Data file describing the biogeochemistry of samples collected at various sites near Toolik Lake on the North Slope of Alaska. Sample site descriptors include a unique assigned number (sortchem), site, date, time, depth, and category (level of thermokarst disturbance). Physical measures collected in the field include temperature, electrical conductivity, and pH.
Data Set Results
These data are from two remote field campaigns in the Noatak National Preserve. Various thermokarst features and their receiving streams were sampled and characterized. A suite of water chemistry (nutrients, major anions and cations, total suspended sediment) and benthic variables (particulate carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a) were measured at 6 major sites (2 in 2010 and 4 in 2011). There were additional sites sampled for water chemistry above and below thermokarst features in 2011.
Water samples were taken at 5 locations at both I-Minus2 and Toolik River thermokarst sites (10 sampling locations total). A combination of ISCO and manual grab samples were taken depending on the sampling location and year.
The Changing Seasonality of Arctic Stream Systems (CSASN) was active from 2010 to 2012. The CSASN goal was to quantify the relative influences of through flow, lateral inputs, and hyporheic regeneration on the seasonal fluxes C, N, and P in an arctic river network, and to determine how these influences might shift under seasonal conditions that are likely to be substantially different in the future. During the project, well and mini-piezometer samples were collected from various depths near stream channels and analyzed for a variety of nutrients.
The Changing Seasonality of Arctic Stream Systems (CSASN) was active from 2010 to 2012. The CSASN goal was to quantify the relative influences of through flow, lateral inputs, and hyporheic regeneration on the seasonal fluxes C, N, and P in an arctic river network, and to determine how these influences might shift under seasonal conditions that are likely to be substantially different in the future. During the project, background samples were collected from four stream channels and analyzed for a variety of nutrients.
Tillers from 24 Eriophorum vaginatum individuals were sampled in late July 2019 to examine differences in percent nitrogen between previously burned (Anaktuvuk River Fire) and unburned tussocks at a nearby unburned control site. At the burned site tussocks exhibiting evidence of rodent grazing were also sampled to separate herbivore effects from those of the fire. From each tussock, 3-4 new leaves were sampled (as indicated by lack of brown tips) and dried at 60°C for 24 hours, before being ground and analyzed for percent nitrogen.
This file contains Eriophorum vaginatum rhizome biomass from a 2017 biomass pluck of previously burned tundra (2007 Anaktuvuk River Fire) and nearby unburned tundra. Rhizome biomass from the pluck was combined with rhizome percent nitrogen estimates (2.47% at the Anaktuvuk River Fire, and 1.05% at the nearby unburned site) to estimate grams of nitrogen per meter squared, to evaluate differences in winter forage quality for the rodent herbivore, Microtus oeconomus. Percent nitrogen estimates were derived from pooled rhizome samples collected from the two sites in late 2018.