ABSTRACT OPP-9714103 WEBBER, PATRICK MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY This research project represents one component of a United States research effort that contributes to the goals of the International Tundra Experiment (ITEX). ITEX is examining the role of global warming on tundra ecosystems throughout the Arctic. This US project will conduct a manipulative experiment at Barrow and Atqasuk, Alaska in which the tundra will be artificially warmed by 3-5o C by placing clear plastic cones on isolated portions of the tundra. The species composition within the cones will be determined on annual and longer time scales. The short- and long-term response of the vegetation changes that result from the artificial temperature increase will be used to project the circumarctic response to global climate change that could be caused by a doubling of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This study is a very important contribution to the US Global Change Research Program because the Arctic region has been predicted to be more sensitive to global climate change than other areas of the Earth and, therefore, a knowledge of tundra response to that change may provide a means to assess any possible onset of global warming.
