Geographyhttp://hdl.handle.net/10464/61652024-03-29T07:26:19Z2024-03-29T07:26:19ZRoad Construction, Mobility & Social Change in a Wakhi VillageButz, DavidCook, Nancyhttp://hdl.handle.net/10464/148632021-08-21T01:38:39Z2020-01-01T00:00:00ZRoad Construction, Mobility & Social Change in a Wakhi Village
Butz, David; Cook, Nancy
Throughout the global South road construction is a favoured mechanism of rural development, yet little attention has been given to the implications of new roads for everyday life in the communities to or through which they are routed. Road Construction, Mobility & Social Change offers an intimate glimpse of these implications for residents of Shimshal, a small agro-pastoral community in the Karakoram Mountains of Northern Pakistan, who in 2003 completed construction of a 60km jeep road linking the village to the regional road network. In 2011 and 2012 Shimshal residents were invited to create photos and provide accompanying verbal narratives that evoke the importance of the Shimshal road for their everyday lives. Fifty-seven community members submitted 402 photos with narratives. Approximately 130 of these photos are reproduced here (at least one from each photographer), each with a paragraph-length summary of its associated narrative in three languages: English, Wakhi, and Urdu. The photographs and captions are organized to express six main ways that Shimshalis understand their everyday lives to be affected by the road’s existence: spaces and social contexts; artifacts and visible traces; mobile activities and embodied practices; social relations; identities; and meanings and interpretive frames. Considered together, these photographic and textual materials provide a rare and richly-detailed insiders’ perspective on road construction, changing mobility practices, and daily life in Shimshal.
2020-01-01T00:00:00ZImpacts of Road Dust on Small Subarctic Lake SystemsZhu, LiangAnello, RebeccaRuhland, KathleenPisaric, MichaelKokelj, StevenPrince, TylerSmol, Johnhttp://hdl.handle.net/10464/145942021-08-12T01:58:42Z2019-12-20T00:00:00ZImpacts of Road Dust on Small Subarctic Lake Systems
Zhu, Liang; Anello, Rebecca; Ruhland, Kathleen; Pisaric, Michael; Kokelj, Steven; Prince, Tyler; Smol, John
Arctic regions have been experiencing increasing pressures from multiple environmental stressors, most notably rapid climate change and human development. Previous research has demonstrated the impacts of calcareous dust from gravel roads on surrounding vegetation and permafrost, whereas aquatic systems have remained largely unstudied. Here, we explore whether 1) the chronic generation of dust from the 740 km long Dempster Highway has affected water chemistry and diatom assemblages in lakes in the Peel Plateau region of the Northwest Territories, and 2) accelerated regional warming has affected these lakes. A suite of 27 water chemistry variables was assessed from 28 lakes along a 40 m – 26 km distance from the highway. Paleolimnological analyses of biological proxies (diatoms, visible reflectance spectroscopy-derived chlorophyll-a,
and an index of chrysophyte scales to diatoms [S:D]) were undertaken on dated sediment cores from two lakes near the highway and one lake situated far from the highway, outside the expected range of dust transport. Conductivity and calcium exhibited a wide range of measurements across our 28 sites; lakes within 1 km of the highway generally exhibited higher ions and related variables than more distant lakes. Analyses of diatom assemblages indicated that the two shallower sites near the highway underwent modest compositional changes over the past approximately 100 years, whereas changes recorded at the farther site were more pronounced. The diatom records, supported by chlorophyll-a and S:D indices, indicated that changes in both the near and far lakes were consistent with warming, with little discernable impact from road dust. Whilst chemical changes associated with the half-century old highway corridor appear clear, they are not yet of sufficient magnitude to elicit a directional biological response in algal assemblages.
2019-12-20T00:00:00ZMoisture‐driven shift in the climate sensitivity of white spruce xylem anatomical traits is coupled to large‐scale oscillation patterns across northern treeline in northwest North AmericaLange, JelenaCarrer, MarcoPisaric, MichaelPorter, TrevorSeo, Jeong‐WookTrouillier, MarioWilmking, Martinhttp://hdl.handle.net/10464/145932021-08-12T01:48:11Z2019-12-04T00:00:00ZMoisture‐driven shift in the climate sensitivity of white spruce xylem anatomical traits is coupled to large‐scale oscillation patterns across northern treeline in northwest North America
Lange, Jelena; Carrer, Marco; Pisaric, Michael; Porter, Trevor; Seo, Jeong‐Wook; Trouillier, Mario; Wilmking, Martin
Tree growth at northern treelines is generally temperature-limited due to cold and short growing
seasons. However, temperature-induced drought stress was repeatedly reported for certain regions
of the boreal forest in northwestern North America, provoked by a significant increase in
temperature and possibly reinforced by a regime shift of the Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO).
