Project title: Aquatic Ecosystem Vulnerability to Fire and Climate Change in Alaskan Boreal Forests
Personnel Deanna Strohm (Project Biologist) Elizabeth Hinkle (PhD Student) Will Samuel (M.S. Student) Funding source(s): U.S. Department of Defense, Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program Project description: Fire is the dominant ecological disturbance process in boreal forests and is natural and widespread. However, fire frequency, size and severity are increasing in Alaska owing to climate warming. Interactions among fire, climate, permafrost, vegetation and hydrologic and watershed processes are poorly understood, yet critical for conservation and management of boreal aquatic habitats in a changing environment. Our research will address this challenge on and around DoD lands in interior Alaska by combining a detailed field experiment and measurements with an integrated suite of spatially- and temporally-explicit climate, terrestrial, and aquatic habitat models to better our understanding of the effects of fire and climate change on aquatic communities in interior Alaska boreal ecosystems. The two primary goals of this project are to, 1) quantify fire effects on watershed- and local-scale aquatic habitats and the response of aquatic organisms on and adjacent to DoD lands in interior Alaska, and 2) integrate models that predict climate, fire, vegetation, hydrologic, and thermal dynamics to assess aquatic habitat and population vulnerability under a changing climate on and adjacent to DoD lands in interior Alaska. We will incorporate results from both objectives using a structured decision making (SDM) approach to define management objectives, decision options, management scenarios, and conduct cost-benefit analyses. The final product will be a web-based decision support tool developed to inform decision making. Co-Investigators: Scott Rupp, UAF, SNAP, IARC Peter Bieniek, UAF, IARC Helene Genet, UAF, IAB Collaborators: University of Alaska Fairbanks, USGS, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of Defense, and the Alaska Fire Science Consortium. |
Outreach:
Presentations: Falke, J., S. Rupp, H. Genet, P. Bieniek, A. Bennett, S. Klobucar, D. Strohm-Klobucar, and E. Hinkle. 2021. Wildfire in changing boreal stream ecosystems: a friend or foe for fishes? Oregon Chapter American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting [virtual], 2-4 March 2022. Hinkle, E.G., Strohm-Klobucar, D.D., and Falke, J.A. 2022. Stream habitat and assemblage response to wildfire in interior Alaska boreal streams. Oregon Chapter of the American Fisheries Society Virtual Meeting. 2-4 March 2022. Falke, J., Klobucar, S., Rupp, S., Bieniek, P., Genet, H., Bennett, A., Strohm-Klobucar, D., and E. Hinkle. Aquatic ecosystem vulnerability to fire and climate change in Alaskan boreal forests. Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program Annual Symposium. 30 November – 3 December, 2021. Washington, D.C. and Virtual. Falke, J.A. 2021. Bayesian networks to assess vulnerability of salmonids to climate change and wildfire in Washington and Alaska. Association for Fire Ecology 9th International Fire and Ecology Congress. 30 Nov – 4 Dec 2021 [Virtual]. Falke, J., S. Rupp, H. Genet, P. Bieniek, A. Bennett, S. Klobucar, D. Strohm-Klobucar, and E. Hinkle. 2021. Wildfire in changing boreal stream ecosystems: a friend or foe for fishes? Alaska Chapter American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting [virtual], 22-25 March 2021. Klobucar, S.L., Falke, J.A., Rupp, T.S., & Bieniek, P.A. 2021. Quantifying the spark before the fire: a modeling approach to predict future effects of forest fire on aquatic habitat availability and juvenile Chinook Salmon growth in interior Alaska. Western Division American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting [Virtual]. 11-13 May, 2021. Klobucar, S.L., Falke, J.A., Rupp, T.S., & Bieniek, P.A. 2021. Quantifying the spark before the fire: a modeling approach to predict future effects of forest fire on aquatic habitat availability and juvenile Chinook Salmon growth in interior Alaska. American Fisheries Society, Alaska Chapter, Annual Meeting. Held virtually, 22 – 25 March, 2021. Klobucar, S., Falke, J., Rupp, S., Bieniek, P., Genet, H., Bennett, M., Hinkle, E., and D. Klobucar. Aquatic ecosystem vulnerability to fire and climate change in Alaskan boreal forests. Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program Annual Symposium. 30 November - 4 December, 2020. Washington, D.C. Klobucar, S.L., Falke, J.A., Rupp, T.S., & Bieniek, P.A 2020. Playing with fire? Predicting wildland fire effects on thermal habitat and juvenile Chinook Salmon growth in interior Alaska riverscapes. Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography-Society of Freshwater Science Joint Meeting. Madison, WI, 7 – 12 June, 2020. Klobucar, S.L., Falke, J.A., Rupp, T.S., & Bieniek, P.A. 2020. Quantifying the spark before the fire: a modeling approach to predict future effects of forest fire on aquatic habitat availability and juvenile Chinook Salmon growth in interior Alaska. American Fisheries Society, Alaska Chapter, Annual Meeting. Fairbanks, Alaska, 23 – 26 March, 2020. Klobucar, S., Falke, J., Rupp, S., Bieniek, P., Genet, H., Lindgren, M., Hinkle, E., and D. Klobucar. Aquatic ecosystem vulnerability to fire and climate change in Alaskan boreal forests. Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program Annual Symposium. 3-5 December, 2019. Washington, D.C. Hinkle, E.G., Strohm-Klobucar, D.D., and J.A. Falke. 2020. Aquatic food web and community response to wildfire in interior Alaska boreal streams. Alaska Chapter of the American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting. Fairbanks, Alaska. March, 2020. Hinkle, E.G., Strohm-Klobucar, D.D., and J.A. Falke. 2020. Aquatic food web and community response to wildfire in interior Alaska boreal streams. Alaska Chapter of the American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting. Fairbanks, Alaska. March, 2020. Strohm-Klobucar, D.D., J.A. Falke, and J.W. Stone 2021. Monitoring Arctic Grayling (Thymallus arcticus) demographics and vital rates in a boreal headwater tributary. Alaska Chapter of the American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting [virtual], 22-25 March, 2021. Strohm-Klobucar, D.D., and J.A. Falke. 2020. Gaging the importance: characterizing hydrologic regimes of headwater streams in changing boreal ecosystems. Alaska Chapter of the American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting, Fairbanks, Alaska, 23-26 March, 2020. Hinkle, E.G., and J.A. Falke. 2019. Aquatic food web and community response to wildfire in interior Alaska boreal streams. American Fisheries Society and The Wildlife Society Joint Annual Conference, Reno, Nevada, 29 September to 3 October, 2019. Klobucar, D.D., and J.A. Falke. 2019. Gaging the importance: hydrologic regime characterization for wildfire- impacted streams in changing boreal ecosystems. American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting, Reno, Nevada, 29 September – 3 October, 2019. Klobucar, S.L., Falke, J.A., Rupp, T.S., Bieniek, P.A., Genet, H., and M.A. Lindgren. 2019. Fo’real changes in boreal streams: a multifaceted modeling approach to predict the effects of forest fire on aquatic habitat vulnerability in interior Alaska. 149th American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting, Reno, Nevada, 29 September – 3 October, 2019. Hinkle E., and J. Falke. 2019. The effects of fire disturbance on stream fish community structure, site fidelity, life history, and genetic relatedness in boreal stream ecosystems. Alaska Chapter American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting, Sitka, Alaska, 19-21 March, 2019. Klobucar, D.D., and J.A. Falke. 2019. Gaging the importance: characterizing hydrologic regimes of headwater streams in changing boreal ecosystems. Alaska Chapter of the American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting, Sitka, Alaska, 19 – 21 March, 2019. Klobucar, S.L., Falke, J.A., Rupp, T.S., Bieniek, P.A., Genet, H., and M.A. Lindgren. 2019. Integrating at the interface(s): modeling the effects of fire and climate change to support management and conservation of fish habitat and populations in Alaskan boreal forests. Alaska Chapter of the American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting, Sitka, Alaska, 19 – 21 March, 2019. |