Full Proposals for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Proposed IPY Activity Details

1.0 PROPOSER INFORMATION

(Activity ID No: 214)

1.1 Title of Activity
Retrospective and Prospective Vegetation Change in the Polar Regions: Back to the Future

1.2 Short Form Title of Proposed Activity
BTF

1.3 Activity Leader Details
Terry Callaghan
Abisko Scientific Research Station, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Sweden

1.4 Lead International Organisation(s) (if applicable)
SCANNET (SCANdinavian/North European NETwork of terrestrial field bases
CEON (Circum Arctic Environmental Observatories Network)

1.5 Other Countries involved in the activity
The Netherlands
Great Britain
U.S.A.
Russia,
Denmark,
Norway
Canada
Finland
Iceland
Faraoe Islands
Australia

1.6 Expression of Intent ID #'s brought together in this proposed activity
512

1.7 Location of Field Activities
Bipolar

1.8 Which IPY themes are addressed
1. Current state of the environment
2. Change in the polar regions
3. Polar-global linkages/tele-connections
4. Exploring new frontiers
5. The polar regions as vantage points
6. The human dimension in polar regions

1.9 What is the main IPY target addressed by this activity
1. Natural or social science

2.0 SUMMARY OF THE ACTIVITY

Polar environments are changing rapidly. Resulting impacts on terrestrial/freshwater ecosystems affect a) higher trophic levels and resources for Arctic residents, b) biodiversity in both polar regions and beyond due to the migration of many species, and c) land-atmosphere processes through changes in surface reflectivity and exchange of trace gases.
Polar lands are vast and diverse and the knowledge of geographical variation in recent ecosystem change is limited. Attribution of change is difficult because the primary drivers vary from site to site and between the poles: at some sites multiple drivers of change (e.g. climate, UV-B, contaminants, habitat fragmentation) operate concurrently.
Between 1964 and 1974, a network of IBP* Tundra Biome sites was established in both polar areas. Intensive investigations of primary production, production processes, decomposition, plant community structure and soil fauna were carried out together with studies of freshwater ecosystems. These sites and many of the original researchers represent a unique asset for detecting multidecadal environmental change. IPY provides timely opportunities for collating data on past changes, passing knowledge to new generations of researchers and documenting environmental characteristics of sites to facilitate detection and attribution of future changes at IBP sites and others, and on IBP topics in an interdisciplinary context.

Goals
1. To assess multidecadal past changes in the structure and function of Polar terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems and environments in relation to diverse divers of change
2. To assess the current status of Polar ecosystems and their biodiversity
3. To permanently record precise locations of old sites in order to perpetuate platforms for a) the assessment of future changes in Polar ecosystems and their environments and b) sampling for Polar research and assessment programmes.

Approach
IBP sites in both polar regions will be re-visited, documented, and pinpointed with GPS. IBP Tundra Biome alpine and temperate upland sites will be included: comparison among such diverse, cold sites gave increased information on the environmental controls of ecosystem processes. The cold, temperate sites are now even more relevant as they represent analogues of future, warmer, polar sites. BTF will also include appropriate non-IBP polar and sub-polar sites. Investigations of primary production, production processes, decomposition, plant community structure and soil fauna will be repeated using original techniques. Additional measurements (biological and non-biological) will be made following meetings of the BTF group and representatives of linked projects (e.g. ITEX*, IPA*, TARANTELLA*) to maximise the efficiency of time in the field in often remote localities and to ensure cross-disciplinary connections.
BTF will include, or link to, remote sensing projects that will provide a larger geographical context (GOA*) and provide baseline information on vegetation structure from radar and laser remote sensing. The sites will provide validation for remote sensing and modelling communities. The network will also include other aspects of retrospective analysis of ecosystems (e.g. photographic records from the late 1960's) and populations (e.g. retrospective growth analyses) and provide sampling possibilities for various environmental assessments. The project will be implemented by younger researchers interacting with older generations. Data and metadata will be registered with the IPY Project COMAAR.

2.1 What is the evidence of inter-disciplinarity in this activity?
The revisiting, documentation and permanent recording of old sites will provide a legacy and platform for collaboration with several relevant IPY core projects in related disciplines. BTF will be a vehicle to facilitate researchers from many different disciplines (e.g. GIS and vegetation modellers, geoscientists (e.g. IPA), physiologists, ecologists, atmospheric scientists, remote sensing community (e.g. GOA)) to work together in the same study area, creating possibilities for holistic studies. Links will be made to indigenous networks (e.g. ELOKA) where relevant, in particular to seek knowledge for attributing any changes identified between climatic and human causes, and for disseminating results.

