Research finds that beavers are colonizing Arctic Alaska

December 7, 2017

Beaver activity in Arctic tundra regions may amplify the effects of climate change on permafrost and lead to landscape changes not currently considered in ecosystem models, according to new research being presented next week at the 2017 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in New Orleans.

University of Alaska Fairbanks scientist Ken Tape will speak about the research during a press briefing at the meeting and via live webcast on Monday, Dec. 11 at 1 p.m. Alaska time (4 p.m. Central). Benjamin Jones of the U.S. Geological Survey in Anchorage also plans to present a poster on Tuesday at 8 a.m. Central Time.

Researchers Benjamin Jones and Christian Zimmerman of the USGS Alaska Science Center, assistant professors Ken Tape and Christopher Arp of the UAF Institute of Northern Engineering, and Guido Grosse and Ingmar Nitze of Alfred Wegener Institute contributed to the research. They used satellite images to document beaver colonization of permafrost landscapes in Arctic Alaska since 1999. Their findings highlight the role of beavers in degrading permafrost and their potential to reshape Arctic landscapes.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Alaska journalists can participate in the press briefing virtually at the AGU press events webpage: http://live.projectionnet.com/AGUPress/FM2017.aspx. Reporters can visit this site throughout the meeting to watch press events in real time and ask questions via an online chat. For more information and instructions, click on the “Webstreaming” button in the meeting's media center website at https://fallmeeting.agu.org/2017/media-center/.

If, for some reason, the streaming does not work, the AGU press team will immediately switch to making the briefing available via teleconference. To call into the teleconference, dial 877-709- 0939. The participant passcode is 192-424-7921. The teleconference will only be available if streaming goes down.

ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: Ken Tape, 907-687-1997, kdtape@alaska.edu; Benjamin Jones, 907-786-7033, bjones@usgs.gov