner5Gil Bohrer6Todd J Brinkman7Chris L Cosgrove8Jan U H Eitel9Mark Hebblewhite10https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5382-1361John S Kimball11Scott LaPoint12Anne W Nolin13Stine Højlund Pedersen14Laura R Prugh15Adele K Reinking16Lee A Vierling17Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University , Palisades, NY 10964, United States of AmericaCooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere, Colorado State University , Fort Collins, CO 80523, United States of AmericaDepartment of Biology, University of Maryland , College Park, MD 20742, United States of America; School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington , Seattle WA 98195, United States of AmericaDepartment of Natural Resources and Society, University of Idaho , Moscow, ID 83844, United States of AmericaSchool of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington , Seattle WA 98195, United States of AmericaSouthwest Alaska Network, National Park Service, Anchorage, AK 99501, United States of AmericaDepartment of Civil, Environmental and Geodetic Engineering, The Ohio State University , Columbus, OH 43210, United States of AmericaInstitute of Arctic Biology University of Alaska Fairbanks , Fairbanks, AK 99775, United States of AmericaEarth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State, Corvallis, OR 97331, United States of AmericaDepartment of Natural Resources and Society, University of Idaho , Moscow, ID 83844, United States of AmericaW A Franke College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana , Missoula, MT 59812, United States of AmericaNumerical Terradynamic Simulation Group, W A Franke College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana , Missoula, MT 59812, United States of AmericaLamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University , Palisades, NY 10964, United States of America; Department of Migration and Immuno-ecology, Max-Planck Institute for Ornithology , Radolfzell D-78315, GermanyEarth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State, Corvallis, OR 97331, United States of AmericaCooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere, Colorado State University , Fort Collins, CO 80523, United States of America; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alaska Anchorage , Anchorage, AK 99508, United States of AmericaSchool of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington , Seattle WA 98195, United States of AmericaCooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere, Colorado State University , Fort Collins, CO 80523, United States of AmericaDepartment of Natural Resources and Society, University of Idaho , Moscow, ID 83844, United States of AmericaSnow covers Arctic and boreal regions (ABRs) for approximately 9 months of the year, thus snowscapes dominate the form and function of tundra and boreal ecosystems. In recent decades, Arctic warming has changed the snowcover’s spatial extent and distribution, as well as its seasonal timing and duration, while also altering the physical characteristics of the snowpack. Understanding the little studied effects of changing snowscapes on its wildlife communities is critical. The goal of this paper is to demonstrate the urgent need for, and suggest an approach for developing, an improved suite of temporally evolving, spatially distributed snow products to help understand how dynamics in snowscape properties impact wildlife, with a specific focus on Alaska and northwestern Canada. Via consideration of existing knowledge of wildlife-snow interactions, currently available snow products for focus region, and results of three case studies, we conclude that improving snow science in the ABR will be best achieved by focusing efforts on developing data-model fusion approaches to produce fit-for-purpose snow products that include, but are not limited to, wildlife ecology. The relative wealth of coordinated in situ measurements, airborne and satellite remote sensing data, and modeling tools being collected and developed as part of NASA’s Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment and SnowEx campaigns, for example, provide a data rich environment for developing and testing new remote sensing algorithms and retrievals of snowscape properties.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aaeec1ABoVEArctic boreal vulnerability experimentcaribouDall sheeppolar bearremote sensing |
| spellingShingle | Natalie T Boelman Glen E Liston Eliezer Gurarie Arjan J H Meddens Peter J Mahoney Peter B Kirchner Gil Bohrer Todd J Brinkman Chris L Cosgrove Jan U H Eitel Mark Hebblewhite John S Kimball Scott LaPoint Anne W Nolin Stine Højlund Pedersen Laura R Prugh Adele K Reinking Lee A Vierling Integrating snow science and wildlife ecology in Arctic-boreal North America Environmental Research Letters ABoVE Arctic boreal vulnerability experiment caribou Dall sheep polar bear remote sensing |
| title | Integrating snow science and wildlife ecology in Arctic-boreal North America |
| title_full | Integrating snow science and wildlife ecology in Arctic-boreal North America |
| title_fullStr | Integrating snow science and wildlife ecology in Arctic-boreal North America |
| title_full_unstemmed | Integrating snow science and wildlife ecology in Arctic-boreal North America |
| title_short | Integrating snow science and wildlife ecology in Arctic-boreal North America |
| title_sort | integrating snow science and wildlife ecology in arctic boreal north america |
| topic | ABoVE Arctic boreal vulnerability experiment caribou Dall sheep polar bear remote sensing |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aaeec1 |
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