Terrestrial Ecosystems Community of Practice

Scope of Activities

The Terrestrial Ecosystems Community of Practice was created under the Arctic Research Plan 2017-2021 to develop a landscape-scale understanding of the drivers and impacts of terrestrial ecosystem change. It continues to meet and contribute to the goals and objectives of the Arctic Research Plan 2022-2026.

Deliverables from the Arctic Research Plan

DATA 1 Encourage and implement FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) and CARE (Collective benefit, Authority to control, Responsibility, and Ethics) data management principles through enhanced coordination and collaboration across multiple levels in Arctic research.

• DATA 1.1 Identify verified points of contact (e.g., agency champions, data practitioners, Arctic residents, Indigenous organizations) and their areas of expertise and interests, and encourage them to join the Data Management Collaboration Team on IARPC Collaborations. As part of developing the points of contact, identify and track representation across many axes of diversity (demographics, disciplines/sectors, IARPC experience, career stage, and others) to ensure a diverse and representative group of contributors.
• DATA 1.2 In order to build community buy-in and promote sustained efforts, regularly update and maintain the activities and progress related to data management on IARPC Collaborations. These efforts will ensure transparency, continuous engagement, and alignment with the FAIR and CARE data principles.
• DATA 1.3 Convene quarterly seminars, discussions, and training sessions on FAIR and CARE data management in collaboration with other IARPC collaboration teams and communities of practice. These sessions will address data-related topics that are of interest across different teams or specific to a few teams, with the goal of advancing and supporting the data-related deliverables within this implementation plan. Ensure that a diverse group of presenters and contributors are represented in these activities to provide a broad range of perspectives and expertise. Develop a common format and structure (e.g., questions, prompts) for team meetings to help elicit and articulate perspectives on all aspects of FAIR and CARE to support work towards the community summary/synthesis products.
• DATA 1.7 Support a catalog of systems (a registry of polar observing networks) that conduct or coordinate polar observation and monitoring. This resource will advance beyond a proof of concept through an iterative process with outreach, community engagement, collaboration, metadata curation, and web usability testing. In concert, software design and development will enable a scalable technology architecture, resulting in a fully operational, inclusive, and encompassing tool for discovery. This project will also include a polar observing site discovery tool: an innovative demonstration of aggregating documentation for thousands of research and monitoring sites, stations, facilities, observatories, supersites, buoys, moorings, and community-based observations with a view to interoperability. The end result will be a single-window search for the discovery of observing assets within and across a multitude of networks. This two-year project is supported by the Inflation Reduction Act and will be implemented by the NOAA Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing - Arctic Research Program.
• DATA 1.8 Convene a series of webinars on the incorporation of Indigenous data sovereignty principles into Arctic data management. These sessions will aim to embed CARE data principles in the data management plan process and to explore and learn about the possibility of establishing tribally managed CARE-structured data centers. The goal is to ensure that Indigenous communities have authority and control over their data, with an eye on future implementation plans and the Arctic Research Plan.
• DATA 1.9 Actively engage with and support expert and advisory panel work through the US Arctic Observing Network (US AON), the Sustaining Arctic Observing Network (SAON)’s Arctic Roadmap for Observing and Data Systems (Arctic ROADS), and the Arctic Data Committee in developing Arctic observing and data systems plans. Additionally, support U.S. engagement in and the implementation of data-related recommendations from the Arctic Observing Summit. These efforts will ensure that the United States contributes to and benefits from international coordination and collaboration on Arctic data management.

HEALTH 1 Support the health of Arctic residents through research on public health needs, disparities, and delivery.

• HEALTH 1.3 Along with local health partners, conduct research to support understanding and awareness of emerging zoonotic disease threats identified in the CDC's One Health Zoonotic Disease Prioritization for Alaska workshop report.

HEALTH 2 Address emerging threats to food safety and access, as well as food and nutrition security in the Arctic, through research that addresses how climate and environmental change is affecting the abundance, accessibility, and use of traditional foods and traditional ways of life.

• HEALTH 2.6 Fund and conduct research, and produce a report, on changes in abundance and distribution of migratory caribou in Arctic Alaska.
• HEALTH 2.7 Provide funding opportunities, conduct research, and produce a report, on the impacts of rapid expansion of beaver habitat in the U.S. Arctic, including effects on fisheries and ecosystem services, access to traditional foods, and overall community health.

