Understanding Ridge-to-Reef and Icefield-to-Ocean Ecosystem Function in a Changing Climate Active
Steep, mountainous watersheds, dramatic climate gradients, and tight links between the land and sea are common features of both the Pacific Islands and Southeast Alaska. In these "ridge-to-reef" and “icefield-to-ocean" ecosystems, environmental changes that occur at higher elevations have downstream impacts on the waters below. Today, these two ecosystems are undergoing changes in climate that are significantly impacting the terrestrial, freshwater, and coastal ecosystems that communities rely on for food, water, recreation, and tourism. For example, changing weather patterns are leading to more frequent and severe extreme storms, atmospheric rivers, droughts, and heat waves. Communities in both regions have deep cultural connections to the landscape and are particularly vulnerable to changes in climate that disrupt ecosystem services.
However, information is currently limited on how the ridge-to-reef and icefield-to-ocean ecosystems function and how they might respond to climate change, hindering adaptation efforts. Resource managers need better information on variability and long‐term trends in drought, as it relates to water supplies, power generation, and freshwater fish management; flooding, as it relates to infrastructure design; ocean chemistry, as it relates to harmful algal blooms, aquaculture, and fisheries; and land cover change, as it relates to runoff of sediments and pollutants).
To address these needs, researchers will examine how the Ridge‐to‐Reef and Icefield‐to‐Ocean ecosystems function as a whole and how they are responding to change. Through a series of collaborative efforts, researchers will address the scarcity of environmental data in these regions, the high cost and difficulty associated with accessing these rugged landscapes for research, and the limited efforts to incorporate local, cultural perspectives and knowledge into the research process .
The learning networks and science products developed as part of this project will benefit stakeholders in both regions as researchers, managers, and community members can share experiences, data collection methods, ecosystem models, and best practices for community engagement and capacity building.
- Source: USGS Sciencebase (id: 64c7d546d34e70357a349b2c)
Steep, mountainous watersheds, dramatic climate gradients, and tight links between the land and sea are common features of both the Pacific Islands and Southeast Alaska. In these "ridge-to-reef" and “icefield-to-ocean" ecosystems, environmental changes that occur at higher elevations have downstream impacts on the waters below. Today, these two ecosystems are undergoing changes in climate that are significantly impacting the terrestrial, freshwater, and coastal ecosystems that communities rely on for food, water, recreation, and tourism. For example, changing weather patterns are leading to more frequent and severe extreme storms, atmospheric rivers, droughts, and heat waves. Communities in both regions have deep cultural connections to the landscape and are particularly vulnerable to changes in climate that disrupt ecosystem services.
However, information is currently limited on how the ridge-to-reef and icefield-to-ocean ecosystems function and how they might respond to climate change, hindering adaptation efforts. Resource managers need better information on variability and long‐term trends in drought, as it relates to water supplies, power generation, and freshwater fish management; flooding, as it relates to infrastructure design; ocean chemistry, as it relates to harmful algal blooms, aquaculture, and fisheries; and land cover change, as it relates to runoff of sediments and pollutants).
To address these needs, researchers will examine how the Ridge‐to‐Reef and Icefield‐to‐Ocean ecosystems function as a whole and how they are responding to change. Through a series of collaborative efforts, researchers will address the scarcity of environmental data in these regions, the high cost and difficulty associated with accessing these rugged landscapes for research, and the limited efforts to incorporate local, cultural perspectives and knowledge into the research process .
The learning networks and science products developed as part of this project will benefit stakeholders in both regions as researchers, managers, and community members can share experiences, data collection methods, ecosystem models, and best practices for community engagement and capacity building.
- Source: USGS Sciencebase (id: 64c7d546d34e70357a349b2c)