Field Talk » Climate Change http://www.esa.org/fieldtalk audio interviews go into the field with ecologists Thu, 18 Apr 2013 22:08:18 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 2006-2007 podcast@esa.org (ESA Podcast) podcast@esa.org (ESA Podcast) ESA, Ecology, Environment, Beyond Frontier, Field Talks, The Ecologist Goes to Washington 1440 http://www.esa.org/podcast/images/esa_podcast_small.jpg Field Talk http://www.esa.org/fieldtalk 144 144 ESA Podcast: Field Talks, Beyond the Frontier, The Ecologist Goes to Washington Field Talk explores research results – and the stories of the ecologists behind them – from three of the Society’s journals: Ecology, Ecological Applications, and Ecological Monographs. ESA, Podcast, Field, Talks, Ecology, Environment, Frontiers, Environmental, Science, Ecological, Society, of ESA Podcast ESA Podcast podcast@esa.org no no Changing climate, changing landscape: monitoring the vast wilderness of interior Alaska http://www.esa.org/fieldtalk/changing-climate-changing-landscape-monitoring-the-vast-wilderness-of-interior-alaska/ http://www.esa.org/fieldtalk/changing-climate-changing-landscape-monitoring-the-vast-wilderness-of-interior-alaska/#comments Thu, 28 Mar 2013 19:17:43 +0000 liza http://www.esa.org/fieldtalk/?p=235 Reds and golds of Fall. Broadleaf shrubs flame around the ever-green of conifers in the Toklat basin ecoregion of Denali National Park. Credit, Tim Rains, Denali National Park and Preserve, 2011.

Reds and golds of Fall. Broadleaf shrubs flame around the ever-green of conifers in the Toklat basin ecoregion of Denali National Park. Credit, Tim Rains, Denali National Park and Preserve, 2011.

 

National Park Service plant ecologist Carl Roland lives in Alaska, where climate change is palpably present. Ecologists have predicted major landscape-scale changes in the future of the Alaskan interior, with a potential shift from the iconic black and white spruce boreal forest, to broadleaf trees, or even grasslands, through a combination of heat, drought, insect outbreaks, and more frequent wildfires.

But predicting the future is not simple, not when you’re talking about landscapes as large and varied as the Alaskan Interior.

Carl and his colleagues in the Alaska National Park Service’s Inventory and Monitoring program have established ongoing ecosystem assessment across the Central Alaska Network encompassing Denali, Wrangell-Saint Elias, and Yukon-Charley Rivers National Parks and Preserves.

They have just published the first chunk of data in the February issue ESA’s journal Ecological Monographs, reporting a decade of data from Denali on the distribution and abundance of southcentral Alaska’s six tree species. They established over 1000 permanent sample sites spread across 1.28 million hectares of the north side of the park, hiking into remote locations, scrambling rocky slopes and wading mountain ponds to reach randomized plots. Carl tells Liza Lester why he thinks white spruce may expand higher up mountain slopes and into thawing tundra, while the cold-loving black spruce might lose ground. He describes his efforts to make National Park Service data more accessible, and makes a plea for the complementarity of academic and government science.

Click over to ESA’s blog, EcoTone, for more photos and experimental detail. Read more about the science of Denali’s changing landscape on the NPS Alaska Regional Office website.

Landscape-scale patterns in tree occupancy and abundance in subarctic Alaska. (2013) Carl Albert Roland, Joshua H. Schmidt, and E. Fleur Nicklen. Ecological Monographs 83(1):19-48.

