Climate altered terrestrial carbon and nutrient flux to the aquatic foodweb from increased depth of soil ice thaw, Selawik and Fish Rivers

This program will investigate the base of the Selawik River basin aquatic foodweb, and link it to the anticipated increase in terrestrial inputs of carbon and nitrogen to the aquatic ecosystem as a result of climate change. The main objectives are: 1) assess the quality and quantity of terrestrial dissolved organic carbon (DOC), organic and inorganic nitrogen, and phosphorus released with increased soil thaw depth during spring and early summer, and its entry to the aquatic ecosystem; 2) quantify change in aquatic microbial, mainly bacterial, respiration and production rates with change in DOC quality and quantity; and 3) examine how change in terrestrial DOC and nitrogen inputs to the aquatic ecosystem might alter the rate of phytoplankton primary production, the community composition, and energy (lipid) content