2.2 What will be the significant advances/developments from this activity? What will be the major deliverables? What are the outputs for your peers?
BTF will identify multidecadal past changes in terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems at diverse sites in both polar regions. It also looks to future changes by preserving legacies of old sites, data and environmental records, and by passing knowledge between generations of researchers. We will combine old knowledge with new technological abilities to improve the baseline data established more than 30 years ago into a current benchmark understanding of the state of the polar environment that will persist over future decades. BTF will provide services for other IPY projects (e.g. data for validation of remote sensing and modelling (GOA), process-orientated projects (TARANTELLA, ENVISNAR), and data on changes in resources for human populations (ELOKA)). By interacting with these related disciplines, BTF will be better positioned to attribute and scale-up any long term ecological changes identified. Data will also be used to investigate new frontiers in ecological theory and polar global connectivity.

2.3 Outline the geographical location(s) for the proposed field work (approximate coordinates will be helpful if possible)

2.4 Define the approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities?

2.5 What major logistic support/facilities will be required for this project?
Existing field stations
Helicopters

2.6 How will the required logistics be supplied? Have operators been approached?

2.7 If working in the Arctic regions, has there been contact with local indigenous groups or relevant authorities regarding access?
Mechanisms are in place to involve indigenous peoples though IPY projects ELOKA (187) and ENVISNAR (213)

3.0 STRUCTURE OF THE ACTIVITY

3.1 Origin of the activity
This activity is the start of a new programme that will outlive IPY

If part of an existing programme please name the programme – BTF is a new, autonomous project but builds on the International Biological Programme's Tundra Biome participants and site infrastructure which still exist after 30 years. Also, BTF will have strong involvement of the existing networks of CEON* and SCANNE

3.2 How will the activity be organised and managed? Describe the proposed management structure and means for coordinating across the cluster
BTF will convene an international steering committee and will hold workshops to plan and co-ordinate activities. Scientists that established sites decades ago will meet with younger researchers to accumulate site records and data together with original photographic and more recent remote sensing records. Co-ordinators of relevant linked IPY initiatives (GOA*, ITEX*, TARANTELLA*, ELOKA*, IPA*) will be invited to planning meetings to derive added value from site visits. Subsequent data analysis will focus across the scales of site-specific changes and regional changes. The Steering Committee will encourage transnational mobility of young researchers and will organise workshops on cross-site comparisons and metadata analyses and a synthesis meeting analogous to the final Tundra Biome meeting of 1974 will be held in 2009/10.

3.3 Will the activity leave a legacy of infrastructure and if so in what form?
Yes. BTF explicitly builds on the legacies of human capital, data and fixed sites derived from IBP. In return, BTF will leave legacies of younger generations of human capital, new data and knowledge bases and a wide, and geographically diverse network of permanently recorded and well documented sites - a benchmark for detection of future environmental change.

3.4 Will the activity involve nations other than traditional polar nations? How will this be addressed?
The project is based upon original IBP sites and their researchers that are mainly in/from traditional polar nations. However, the explicit intention for older researchers to pass knowledge and work with a younger generation and BTF's stated aim to encourage transnational mobility, will facilitate involvement of non traditional polar nations. In addition, specific mechanisms exist at individual sites to ensure this involvement. For example, the EU ATANS* grant to Abisko provides a unique opportunity to support activities and involvement of new Arctic researchers, often from non-polar nations, within the IPY programme.

3.5 Will this activity be linked with other IPY core activities? If yes please specify
213 Environmental baselines, processes, changes and Impacts on people in sub-arctic Sweden and the Nordic Arctic Regions
503 Co-ordination of Observation and Monitoring of the Arctic for Assessment and Research
774 Annual carbon budget of arctic terrestrial ecosystems
139 Greening of the Arctic: Circumpolar biomass
151 Present day processes, Past changes and Spatiotemporal variability of biotic, abiotic and socio-environmental conditions and resource components along and across the Arctic delimitation zone
282 Land use impact on polar and sub-polar geosystems: extent, significance, perspectives
188 International Tundra Experiment (ITEX): impacts on long-term experimental warming and climate variability on tundra ecosystems
50 Permafrost Observatory Project: A contribution to the Thermal State of Permafrost
59 Terrestrial ecosystems in ARctic and ANTarctic: Effects of UV Light, Liquefying ice and Ascending temperatures
187 Exchange for Local Observations and Knowledge of the Arctic
620 International Study of Arctic Change

