The Ecology of Climate Change

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The boreal biome, the sweeping band of conifer forest just south of the Arctic Circle, is a key region for studying climate change - and not just the impacts. Certainly, with boreal forest fires growing more frequent and boreal permafrost melting dramatically, the area is responding very visibly to the rise of carbon in the atmosphere. Yet the trees and permafrost themselves are vast reservoirs of carbon. Ecologists like Scott Goetz of the Woods Hole Research Center and Ted Schuur of the University of Florida are keen to understand how climate change is altering the way the boreal biome adds to and takes up carbon from the atmosphere. This science bulletin highlights ongoing experiments in Alaska that aim to unravel these complex feedbacks so scientists can better predict outcomes as climate change continues.