Eight Mile Lake Research Watershed, Carbon in Permafrost Experimental Heating Research (CiPEHR): Foam Insulation of Soil, 2014-2015

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. For this specific experiment we asked whether foam could be used to insulate the soil in the Fall season when there is no snow.