NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Gwich'in Settlement Area

Objective(s): To understand how permafrost slumping increases the mobilization of carbon, nutrients, and toxins (mercury) from land to water, and the effects of this transport on stream ecosystems and the global carbon cycle.

Project Description: This licence has been issued for the scientific research application No. 5953. The objective of this research is to understand how permafrost slumping increases the mobilization of carbon, nutrients, and toxins (mercury) from land to water, and the effects of this transport on stream ecosystems and the global carbon cycle. Over the next several years, the plan is to measure stream chemistry at a series of sites that drain from the Peel Plateau, near where they enter the Mackenzie Delta. Stream chemistry will be compared from these sites to sites that drain into the Mackenzie Delta from east of Inuvik to understand how different types, and amounts, of permafrost thaw within a watershed affect stream chemistry. The research team will also work at slump sites in the Stony Creek, Vittrekwa River, and Willow River watersheds, to measure the composition of materials released from slumps, and document how it travels downstream. To understand the effects of slumping on stream organisms, benthic invertebrates and bacteria will be collected upstream and downstream of slump sites. To understand how the composition of material that is lost from slumps has changed over time, sediments from Willow Lake will be collected, which has filled up as a result of thaw slump activity in the Willow River. As described elsewhere in this application, all hike-in work on the Peel Plateau will be conducted with the assistance of wildlife monitors, arranged as appropriate via the Tetlit (Fort McPherson) and Ehdiitat (Aklavik) RRC, and as long as COVID considerations do not prohibit this interaction. For helicopter, roadside, and slump sites, simple streamwater samples will be collected using 1 - 2 litre bottles that will be submerged just below the water surface and filled. At slump sites, samples will be collected immediately upstream and downstream of where the slump enters the stream. Elsewhere, a single sample from the stream bank will be taken. Water samples will typically be filtered at the ARI lab facilities in Inuvik, using a simple vacuum pump. Further analyses will be conducted at the University of Alberta. When we collect invertebrate samples, we will use passive samplers that are left in the stream for 2-3 days, or use a “kick net” on the stream bed over a constrained (<10 m2) area. As in past years, the research team is happy to give presentations to local community organizations that are interested in our work. As was done last year, a booth will be booked at the Inuvik summer farmer's market to talk to community members in Inuvik about the research. Arrangements have also been made to provide a presentation to the Ehdiitat RRC's early June meeting to discuss possible sampling in the Willow River. As in previous years, research summaries will be prepared, and circulated to RRCs and any other interested parties. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from: July 14 - August 30, 2024