]]> http://www.esa.org/fieldtalk/changing-climate-changing-landscape-monitoring-the-vast-wilderness-of-interior-alaska/feed/ 1 0:32:40 First ten years of data from an ongoing monitoring effort sets a baseline for modeling and forestry management in Denali National Park and Preserve. National Park Service plant ecologist Carl Roland lives in Alaska, where climate change is palpably present. Ecologists have predicted major landscape-scale changes in the future of the Alaskan interior, with a potential shift from the iconic black and white spruce boreal forest, to broadleaf trees, or even grasslands, through a combination of heat, drought, insect outbreaks, and more frequent wildfires. But predicting the future is not simple, not when you’re talking about landscapes as large and varied as the Alaskan Interior. Carl tells Liza Lester why he thinks white spruce may expand higher up mountain slopes and into thawing tundra, while the cold-loving black spruce might lose ground. He describes his efforts to make National Park Service data more accessible, and makes a plea for the complementarity of academic and government science. ESA Podcast no no Injecting humor into climate change http://www.esa.org/fieldtalk/injecting-humor-into-climate-change/ http://www.esa.org/fieldtalk/injecting-humor-into-climate-change/#comments Thu, 23 Sep 2010 21:44:12 +0000 liza http://www.esa.org/fieldtalk/?p=207 Many science communicators suggest that the key to effectively translating climate change research is to keep the message concise, accurate and interesting, all in one tight package. Perhaps the most streamlined of platforms to communicate this science is a comic strip in which the cartoonist has just a few panels to neatly and accurately convey the findings, the alternative viewpoint and the gravity of the issue at hand. Oh, and it should be funny too.

That is a tall order for even the best of communicators, but if it is pulled off, it is arguably the most dynamic and effective platform for engaging people in environmental issues. Neil Wagner, illustrator and writer of the blog and comic strip “What On Earth?” on NPR’s Science Friday program, uses humor to tackle the issue of global climate change and other environmental challenges, such as the effect of invasive species on the coffee industry. He discusses the challenges and pleasures of communicating climate change through his comic strip in a recent interview for EcoTone.

]]> http://www.esa.org/fieldtalk/injecting-humor-into-climate-change/feed/ 0 0:08:22 Many science communicators suggest that the key to effectively translating climate change research is to keep the message concise, accurate and interesting, all in one tight package. Perhaps the most streamlined of platforms to communicate this scie[...] Many science communicators suggest that the key to effectively translating climate change research is to keep the message concise, accurate and interesting, all in one tight package. Perhaps the most streamlined of platforms to communicate this science is a comic strip in which the cartoonist has just a few panels to neatly and accurately convey the findings, the alternative viewpoint and the gravity of the issue at hand. Oh, and it should be funny too. That is a tall order for even the best of communicators, but if it is pulled off, it is arguably the most dynamic and effective platform for engaging people in environmental issues. Neil Wagner, illustrator and writer of the blog and comic strip “What On Earth?” on NPR’s Science Friday program, uses humor to tackle the issue of global climate change and other environmental challenges, such as the effect of invasive species on the coffee industry. He discusses the challenges and pleasures of communicating climate change through his comic strip in a recent interview for EcoTone. ESA Podcast no no Arctic shrubs looming large: Climate change and tundra productivity http://www.esa.org/fieldtalk/arctic-shrubs-looming-large-climate-change-and-tundra-productivity/ http://www.esa.org/fieldtalk/arctic-shrubs-looming-large-climate-change-and-tundra-productivity/#comments Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:37:38 +0000 liza http://www.esa.org/fieldtalk/?p=176 James Hudson_sAll around the world, the subtle—and not-so-subtle—impacts of climate change are becoming apparent.  In the Arctic, where temperatures are warming at about twice the rate of lower latitudes, researchers are discovering marked changes in the landscape. In this month’s Field Talk, we take a trip to the High Arctic with James Hudson, whose paper in the October issue of Ecology looks at a tundra community on Canada’s Ellesmere Island. Hudson and his colleagues found that changes in temperature and seasonality are causing the normally low-lying shrubs in this area to grow to nearly twice their usual weight. Given the importance of the Arctic to global nutrient cycling, these types of studies can provide a road map to identifying areas of likely change.

