CONTENTS 



Page 



I. Program overview 1 



Introduction 1 



Scope, objectives and strategy ^^ 2 



II. Coastal arctic tundra ecosystem - a landscape unit 6 



Barrow research design 6 



Treatments 7 



Modeling 12 



Undisturbed ecosystem research 15 



Abiotic 15 



Snow cover and summer climate 15 



Micrometeorology 17 



Soil thaw and model validation 21 



Simulation of meteorological variations 26 



Primary producers 29 



Primary terrestrial production and photosynthesis 29 



Primary production model 35 



Aquatic production and photosynthesis 37 



Consumers 42 



Herbivore populations and grazing effects 42 



Arthropod populations 44 



Avian populations and production 48 



Decomposers - microbiology and nutrient cycling 50 



Soil microbiology 50 



Soil nutrients 52 



Nitrogen fixation - Arctic tundra 56 



Stressed ecosystem research 59 



Barrow terrestrial manipulations 58 



Abiotic 59 



Primary producers 64 



Consumers 64 



Decomposers - microbiology and soil nutrient 65 



Track disturbance 66 



Barrow aquatic perturbations 71 



Oil ecology 74 



Barrow oil spills 74 



Terrestrial 74 



Aquatic 78 



Cape Simpson oil seeps 79 



Terrestrial 79 



Aquatic 84 



Future studies 85 



Prudhoe bay ecosystem 87 



Climate 88 



IV 



