Award Abstract # 2224743
LTER: The Role of Climate Variability in Controlling Arctic Ecosystem Function

NSF Org: DEB
Division Of Environmental Biology
Recipient: THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK
Initial Amendment Date: May 16, 2023
Latest Amendment Date: June 17, 2025
Award Number: 2224743
Award Instrument: Continuing Grant
Program Manager: Andrea Porras-Alfaro
aporrasa@nsf.gov
 (703)292-2944
DEB
 Division Of Environmental Biology
BIO
 Directorate for Biological Sciences
Start Date: June 1, 2023
End Date: May 31, 2029 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $7,650,000.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $3,825,000.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2023 = $1,537,795.00
FY 2024 = $1,012,205.00

FY 2025 = $1,275,000.00
History of Investigator:
  • Kevin Griffin (Principal Investigator)
    griff@ldeo.columbia.edu
  • George Kling (Co-Principal Investigator)
  • Duncan Menge (Co-Principal Investigator)
  • Natalie Boelman (Co-Principal Investigator)
  • Rose Cory (Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: Columbia University
615 W 131ST ST
NEW YORK
NY  US  10027-7922
(212)854-6851
Sponsor Congressional District: 13
Primary Place of Performance: Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University
61 Route 9W
Palisades
NY  US  10964-1706
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:
17
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): F4N1QNPB95M4
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s): LONG TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH
Primary Program Source: 01002829DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
01002627DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT

01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT

01002425DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT

01002324DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT

01002728DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s): 1195, 9251
Program Element Code(s): 119500
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.074

ABSTRACT

The Arctic is warming more rapidly than the rest of the planet. Thawing of previously frozen soils will have consequences for society through alteration of carbon emissions. Most previous research has focused on how Arctic ecosystems respond to average warming trends. There is however very little research on variability of environmental conditions within that average warming trend. The Arctic Long-Term Ecological Research site (ARC-LTER) community has found that tundra ecosystems respond strongly to fluctuations in environment on a range of time scales. ARC-LTER will continue to produce long-term data and perform modeling simulations that examine the role of that environmental variability on critical ecosystem functions. The main activities in this renewal will expand our understanding by focusing on how climate variability affects the terrestrial production and breakdown of organic matter and how those processes combine to affect CO2 production in lakes and streams. The project will therefore contribute understanding of how trends in mean climate, climate variability, and disturbances all interact to control arctic ecosystem structure and function. The project will have many broader impacts such as training of young investigators, engagement of K-12 teachers in research via the Earth Camp program, schoolyard activities and research experiences for teachers. Outreach to stakeholders will include briefings to Alaska State, North Slope Borough, and US government agencies overseeing environmental and natural resource programs. ARC-LTER will also work with the Study of Environmental Arctic Change program on co-production of knowledge with Indigenous experts for use in decision making.

The 2023-2029 ARC-LTER project will determine how concurrence of climate trends and altered variability of environmental conditions combine to affect arctic ecosystems. The project will test the hypothesis that variability in environmental conditions is a stronger driver of change in the Arctic than are the average long-term trends in climate. The project will examine how ?openness? and ?connectedness? of ecosystems relate to disturbances such as wildfire and climate change. This research will include the maintenance of ongoing and development of new activities associated with long-term monitoring, experiments and numerical modeling work in the vicinity of Toolik Lake, AK. The project will address three main questions which will integrate research along the terrestrial-aquatic continuum: Question 1: How does climate variability affect the openness and connectivity of arctic ecosystems? This research will focus on vegetation and biogeochemical cycles in moist acidic tundra along an existing nutrient gradient, within warming plots, and in nearby Alder stands. Question 2: How does climate variability affect key consumers and their influence on ecosystems? The research activities will focus on how climate variability affects the composition of consumer communities, their influence on ecosystems, and the genomic potential and metabolism of microbial communities. Question 3: How does climate variability affect carbon dynamics along the terrestrial-aquatic continuum? The project will study how the dynamics of carbon biogeochemistry along the continuum are affected by environmental variability. Together, the answers to these questions will improve our understanding on how long and short-term changes in environment shape ecosystem function.