]]> http://www.esa.org/fieldtalk/arctic-shrubs-looming-large-climate-change-and-tundra-productivity/feed/ 0 0:13:46 All around the world, the subtle—and not-so-subtle—impacts of climate change are becoming apparent.  In the Arctic, where temperatures are warming at about twice the rate of lower latitudes, researchers are discovering marked changes in the[...] All around the world, the subtle—and not-so-subtle—impacts of climate change are becoming apparent.  In the Arctic, where temperatures are warming at about twice the rate of lower latitudes, researchers are discovering marked changes in the landscape. In this month’s Field Talk, we take a trip to the High Arctic with James Hudson, whose paper in the October issue of Ecology looks at a tundra community on Canada’s Ellesmere Island. Hudson and his colleagues found that changes in temperature and seasonality are causing the normally low-lying shrubs in this area to grow to nearly twice their usual weight. Given the importance of the Arctic to global nutrient cycling, these types of studies can provide a road map to identifying areas of likely change. ESA Podcast no no Seasonality and climate change http://www.esa.org/fieldtalk/seasonality-and-climate-change-the-plight-of-a-seabird/ http://www.esa.org/fieldtalk/seasonality-and-climate-change-the-plight-of-a-seabird/#comments Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:29:22 +0000 liza http://www.esa.org/fieldtalk/?p=89 Shaye Wolf with murrelet eggs in MexicoRising temperatures as a result of climate change promise to alter the behaviors of temperature-sensitive organisms. But climate change is also affecting the timing of seasons, which can throw off the alarm clock for critical behaviors, such as breeding. In this edition of Field Talk, we speak with Shaye Wolf, a biologist at the Center for Biological Diversity in San Francisco. Her research, published in the March issue of Ecology, tracks the reproductive behaviors of a small seabird, Cassin’s Auklet, on islands from Alaska to Mexico. She explains that climate change affects different populations in different ways, but could have dire consequences for those that rely heavily on consistent seasonality.

]]> http://www.esa.org/fieldtalk/seasonality-and-climate-change-the-plight-of-a-seabird/feed/ 0 0:12:15 Rising temperatures as a result of climate change promise to alter the behaviors of temperature-sensitive organisms. But climate change is also affecting the timing of seasons, which can throw off the alarm clock for critical behaviors, such as bre[...] Rising temperatures as a result of climate change promise to alter the behaviors of temperature-sensitive organisms. But climate change is also affecting the timing of seasons, which can throw off the alarm clock for critical behaviors, such as breeding. In this edition of Field Talk, we speak with Shaye Wolf, a biologist at the Center for Biological Diversity in San Francisco. Her research, published in the March issue of Ecology, tracks the reproductive behaviors of a small seabird, Cassin’s Auklet, on islands from Alaska to Mexico. She explains that climate change affects different populations in different ways, but could have dire consequences for those that rely heavily on consistent seasonality. ESA Podcast no no Arctic Marine Mammals http://www.esa.org/fieldtalk/field-talk-arctic-marine-mammal/ http://www.esa.org/fieldtalk/field-talk-arctic-marine-mammal/#comments Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:02:36 +0000 liza http://76438670 Timothy Ragen, Executive Director of the Marine Mammal Commission, talks about a special issue of Ecological Applications which focuses on arctic marine mammals and climate change. The Commission supported publication of the Supplement issue, which features a cross-section of experts offering their insights to the future of arctic marine mammals. Ragen talks about which species may be most vulnerable to climate change.

]]> http://www.esa.org/fieldtalk/field-talk-arctic-marine-mammal/feed/ 0 0:05:44 Timothy Ragen, Executive Director of the Marine Mammal Commission, talks about a special issue of Ecological Applications which focuses on arctic marine mammals and climate change. The Commission supported publication of the Supplement issue, which[...] Timothy Ragen, Executive Director of the Marine Mammal Commission, talks about a special issue of Ecological Applications which focuses on arctic marine mammals and climate change. The Commission supported publication of the Supplement issue, which features a cross-section of experts offering their insights to the future of arctic marine mammals. Ragen talks about which species may be most vulnerable to climate change. ESA Podcast no no