Warming Experiment

To understand the effects of warming on tundra plants we installed open top chambers (OTCs) to passively warm (1-3 ºC) plots (1m x 1m) established in three common plant community types in the coastal mountains: 1) dry-mesic heather dominated heaths, 2) mesic willow dominated shrublands and 3) wet sedge meadows. The OTCs follow the standard protocol of the International Tundra Experiment (ITEX), which is a network of researchers examining the impacts of warming on tundra ecosystems. This study takes place at both Sphinx and Sentinel Bays (below) on the far side of Garibaldi Lake. Each plot uses different sensors and sampling techniques described below!

Open Top Chambers (OTCs)

Plexiglass chambers simulate climate warming by blocking wind and increasing heating from the sun, warming the plots by a few degrees centigrade.

Phenocams

Cameras on wooden tripods take photos every 30 minutes to allow us to compare greenness and flowering times across warming and control plots. See some of phenocam data here!

TOMST Sensors

TOMST sensors in each plot record temperature and soil moisture data.

Root Ingrowth Cores

Mesh tubes of sterilized soil are buried and later removed to study the roots that grow into the cores.

Soil Microbiometer

Soil samples are taken in each of the plots to examine the amount of soil microbial biomass and the fungal to bacterial ratios of the microbial community.

Sphinx Bay

Heather and Salix research sites & Burton hut

Sentinel Bay

Sedge research site & Glaciology huts