| Principal Investigator: | Tank, Suzanne E (16) |
| Licence Number: | 16097 |
| Organization: | University of Alberta |
| Licensed Year(s): |
2017
2016
|
| Issued: | May 30, 2017 |
| Project Team: | Samson Mengistu, David Olefedlt, William Quinton, Chris Spence, Nicole Dion |
Objective(s): To determine the effect of fire on water quality within the southern NWT landscape.
Project Description: The objective of this study is to determine the effect of fire on water quality within the southern NWT landscape. The research team will work across the Taiga Plains and Taiga Shield ecoregions. Differences in landscape between these regions will affect the catchment response to fire. The team will also target catchments with variable permafrost extent, and wetland/lake coverage. The research team will visit 50 stream sites for the measurements. At each site, the team will sample water chemistry (nutrients, ions, organic carbon, mercury) and discharge. Samples will be collected following standard protocols, field-filtered, and stored chilled, in the dark, for later analysis. Analyses will be conducted at the University of Alberta’s Biogeochemical Analytical Service Laboratory, or the GNWT Taiga Lab. This year, the research team are sampling each of the road sites once, in spring-early summer, to capture spring high flows. Last year, the team sampled these same sites in early summer (all sites), early fall (maximum permafrost thaw; road sites only), and late fall (beginning of permafrost freeze-back; road sites only). For the sampling that is based out of Whati, Wekweeti, and Gameti, the research team will have a local guide to assist with the sampling efforts. The team have also undertaken more regular sampling of a fire-affected creek near Jean Marie River (Spence Creek) with the help of community members from that community. The team are currently finalizing reports for each of the communities who have been involved in this research, to provide results from last year's work. The team are happy to provide similar reports from this upcoming year's research. The research team also undertake this research in direct association with the Water Resources Division at the GNWT, and communicate results directly to them for decision-making purposes. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from May 31, 2017 to September 30, 2017.