This Long Term Ecological Research site is supported by The Division of Environmental Biology and the Office of Polar Programs.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH

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(Showing: 1 - 10 of 26)
Lisi, Mary Kathleen and Stephens, Ryan B and Steketee, Jess and Hobbie, Erik A and Rowe, Rebecca J "Annual and seasonal variability in tundra vole ( Microtus oeconomus ) diet in northern Alaska" Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research , v.57 , 2025 https://doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2024.2444044 Citation Details
Berens, Matthew_John and Michaud, Alexander_Bryce and VanderJeugdt, Erin and Miah, Imtiaz and Sutor, Frederick_W and Emerson, David and Bowden, William_B and Kinsman-Costello, Lauren and Weintraub, Michael_N and Herndon, Elizabeth_M "Phosphorus Interactions with Iron in Undisturbed and Disturbed Arctic Tundra Ecosystems" Environmental Science & Technology , v.58 , 2024 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c09072 Citation Details
Berner, Logan T and Orndahl, Kathleen M and Rose, Melissa and Tamstorf, Mikkel and Arndal, Marie F and Alexander, Heather D and Humphreys, Elyn R and Loranty, Michael M and Ludwig, Sarah M and Nyman, Johanna and Juutinen, Sari and Aurela, Mika and Happone "The Arctic Plant Aboveground Biomass Synthesis Dataset" Scientific Data , v.11 , 2024 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03139-w Citation Details
Bruhn, Dan and Griffin, Kevin L and Møller, Ian M "Importance of Timing of Dark Acclimation for Estimating Light Inhibition of Leaf Respiratory CO 2 Efflux" Plant, Cell & Environment , 2024 https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.15335 Citation Details
Caicedo, Daniela Hurtado and Boegman, Leon and Hofmann, Hilmar and Jabbari, Aidin "Prediction of future Alaskan lake methane emissions using a small-lake model coupled to a regional climate model" Inland Waters , 2025 https://doi.org/10.1080/20442041.2025.2461419 Citation Details
Curasi, Salvatore R. and Fetcher, Ned and Wright, Kelseyann S. and Weldon, Daniel P. and Rocha, Adrian V. "Insights into the tussock growth form with modeldata fusion" New Phytologist , v.239 , 2023 https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.18751 Citation Details
Dunleavy, Haley R and Mack, Michelle C "Nonlinear responses of ericaceous and ectomycorrhizal Arctic shrubs across a longterm experimental nutrient gradient" Ecosphere , v.15 , 2024 https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4888 Citation Details
Elphinstone, Cassandra and Hernández, Fernando and Todesco, Marco and Légaré, JeanSébastien and Cheung, Winnie and Sokoloff, Paul_C and Hofgaard, Annika and Christiansen, Casper_T and Frei, Esther_R and Lévesque, Esther and Daskalova, Gergana_N and Thoma "Multiple Pleistocene refugia for Arctic BellHeather revealed with genomic analyses of modern and historic plants" Journal of Biogeography , v.51 , 2024 https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.14961 Citation Details
Golub, Malgorzata and Koupaei-Abyazani, Nikaan and Vesala, Timo and Mammarella, Ivan and Ojala, Anne and Bohrer, Gil and Weyhenmeyer, Gesa A. and Blanken, Peter D. and Eugster, Werner and Koebsch, Franziska and Chen, Jiquan and Czajkowski, Kevin and Deshm "Diel, seasonal, and inter-annual variation in carbon dioxide effluxes from lakes and reservoirs" Environmental Research Letters , v.18 , 2023 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acb834 Citation Details
Hewitt, Rebecca E. and DeVan, M. Rae and Taylor, D. Lee and Mack, Michelle C. "Rootassociated fungi and acquisitive root traits facilitate permafrost nitrogen uptake from longterm experimentally warmed tundra" New Phytologist , v.242 , 2024 https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.19521 Citation Details
Johnson, Keira and Jankowski, Kathi_Jo and Carey, Joanna and Lyon, Nicholas_J and McDowell, William_H and Shogren, Arial and Wymore, Adam and Sethna, Lienne and Wollheim, Wilfred_M and Poste, Amanda_E and Kortelainen, Pirkko and Heindel, Ruth and Laudon, "Establishing fluvial silicon regimes and their stability across the Northern Hemisphere" Limnology and Oceanography Letters , v.9 , 2024 https://doi.org/10.1002/lol2.10372 Citation Details
(Showing: 1 - 10 of 26)

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