As the Arctic is warming rapidly, vegetation expands northwards, potentially leading to increasing nutrient inputs in lakes. This can result in increased storage or release of carbon depending on lake biology and regional geography. Lakes and the Arctic Carbon Cycle (LACC) is a NERC-funded project that aims to improve our understanding of the relationships between climate, vegetation, and arctic lakes and their role in the carbon cycle.
LACC will investigate lakes in arctic Alaska, Greenland, and Siberia using a range of geochemical and biological methods, including Itrax scanning and analysis of chironomids, Cladocera, diatoms, pollen, plant macrofossils, and pigments. The project is a collaboration between top UK universities, including Southampton, Loughborough, Nottingham, and UCL. More information can be found on http://arcticlakes.wordpress.com/.
Photograph of Maarten van Hardenbroek (University of Southampton), Erika Hogan (Loughborough University) and Suzanne MacLachlan (BOSCORF) preparing the sediment core surface for Itrax scanning. The core is from Ruppert Lake in the Brooks Range, Alaska.