HEALTH 3 Provide research and technical support for water and sanitation infrastructure.

• HEALTH 3.1 Synthesize and expand upon existing efforts to create data visualization maps of areas at high risk for coastal erosion, permafrost thaw, and flooding within specified future time periods (e.g., 10 years, 50 years, 100 years) to identify at-risk areas and inform investments in climate-resilient infrastructure.

MOMP 1 Coordinate activities and communities of practice that bring together Arctic modeling, observing, monitoring, and prediction to advance Arctic research.

• MOMP 1.1 Support development of synthesis products, best-estimate datasets, and model intercomparison studies using cases from major Arctic field campaigns and long-term observational sites to better enable the use of observational data in model evaluation.

MOMP 3 Support coordination and engagement with Federal, State, international, and non-Federal partners who are conducting monitoring, observing, modeling, and prediction in the Arctic.

• MOMP 3.2 Coordinate among state and federal agencies that support fieldwork and share information among researchers and Alaska communities through the research expedition vessel and mooring matrices and spring and fall public meetings focused on research season activities.

PILR 1 Fulfill Federal requirement to consult with Federally recognized Tribes and Alaska Native Corporations.

• PILR 1.2 Evaluate the Principles for Conducting Research in the Arctic 2018, and update as needed based on the evaluation.

PILR 3 Develop guidance for agencies to consistently apply participatory research and Indigenous leadership in research.

• PILR 3.1 Identify key elements of Indigenous leadership in research with Tribes, Indigenous organizations, and federal agencies. Integrate these elements into the Principles for Conducting Research in the Arctic and develop guidance for federal agencies.
• PILR 3.2 Share information among agencies about how to streamline contracting, agreements, and compensation processes to support co-stewardship and co-production of knowledge.
• PILR 3.3 Convene, facilitate, and participate in discussions to identify mechanisms to foster equitable pathways for Indigenous leadership in research.
• PILR 3.4 To aid in agencies’ ethical engagement and meaningful work with Tribal governments and Indigenous communities and organizations, compile a list of resources and guidance, rules, protocols, and approaches that Tribal governments and Indigenous communities and organizations have put forward. Distribute the list to agencies and post publicly via the IARPC Collaborations website. Share the list with the Tribal governments and Indigenous communities and organizations to provide additional insights, pending their interest, to the federal workforce on implementing the guidance, rules, protocols, and approaches they have put forward.

RISK 1 Summarize currently available data and information requirements associated with hazard and risk mitigation, adaptation, and response efforts. Synthesize community-led activities and information to identify potential needs for future efforts.

• RISK 1.1 Conduct a study identifying where information used in decision-making and planning around risks and hazards can be improved through access to new or additional data sources. This study should consider a wide range of activities associated with ongoing responses to common and emerging hazards, including risk reduction efforts and emergency preparedness and response. The scope of the study will be expanded to include information on tsunamis and volcanoes.
• RISK 1.2 Share findings of RISK 1.1 as a means to (1) spur additional research and science communication aimed at addressing unmet needs for planning, prevention, response, and recovery and (2) inform time-sensitive decision-making and planning processes.
• RISK 1.3 Develop a network that brings together scientists, the emergency management community, and key agency contacts to share knowledge, identify new and emerging challenges, and inform decision-making and operations through research.

RISK 2 Update and improve the “Statewide Threat Assessment: Identification of Threats from Erosion, Flooding, and Thawing Permafrost in Remote Alaska Communities.”

• RISK 2.1 Identify the top threats/hazards to communities and critical remote state and federal government infrastructure in the state of Alaska that should be included in the Statewide Threat Assessment. This might include coastal and river erosion, flooding, thawing permafrost, and changes in the seasonal snowpack.
• RISK 2.2 Upon completion of RISK 2.1, establish a data collection and collation plan to include mechanisms to collect threat/hazard data that may not be readily available.
• RISK 2.3 Collect and integrate disparate threat/hazard information and perform modeling and analysis to understand where natural and human-made threats and hazards pose a risk to Arctic communities.

