2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference

March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH

5/24/2021 | 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM | ECOHYDROLOGICAL PATTERNS IN BURNED AND UNBURNED ARCTIC TUNDRA | Virtual Platform

ECOHYDROLOGICAL PATTERNS IN BURNED AND UNBURNED ARCTIC TUNDRA

Water chemistry in stream networks is important for indicating ecosystem response to environmental change at medium to large scales, especially in Arctic ecosystems experiencing rapid changes in climate and disturbance. However, observing large-scale patterns of water chemistry is still difficult in these remote ecosystems. We used an aerial sampling method to collect stream samples from 60 locations 6 times over two years, including longitudinal sampling of two large Arctic rivers and 42 smaller watersheds, half of which were affected by an intense tundra wildfire 10 years prior. Using a multi-proxy approach, we calculated spatial persistence and temporal synchrony to characterize water chemistry's spatiotemporal variability. We found several unexpected longitudinal patterns from the large rivers among seasons, including persistent discontinuities for some solutes, indicating either hydrological or biogeochemical processes occurring with strong seasonal cycles. The high spatial persistence of solutes suggested that occasional synoptic sampling can characterize longer-term nutrient state in Arctic flowscapes. Simultaneously, the discrete temporal synchrony uncovered the dissimilar response to ecological changes among burned and unburned watersheds. Our results demonstrated that the wildfire did not fundamentally alter the ecohydrological patterns across solutes, though factors controlling water chemistry changed.

Arctic Freshwater
Biogeochemistry
Stream

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Presenters/Authors

Qiwen Zhang (), Brigham Young University, qiwenzhang94@gmail.com;