Contributions are invited to "Detecting Change in Permafrost Through Physical and Biogeochemical Linkages," at AGU Joint Assembly in Toronto, 24-27 May 2009.  This session will integrate work on physical, chemical, hydrological and biological processes associated with permafrost landscape evolution, in the context of changing global climate.

B10: Detecting Change in Permafrost Through Physical and Biogeochemical Linkages

Invited speakers: Sean Carey (Carleton University); Phil Camill (Bowdoin College)
Sponsor:  Biogeosciences
CoSponsor: Cryosphere
Conveners: Evan Kane (Michigan State University), Stephanie Ewing (U.S. Geological Survey), Jennifer Harden (U.S. Geological Survey).

Ecosystems underlain by shallow permafrost are responding to changes in seasonal air temperature and fire attributes, with physical alterations in thaw depths and hydrology. These alterations are spatially variable and interact strongly with biological processes to control outcomes of global change in northern ecosystems. Yet detecting change and linking physical and biological processes associated with permafrost can be confounded by measurement limitations, system variability, and feedbacks. This session invites contributions that improve detection of physical and biological change in permafrost landscapes; establish baselines for detecting change; and explicitly link physical aspects of permafrost with changes in biotic and biogeochemical processes.