Synopses & Reviews
In this edition of the Long Term Ecological Research Network series, editors John Hobbie and George Kling and 58 co-authors synthesize the findings from the NSF-funded Arctic LTER project based at Toolik Lake, Alaska, a site that has been active since the mid-1970s. The book presents research on the core issues of climate-change science in the treeless arctic region of Alaska. As a whole, it examines both terrestrial and freshwater-aquatic ecosystems, and their three typical habitats: tundra, streams, and lakes.
The book provides a history of the Toolik Lake LTER site, and discusses its present condition and future outlook. It features contributions from top scientists from many fields, creating a multidisciplinary survey of the Alaskan arctic ecosystem. Chapter topics include glacial history, climatology, land-water interactions, mercury found in the Alaskan arctic, and the response of these habitats to environmental change. The final chapter predicts the consequences that arctic Alaska faces due to global warming and climate change, and discusses the future ecology of the LTER site in the region.
Alaska's Changing Arctic is the definitive scientific survey of the past, present, and future of the ecology of the Alaskan arctic.
Review
"Alaska's Arctic LTER at Toolik Lake has been at the forefront of terrestrial and freshwater ecosystem research in the Low Arctic for nearly 40 years. This book is destined to become a fundamental benchmark resource not just for today's ecological researchers and their students, but also for future generations of scientists interested in understanding these ecosystems." -- Paul Grogan, Department of Biology, Queen's University
"This work provides a very significant synthesis of ecological research from the Arctic. By drawing on the results of hundreds of publications, linked to new analyses of LTER time series, the authors provide a clear summary of the state of knowledge and highlight the key trajectories of change. This book sets a very high standard and will provide the foundations for the next generation of ecological investigations in the Arctic." -- Mathew Williams, Chair of Global Change Ecology, University of Edinburgh
"The integrated land and water studies at Toolik, Alaska have long been the cornerstone of Arctic ecosystem science. This is an important synthesis that will help guide future studies of environmental change in the Arctic." -- Warwick F. Vincent, Centre for Northern Studies, Laval University
About the Author
John E. Hobbie is the retired Director of The Ecosystems Center at the Marine Biological Laboratory. He is the former Lead Principal Investigator of the Arctic Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) project.
George W. Kling is the Robert G. Wetzel Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Michigan.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Preface
Contributors
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Climate and Hydrometeorology of the Toolik Lake Region and the Kuparuk River Basin: Past,
Chapter 3: Glacial History and Long-Term Ecology in the Toolik Lake Region
Chapter 4: Late-Quaternary Environmental and Ecological History of the Arctic Foothills, Northern Alaska
Chapter 5: Terrestrial Ecosystems at Toolik Lake, Alaska
Chapter 6: Land-Water Interactions
Chapter 7: Ecology of the Streams of the Toolik Region
Chapter 8: The Response of Lakes near the Arctic-LTER to Environmental Change
Chapter 9: Mercury in the Alaskan Arctic
Chapter 10: Ecological Consequences of Present and Future Change in Arctic Alaska