3.6 How will the activity manage its data? Is there a viable plan and which data management organisations/structures will be involved?
Data management will follow best practices established within IBP*, CEON*, SCANNET* and NSF* and will follow guidelines in AON* to ensure improved availability and accessibility of data. CEON will map site locations and characteristics. We will use existing facilities for data archiving, management and access, including SCANNET* and COMAAR*.
Data and information will also be transformed in a way that they also will be of interest for the public as well as for the education system at all levels. However, data ownership will reside with those who collect the data and the Abisko Station can only persuade and encourage data owners to make their data available.

3.7 Data Policy Agreement
Will this activity sign up to the IPY draft Data Policy (see website)
Yes

3.8 How will the activity contribute to developing the next generation of polar scientists, logisticians, etc.?
BTF is perhaps unique in that it explicitly seeks to pass knowledge from the older to the younger generation of researchers before it is too late, and to ensure that the different generations work together to identify and attribute past environmental changes while securing the older generation's field sites for future use by the younger generation. Research students and undergraduates, including Indigenous People in appropriate sites, will be key participants in data collection, processing and interpretation. Many of the relatively accessible major observatories are already centres of extensive training for younger researchers while short international courses, as organised by UArctic*, will be developed to facilitate international student exchange.

3.9 How will this activity address education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
Websites for CEON, SCANNET, individual field sites and observatories will be upgraded to enhance public communication. Participants at synthesis meetings will be requested to provide popular science abstracts of their papers and results

3.10 What are the proposed sources of funding for this activity?
Currently, funding is provided by individual countries for monitoring and observations in the Polar Regions and for maintaining sites and infrastructures. We anticipate approaching these same agencies and others (EU, Nordic Council of Ministers, National IPY committees, etc) for expanded funding for IPY. Concurrently, existing, funded relevant projects will be invited to participate in BTF.

3.11 Additional Comments
The IPY initiative is timely for this project: it is probably the last opportunity to safeguard the future of invaluable 30+ year old well-documented sites throughout the world's northern and southern cold regions, and to secure the involvement of 60+ year old researchers who worked at these sites!

The project will reinforce existing networks and establish others that will have benefits for decades: the human capital, IBP* Tundra Biome network and camaraderie established more than 30 years ago has persisted to allow this proposal to be formulated. The same factors have been responsible for many developments in polar ecological research (e.g. ITEX*) while data collected more than 30 years ago have contributed importantly to the Arctic Climate Impacts Assessment.
We wish to perpetuate the legacy created by the IBP* Tundra biome.

*Acronymns
ACIA Arctic Climate Impacts Assessment
AMAP Arctic Monitoring and assessment Programme
CALM Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring Programme
CEON Circumpolar Environmental Observatories Network
COMAAR Consortium for Co-ordination of Observation and Monitoring of the Arctic for Assessment and research
ELOKA Exchange for Local Observations and Knowledge of the Arctic
GOA Greening of the Arctic
IBP International Biological Programme
IPA International Permagfrost association
ITEX International Tundra Experiment
NSF National Science Foundation (USA
SCANNET Scandinavian-North European Network of Terrestrial Field Bases
TARANTELLA Terrestrial ecosystems in ARctic and ANTarctic: Effects on UV Light, Liquefying ice and Ascending temperatures
Uarctic University of the Arctic

4.0 CONSORTIUM INFORMATION

4.1 Contact Details

Lead Contact
Prof Terry Callaghan
Abisko Scientific Research Station, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Abisko Scientific Research Station
S-981 07
Sweden

Tel:          +46 980 400 71
Mobile:   N/A
Fax:         +46 980 401 71
Email:       terry_callaghan@btinternet.com

Second Contact
Dr Craig Tweedie
University of Texas, El Paso,
500 West University Avenue, El Paso,
799 68
USA

Tel:          +1-915-747-8448
Mobile:   +1-517-290-0345
Fax:         +1-915-747-5808
Email:      ctweedie@utep.edu

4.2 Other significant consortium members and their affiliation