High Arctic Carbon Balance and Productivity Shifts in Baffin Island Canada Over a Multi-Decadal Time Scale

The Canadian High Arctic has in recent history been relatively unexplored and monitored with respect to intense sampling efforts underway in other arctic regions. Presently, virtually all carbon and productivity models in this region are conducted using satellite remote sensing techniques. Recent remote sensing evidence has begun to surface, suggesting that Baffin Island has exhibited some of the most prominent decadal vegetation change throughout the arctic. During the summer of 2009 our UTEP research team spent three weeks adjacent to the Lewis glacier on Baffin Island, Canada re-sampling historical vegetation communities originally established in 1964. Our primary goal was to determine the overall magnitude of change within a 45 year period, and to understand the importance these isolated communities have on ecosystem function. We use a novel approach for quantifying decadal vegetation change using a species cover Non-Metric Multi-Dimensional Scaling (NMDS) analysis, which we then linked to environmental measurements to unravel the magnitude and trajectory of change. We explored ecosystem carbon balance, energy balance, and albedo data and quantified the net radiative forcing potential of this region. Preliminary results indicate an overall drying and an increase in the accumulated biomass in every plant community in this region providing a substantial increase in Gross Primary Production (GPP) over a 45 year time period.