Premium
Co‐producing knowledge: the Integrated Ecosystem Model for resource management in Arctic Alaska
Author(s) -
Euskirchen Eugénie S,
Timm Kristin,
Breen Amy L,
Gray Stephen,
Rupp T Scott,
Martin Philip,
Reynolds Joel H,
Sesser Amanda,
Murphy Karen,
Littell Jeremy S,
Bennett Alec,
Bolton W Robert,
Carman Tobey,
Genet Hélène,
Griffith Brad,
Kurkowski Tom,
Lara Mark J,
Marchenko Sergei,
Nicolsky Dmitry,
Panda Santosh,
Romanovsky Vladimir,
Rutter Ruth,
Tucker Colin L,
McGuire A David
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
frontiers in ecology and the environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.918
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1540-9309
pISSN - 1540-9295
DOI - 10.1002/fee.2176
Subject(s) - permafrost , arctic , environmental resource management , scope (computer science) , resource (disambiguation) , climate change , ecosystem , work (physics) , resource management (computing) , ecosystem services , process (computing) , environmental science , business , ecology , computer science , engineering , mechanical engineering , computer network , biology , programming language , operating system
Assessments of climate‐change effects on ecosystem processes and services in high‐latitude regions are hindered by a lack of decision‐support tools capable of forecasting possible future landscapes. We describe a collaborative effort to develop and apply the Integrated Ecosystem Model ( IEM ) for Alaska and northwestern Canada to explore how climate change influences interactions among disturbance regimes, permafrost integrity, hydrology, and vegetation, and how these dynamics in turn influence resource management decisions. This process emphasizes co‐production of knowledge among decision makers, scientists, major funders, partners, and stakeholders. We highlight research findings based on IEM applications in Arctic Alaska, as well as successes and challenges of the co‐production process. The overall framework and lessons from our work with the IEM are relevant to other collaborative efforts outside the Arctic that aim to develop a decision‐support tool or an undertaking of equivalent scope.