University of Alaska Anchorage
03/11/2026 | News release | Distributed by Public on 03/11/2026 13:36
Emma Hooper presents 'Shrub Community Change in the Copper River Basin, Alaska', March 25
Emma Hooper, M.S. candidate in biology will defend the thesis 'Shrub Community Change in the Copper River Basin, Alaska' on March 25.
Abstract
Warming temperatures are causing increases of deciduous shrub cover in northern ecosystems. Recent remote sensing analysis show deciduous shrub increase throughout Alaska, however, boreal regions with modelled shrub change lack sufficient ground truthing and lack resolution on which environmental factors and which species and vegetation communities are associated with recent changes in shrub cover. I therefore conducted vegetation and soil surveys across the Copper River Basin (CRB) and collected soil samples for N and C concentration analysis. Through multivariate analysis, I classified eight plant communities and determined community structure and composition in the CRB was related to topographic and soil moisture gradients. These communities include dwarf shrub, low shrub, low shrub birch, mixed forest, sedge meadow, spruce forest, tall alder shrub, and tall willow shrub. I found that soil N from tall alder, sedge meadows, and low shrub communities were significantly higher than N from low shrub birch and mixed forest communities. Shrub height was not detected to be a function of soil N. I also concluded that deciduous shrub increase is strongly associated with topography and soil hydrology, suggesting that upland areas with mesic soils have had more favorable conditions in recent decades for shrub growth than low lying areas with hydric soils. Shrub increase from ground truthing in the CRB accurately resembled the recent remote sensing shrub change analysis and echoes patterns documented in other areas of Alaska. These findings highlight the importance of ground truthing and ecological monitoring to assess ecosystem functioning and rates of shrub change in response to a warming climate.
Event details
Event location - BMH 117 and via Zoom
Event date - March 25, 2026
Event start time - 11 a.m.
Event end time - 12 p.m.
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