GEOG 401

Arctic and sub-Arctic ecosystems are warming nearly twice as fast as the rest of the planet. Consequently, terrestrial ecosystems in these regions are changing rapidly. As the climate warms, ecosystems are experiencing longer growing seasons, warmer winters, altered hydrology, and changes in important disturbance processes such as fire. The overall ecological impacts are difficult to anticipate because these changes may interact in unexpected ways. Yet these ecological impacts are important to understand because they may feedback to global climate change. This seminar will focus on changes related to vegetation structure and function in boreal forests in the Siberian Arctic