Eight Mile Lake Research Watershed, Carbon in Permafrost Experimental Heating Research (CiPEHR): Invertebrate Communities, 2015

The Carbon in Permafrost Experimental Heating Research (CiPEHR) project addresses the following questions: 1) Does ecosystem warming cause a net release of C from the ecosystem to the atmosphere?, 2) Does the decomposition of old C, that comprises the bulk of the soil C pool, influence ecosystem C loss?, and 3) How do winter and summer warming alone, and in combination, affect ecosystem C exchange? We are answering these questions using a combination of field and laboratory experiments to measure ecosystem carbon balance and radiocarbon isotope ratios at a warming experiment located in an upland tundra field site near Healy, Alaska in the foothills of the Alaska Range. In this study, we examined how Arctic terrestrial invertebrate communities are affected by warmer summer temperatures and thawing permafrost through the changes in plant productivity, quality, and composition. Using a seven year manipulation of summer air temperatures and winter soil temperatures in the Alaskan tundra we sampled the invertebrate communities in the summer of 2015. Specifically, we asked (1) how do invertebrate communities differ with warmer summer temperatures and thawing permafrost, and (2) are invertebrate community differences due to changes in plant composition, productivity or quality?

永久冻土碳实验加热研究（Carbon in Permafrost Experimental Heating Research, CiPEHR）项目旨在解答以下科学问题：1）生态系统升温是否会引发碳从生态系统向大气的净释放？2）占土壤碳库主体的老旧碳的分解，是否会对生态系统碳流失产生影响？3）单独或联合开展的冬季与夏季升温，会如何作用于生态系统的碳交换过程？

为解答上述问题，研究团队结合野外与室内实验，在阿拉斯加山脉山麓、阿拉斯加希利附近的高地苔原实验场地的升温样地中，测定生态系统碳平衡与放射性碳同位素比值。

本项研究聚焦北极陆地无脊椎动物群落，通过对阿拉斯加苔原的夏季空气温度与冬季土壤温度进行为期7年的野外操控，于2015年夏季对无脊椎动物群落开展采样，以此探究夏季升温与永久冻土融化如何通过改变植物生产力、品质与群落组成，对北极无脊椎动物群落产生影响。

具体而言，本研究旨在回答两个核心问题：（1）夏季升温与永久冻土融化会如何改变无脊椎动物群落结构？（2）无脊椎动物群落的差异是否源于植物组成、生产力或品质的变化？