Hydrologic controls on watershed biogeochemistry
Project ID: 19-JV-11261933-098
Federal Agency: U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station
Partner Institution: University of Alaska Southeast
Fiscal Year: 2019
Initial Funding: $30,840
Total Funding: $80,699
Principal Investigator: Fellman, Jason
Abstract:
Precipitation is a fundamental ecological control in the perhumid coastal temperate rainforest (PCTR) of coastal British Columbia and Alaska. Water movement across the landscape influences terrestrial vegetation, soil biogeochemistry, river discharge, and temperature. Climate change affects air temperature and the timing, amount, and form of precipitation. Despite the great vertical heterogeneity in precipitation in this region, there are few data on precipitation at elevation to aid in interpretations of soil moisture, stream discharge and chemistry in the region. This project is expanding our understanding of the patterns of precipitation, snowpack, soil moisture and river discharge. Spatial and temporal estimates of these attributes will serve as model inputs for vulnerability assessments for terrestrial and aquatic systems of the PCTR region. This funding request will continue and expand support for research technicians and students from the Alaska Coastal Rainforest Center (ACRC) to assist Forest Service personnel to maintain remote weather and streamflow measuring installations to collect data to be used to parameterize streamflow models with spatially explicit weather inputs. We will continue to maintain an established meteorological elevation transect and two stream gauges in two watersheds on the Juneau road system. We will monitor and model watershed stream temperatures within the Héen Latinee Experimental Forest. Weather data are monitored using Campbell Scientific instruments interfaced with real time internet access. Discharge will be measured with wading measurements (using a Sontek Flowtracker ADV) at low flows and using a RiverRay ADCP at high flows. Data from these two watersheds, combined with flow data from four other watersheds in the Juneau area (maintained by the USGS, AK Dept. of Fish and Game and University of Alaska Southeast) will allow us to validate our hydrological models.
Moreover, this project will expand our understanding of coupled hydro-biogeochemical models in the nation’s largest National Forest. To improve biogeochemical models this modification will add routine monitoring of major forms of N and P and DOC along with concentrations of iron and aluminum. Jason Fellman will take over PI duties from Allison Bidlack, given his expertise in aquatic biogeochemistry. A technician from the ACRC will collate and organize existing long term time series data sets from the experimental forest and flow gaging stations and develop a metadata set to allow for archiving of data on the Forest Service data archive, which will facilitate access to the data by other entities.