Northwest Boreal Science and Management Research Tool

Throughout Alaska, land managers and rural communities are faced with developing climate adaptation strategies to prepare for changes in landscapes, ecosystems and terrestrial habitats and their associated resources and services. One of the greatest challenges for land use managers and stakeholders in Alaska is the discovery and accessibility of relevant scientific information and data. The effective dissemination and communication of science relies on improving access for stakeholders to discover research, management plans, and data within their geographic area of interest.

 

To respond to this need, the Northwest Boreal Landscape Conservation Cooperative (NWBLCC) has launched the Northwest Boreal Science and Management Research Tool. This tool allows users to search by keyword and geography to find relevant documents across the boreal region. With this tool, users can explore thousands of curated peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles, state and federal government resource reports, land use management plans, graduate student dissertations and theses and more. Each entry includes geographic information about the area of study, allowing users to draw a box on a map to narrow searches to information directly related to a specific region in Alaska, the Yukon, British Columbia, and Northwest Territories.

 

Researchers are now working to publicize and deliver the tool to land use managers and Alaska Native Tribes within the NWBLCC region. The researchers plan to inform climate adaptation planning by presenting the scientific information and tool at local conferences, state-wide webinars, and integrating the tool into future research projects.