Assessing Climate Change Impacts on Forested Ecosystems of Alaska
Project Description
Assessing Climate Change Impacts on Forested Ecosystems of Alaska
ACCAP and the Scenarios Network for Alaska Planning have partnered with the Pacific Northwest Research Station to assess the climate change impacts on forested ecosystems in all regions of Alaska. Stakeholder involvement is a significant component of this project. This assessment will include identifying historical long-term datasets, determining key current patterns and processes that are important to stakeholders, and projecting those key patterns and processes into the future under various climate change scenarios. Specific components are to review and synthesize existing knowledge, provide a baseline and scenarios of change, and identify data gaps and uncertainties.
Stakeholder Workshop
On November 5, 2009 a stakeholder workshop was held via video conference linking stakeholders in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, and Skagway. This workshop was an opportunity to engage with the core research team to let us know what issues are most important to stakeholders and how we can address these issues so that the report is relevant and useful. The goals of this project are to review and synthesize existing knowledge, provide a baseline and scenarios of change, and identify data gaps and uncertainties. Participants included representatives from: Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, Alaska State Division of Forestry, National Park Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, SEACC, Tanana Chiefs Conference, The Nature Conservancy, U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service, U. S. Forest Service, U. S. Geological Survey, and University of Alaska.
We want to hear from stakeholders!
PLEASE COMPLETE A SHORT ON-LINE SURVEY by December 15, 2009, if you are interested in providing stakeholder feedback for this project. This will help document stakeholder input.
If you attended the workshop in-person, PLEASE complete a short WORKSHOP EVALUATION to let us know how the workshop went for you!
Workshop Materials (PDF)
Agenda
Overview of the project goals and methods (Teresa Hollingsworth)
Overview of SNAP products and scenarios (Scott Rupp)
Draft outline of project report (Scott Rupp and Teresa Hollingsworth)
Breakout group instructions
For more information, please contact:
Teresa Hollingsworth, 907-474-2424 or
Sarah Trainor, 907-474-7878
Resources
Pacific Northwest Research Station This US Forest Service research station provides scientific information to land managers, policymakers, and citizens. Research information and decision support tools are available for fire research, climate change, invasive species, old-growth forests, planning applications, post-fire forest management and silvicultural experiments.
Scenarios Network for Alaska Planning Objective data for people who make policy, management, and economic decisions. Services and products include maps and projections of future conditions, objective interpretations of projected scenarios, including ramifications for management decisions, detailed explanations of the assumptions, models, and methods, and uncertainties associated with projections.
US Fish and Wildlife Service invasive species program Alaska region invasive species reports and distribution maps.
Webinar Presentation: Changes to Permafrost in Alaska: Observations and Modeling, by Vladimir Romanovsky, University of Alaska Fairbanks. In this presentation, Dr. Romanovsky discusses possible effects of degrading permafrost in the Alaskan Arctic and Sub-Arctic on hydrology, ecosystems, infrastructure, and the carbon cycle. Listen to the webinar Podcast, view presentation/slides:Changes to permafrost in Alaska: observations and modeling.
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