SYSTEMS 2 Observe, understand, predict, and project Arctic marine and terrestrial ecosystem change and its impacts on humans and the entire Earth system.

• SYSTEMS 2.1 Advance understanding, quantification, and prediction of methane emissions from permafrost changes in the Arctic through international collaborations.
• SYSTEMS 2.2 Carry out and synthesize research and monitoring to improve understanding of important Arctic ecosystem processes and feedbacks. These processes will include responses to environmental changes, such as the associated impacts on wildlife and human communities and infrastructure. This work will be shared via conference sessions and scientific publications.
• SYSTEMS 2.3 Develop and update meaningful products for delivering findings and information concerning key climate features, including the annual release of the peer-reviewed Arctic Report Card on the current state of the Arctic relative to the historical record.
• SYSTEMS 2.5 Convene community-wide workshop highlighting how remote sensing data products can be used to inform multi-scale land models from plot to pan-Arctic and inform use of remote sensing data in land surface models.

SYSTEMS 3 Understand interactions between social, ecological, and physical Arctic systems, particularly in the context of coastal, climate, and cryospheric change.

• SYSTEMS 3.3 Integrate information from field, laboratory, and remote sensing studies to examine and quantify relationships among surface topography, vegetation composition, hydrology, permafrost, disturbance effects (including fire, thermokarst, land use change, and wildlife), geophysical processes in permafrost soils, and humans. Share results in reports, presentations, and scientific publications.
• SYSTEMS 3.4 Better understand the rate of terrestrial and subsea permafrost degradation and their roles in environmental and ecosystems processes and services (e.g., atmospheric and terrestrial carbon, Arctic greening, species invasion) by integrating empirical information into modeling efforts at various scales and delivering results via publications and presentations.
• SYSTEMS 3.5 Foster continued efforts to link multi-agency investments while expanding empirical datasets and synthesizing information that will inform the development of updated essential variable maps for Alaska, Greenland, and the circumpolar Arctic (e.g., permafrost ground ice content, topography, bathymetry, vegetation).
• SYSTEMS 3.6 Improve high-resolution models’ ability to capture coastal processes at the interface of ocean, land, and atmosphere by supporting targeted collaborations among model developers, users, and decision-makers. Products will include an interagency scientific peer-reviewed publication and conference sessions that address these models, as well as non-technical publications.

TIA 1 Survey federally funded research technology.

• TIA 1.1 Strategically engage externally, across IARPC, and within the Technology Innovation and Application Collaboration Team.
• TIA 1.2 Use the Technology Innovation and Application Collaboration Team to support and coordinate technology-related conversations and activities throughout IARPC Collaborations.

Accomplishments

Under the 2017-2021 Arctic Research Plan, the Terrestrial Ecosystems Community of Practice:

• Supported efforts to improve understanding of important ecosystem processes and feedbacks, including NASA ABoVE, USGS Changing Arctic Ecosystems, and USGS Integrated Ecosystem Model for Alaska and Western Canada.
• Supported progress by USGS, NASA, and NSF-funded research on nature, detection, and climate attribution of agents of landscape change.
• Brought together experts to discuss using remotely sensed datasets to monitor ecosystem properties.
• Supported improvement and development of advanced models for integrating climate, disturbance, above- and below-ground dynamics, and interactions and feedbacks to characterize and predict Arctic landscape and ecosystem change.
• Coordinated the development of maps from remotely-sensed data and synthesize available data to document changing plant, fish, and terrestrial animal populations and their habitats.
• Supported and shared efforts to track population dynamics and species movements.
• Shared information and case studies of incorporating scientific observations and the perspectives of Indigenous Knowledge holders into assessments of how changing Arctic ecosystems, flora, and fauna are affecting important subsistence activities, lifestyles, and well-being of northern residents.
• Supported agency and agency-funded efforts to evaluate how changing fire regimes have and are likely to impact northern communities.
• Coordinated research on wildfires, including statistics, mapping, and modeling efforts to estimate emissions from fires.

For a full summary of the Terrestrial Ecosystems Community of Practice’s accomplishments under the 2017-2021 Arctic Research Plan, see the 2021 Performance Element Summary Statements.