The Physical, Chemical and Biological Effects of Crude Oil Spills on Black Spruce Forest, Interior Alaska

ARCTIC ◽  
1978 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
T.F. Jenkins ◽  
L.A. Johnson ◽  
C.M. Collins ◽  
T.T. McFadden
Keyword(s):  
Crude Oil ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Biological Effects ◽  
Spruce Forest ◽  
Interior Alaska ◽  
Physical Chemical ◽  
Forest Interior

Long-term recovery of vegetation on two experimental crude oil spills in interior Alaska black spruce taiga

1994 ◽  
Vol 72 (8) ◽  
pp. 1171-1177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles H. Racine
Keyword(s):  
Crude Oil ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
High Volume ◽  
Belowground Biomass ◽  
Small Areas ◽  
Interior Alaska ◽  
Dead Vegetation ◽  
Low Volume

Vegetation was sampled on two black spruce taiga sites in interior Alaska, 15 and 20 years after crude oil was experimentally applied as low-volume sprays or high-volume point spills. Low volume spray spills that uniformly covered the ground caused initial damage to vegetation, but after 20 years recovery of the understory vegetation was almost complete, with dramatic recovery and expansion of fruticose lichens. High-volume point spills created small areas of surface oil saturation with dead vegetation and little sign of recovery but spread out mostly belowground with little or no apparent effect on the shallowly rooted vegetation above even after 15–20 years. Because winter point spills created a much greater area of surface oil, their effects were more damaging. After 15 years on the saturated surface oiled areas, only Eriophorum vaginatum tussocks survive and grow. At both sites with surface oil, black spruce mortality was high, with no evidence of long-term recovery and with continuing chronic effects after 15 years. However, from a long-term perspective the black spruce taiga ecosystem appears to be able to recover from low volume spray spills and to retain large amounts of crude oil from high-volume point spills belowground with minimal damage to the vegetation. Because of the permafrost, removal of crude oil from this ecosystem by soil excavation is undesirable. In situ acceleration of oil breakdown using fertilizers and bacteria is a possible option; seeding or planting of E. vaginatum on surface-oiled areas may also provide some cover and belowground biomass. Key words: oil spills, taiga, black spruce, interior Alaska, vegetation recovery.

scholarly journals Environmental factors regulating winter CO<sub>2</sub> flux in snow-covered boreal forest soil, interior Alaska

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1129-1159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Kim ◽  
Y. Kodama
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Soil Temperature ◽  
Forest Soil ◽  
Atmospheric Pressure ◽  
Co2 Emission ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Co2 Flux ◽  
Atmospheric Temperature ◽  
Spruce Forest ◽  
Interior Alaska

Abstract. Winter CO2 flux is an important element to assess when estimating the annual carbon budget on regional and global scales. However, winter observation frequency is limited due to the extreme cold weather in sub-Arctic and Arctic ecosystems. In this study, the continuous monitoring of winter CO2 flux in black spruce forest soil of interior Alaska was performed using NDIR CO2 sensors at 10, 20, and 30 cm above the soil surface during the snow-covered period (DOY 357 to 466) of 2006/2007. The atmospheric pressure was divided into four phases: >1000 hPa (HP: high pressure); 985<P<1000 (IP: intermediate pressure); <986 hPa (LP: low pressure); and a snow-melting period (MP); for the quantification of the effect of the environmental factors determining winter CO2 flux. The winter CO2 fluxes were 0.22 ± 0.02, 0.23 ± 0.02, 0.25 ± 0.03, and 0.17 ± 0.02 gCO2-C/m2 d−1 for the HP, IP, LP, and MP phases, respectively. Wintertime CO2 emission represents 20 % of the annual CO2 emissions in this boreal black spruce forest soil. Atmospheric temperature, pressure, and soil temperature correlate at levels of 56, 25, and 31 % to winter CO2 flux, respectively, during the snow-covered period of 2006/2007, when snow depth experienced one of its lowest totals of the past 80 years. Atmospheric temperature and soil temperature at 5 cm depth, modulated by atmospheric pressure, were found to be significant factors in determining winter CO2 emission and fluctuation in snowpack. Regional/global process-based carbon cycle models should be reassessed to account for the effect of winter CO2 emissions, regulated by temperature and soil latent-heat flux, in the snow-covered soils of Arctic and sub-Arctic terrestrial ecosystems of the Northern Hemisphere.

scholarly journals Characteristics of evapotranspiration from a permafrost black spruce forest in interior Alaska

Polar Science ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 136-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taro Nakai ◽  
Yongwon Kim ◽  
Robert C. Busey ◽  
Rikie Suzuki ◽  
Shin Nagai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Black Spruce ◽  
Spruce Forest ◽  
Interior Alaska

EFFECTS OF EXPERIMENTAL CRUDE OIL SPILLS ON TAIGA AND TUNDRA VEGETATION OF THE CANADIAN ARCTIC

1975 ◽  
Vol 1975 (1) ◽  
pp. 517-525 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.C. Hutchinson ◽  
W. Freedman
Keyword(s):  
Crude Oil ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Energy Budgets ◽  
Ground Vegetation ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Tundra Vegetation ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
Vegetation Species

ABSTRACT Summer and winter crude oil spills have been made on tundra and taiga sites in arctic Canada. The short- and long-term effects of these spills have been recorded, to date, over a 3-year period. Spills were made by even surface spraying and by high intensity point spills. The vegetation present prior to such spills was carefully recorded. All surface spills had a devastating effect on above-ground vegetation. Species did, however, differ markedly in both their ability to survive an oil spill and their ability to recover. Many species, especially lichens, mosses, and liverworts, were killed outright. Some woody and dwarf shrubs were able to produce new, healthy shoots within a few weeks of initial defoliation. The reduced production of storage material, as a result of foliage (and photosynthetic) loss, caused markedly increased plant losses by winter-killing factors. Flowering and reproduction were severely reduced, even in the third summer following a spill. Winter spills had significantly less effect than summer spills. Permafrost was little affected, despite changes in the site energy budgets. Damage appeared greater in exposed taiga sites than on the tundra. Some species, such as black spruce, died throughout a 3-year period, emphasizing the necessity for long-term studies for accurate assessment.

scholarly journals Carbon exchange rates in Polytrichum juniperinum moss of burned black spruce forest in interior Alaska

Polar Science ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 146-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongwon Kim ◽  
Yuji Kodama ◽  
Changsub Shim ◽  
Keiji Kushida
Keyword(s):  
Exchange Rates ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Spruce Forest ◽  
Carbon Exchange ◽  
Interior Alaska

The Behaviour and Fate of Arctic Oil Spills

1986 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 13-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. Bobra ◽  
M. F. Fingas
Keyword(s):  
Crude Oil ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Beaufort Sea ◽  
Research Needs ◽  
Physical Movement ◽  
Physical Chemical ◽  
Physical Environments ◽  
The Individual

A brief overview is provided, based on several recent reports, of the dominant factors and processes which influence the behaviour and physical fate of spilled crude oil in the remote harsh Arctic offshore regions. These factors and processes include physical-chemical properties, evaporation, dispersion, dissolution, emulsification, physical movement and interaction with ice. Rates of the individual dominant processes for a typical Beaufort oil in the Beaufort Sea under different physical environments are approximated and applied to various spill scenarios. Research needs in this field are summarized.

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