The aim of this study is to better understand physiological growth reactions of white spruce, a
dominant species of the North American boreal forest, to PDO regime shifts using quantitative
wood anatomy and traditional tree-ring width analysis.
We investigated white spruce growth at latitudinal treeline across a >1000 km gradient in
northwestern North America. Functionally important xylem anatomical traits (lumen area, cellwall
thickness, cell number) and tree-ring width were correlated with the drought-sensitive
standardized precipitation-evapotranspiration index (SPEI) of the growing season. Correlations
were computed separately for complete phases of the PDO in the 20th century, representing
alternating warm/dry (1925-1946), cool/wet (1947-1976) and again warm/dry (1977-1998) climate
regimes.
Xylem anatomical traits revealed water-limiting conditions in both warm/dry PDO regimes, while
no or spatially contrasting associations were found for the cool/wet regime, indicating a moisturedriven
shift in growth-limiting factors between PDO periods. Tree-ring width reflected only the
last shift of 1976/77, suggesting different climate thresholds and a higher sensitivity to moisture
availability of xylem anatomical traits compared to tree-ring width.
This high sensitivity of xylem anatomical traits permits to identify first signs of moisture-driven
growth in treeline white spruce at an early stage, suggesting quantitative wood anatomy being a
powerful tool to study climate change effects in the northwestern North American treeline
ecotone. Projected temperature increase might challenge growth performance of white spruce as a
key component of the North American boreal forest biome in the future, when drier conditions are
likely to occur with higher frequency and intensity.
2019-12-04T00:00:00ZMoisture-driven shift in the climate sensitivity of white spruce xylem anatomical traits is coupled to large-scale oscillation patterns across northern treeline in northwest North AmericaLange, JelenaCarrer, MarcoPisaric, Michael F.J.Porter, Trevor J.Seo, Jeong-WookTrouillier, MarioWilmking, Martinhttp://hdl.handle.net/10464/145862021-08-12T01:48:57Z2019-12-04T00:00:00ZMoisture-driven shift in the climate sensitivity of white spruce xylem anatomical traits is coupled to large-scale oscillation patterns across northern treeline in northwest North America
Lange, Jelena; Carrer, Marco; Pisaric, Michael F.J.; Porter, Trevor J.; Seo, Jeong-Wook; Trouillier, Mario; Wilmking, Martin
Tree growth at northern treelines is generally temperature‐limited due to cold and short growing seasons. However, temperature‐induced drought stress was repeatedly reported for certain regions of the boreal forest in northwestern North America, provoked by a significant increase in temperature and possibly reinforced by a regime shift of the Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO). The aim of this study is to better understand physiological growth reactions of white spruce, a dominant species of the North American boreal forest, to PDO regime shifts using quantitative wood anatomy and traditional tree‐ring width analysis.
We investigated white spruce growth at latitudinal treeline across a > 1,000 km gradient in northwestern North America. Functionally important xylem anatomical traits (lumen area, cell‐wall thickness, cell number) and tree‐ring width were correlated with the drought‐sensitive standardized precipitation‐evapotranspiration index (SPEI) of the growing season. Correlations were computed separately for complete phases of the PDO in the 20th century, representing alternating warm/dry (1925–1946), cool/wet (1947–1976) and again warm/dry (1977–1998) climate regimes.
Xylem anatomical traits revealed water‐limiting conditions in both warm/dry PDO regimes, while no or spatially contrasting associations were found for the cool/wet regime, indicating a moisture‐driven shift in growth‐limiting factors between PDO periods. Tree‐ring width reflected only the last shift of 1976/77, suggesting different climate thresholds and a higher sensitivity to moisture availability of xylem anatomical traits compared to tree‐ring width.
This high sensitivity of xylem anatomical traits permits to identify first signs of moisture‐driven growth in treeline white spruce at an early stage, suggesting quantitative wood anatomy being a powerful tool to study climate change effects in the northwestern North American treeline ecotone. Projected temperature increase might challenge growth performance of white spruce as a key component of the North American boreal forest biome in the future, when drier conditions are likely to occur with higher frequency and intensity.
Primary research article
2019-12-04T00:00:00Z