SCANNET

Contact Details

Toolik Field Station
C/o IAB Logistics, University of Alaska Fairbanks
PO Box 757000
Fairbanks, Alaska 99775-7000 USA
Phone: 1-907-474-7641
Fax: 1-907-474-5513
Director: Brian M. Barnes
Associate Director: M. Syndonia Bret-Harte
Facilities Supervisor: Michael A. Abels
Email:
Webpage: www.uaf.edu/toolik

Location

The Toolik Field Station (TFS) is located on the southeast shore of Toolik Lake, in the northern foothills of the Brooks Range in arctic Alaska (68° 38’ N, 149° 36’ W, elevation 720 m a.s.l).

Mean temperature in January: -24.0 oC
Mean temperature in July: +11.5 oC
Mean annual precipitation: 318 mm

Biodiversity

The area around Toolik Field Station includes a range of tundra ecosystems typical of the three nearby physiographic provinces: the Brooks Range, the arctic foothills, and the coastal plain. These tundra ecosystems include acidic and non-acidic tussock tundras, heath tundra, riparian shrub tundra, and wet sedge tundra, among others.

Human Dimension

There are no villages near the station; the closest habitations are an industrial pump station for the trans-Alaska oil pipeline and a State of Alaska maintenance station for the Dalton Highway. During winter, subsistence hunting is practiced sporadically near the station by residents of Anaktuvuk Pass, approximately 70 miles to the west. Tourism and sport hunting and fishing occur in summer and fall. Winter seismic exploration for natural gas has occurred nearby in recent years. Year-round scientific research is the dominant human activity in the vicinity of the station.

Species Performance

Data on plant and animal phenology and growth under a variety of experimental treatments have been collected in the vicinity of the station.

General Research

TFS has been the focus of long-term, intensive and process-based ecological research since 1975. Research at TFS has produced some of the longest continuous records of a wide range of environmental variables in the North American Arctic. Intensive research at TFS into the mechanisms underlying plant and animal adaptations to the environment and the controls over ecosystem processing of carbon and nutrients has been critical in developing an understanding of how and why arctic ecosystems will change in an altered environment. The Arctic LTER and several independently funded but closely linked projects investigate the effects of environmental change on arctic ecology and ecosystem structure and the function of arctic tundra, streams, and lakes. Research into vegetation response to environmental change has been extensive. Other research has focused on animal adaptations to life in arctic environments and how these adaptations might affect organisms’ response to an altered environment. TFS hosts research on the deposition and cycling of environmental contaminants, including mercury and persistent organic pollutants. TFS is a base for long-term hydrologic research, and more recently has been used as an observation site for research on the thermospheric wind dynamics in the ionosphere. TFS and the arctic LTER maintain a long-term climate monitoring program, and TFS recently initiated year-round monitoring of a variety of other baseline environmental variables, including atmospheric deposition, snow cover, plant phenology, and the phenology of bird and mammal occurrence.

Existing Data Bases

A bibliography of publications arising from research at the station, climate records, and baseline environmental observations are available. Much of the data collected by research associated with the Arctic LTER and Toolik-based Arctic Observatory Network carbon, water, and energy flux project is also available on the web.

History and Facilities

TFS has been a major site for research in the North American Arctic since 1975. TFS operates year-round and is owned, operated, and managed by the Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks Accommodation is available for up to 125 persons at once in summer (April 1 to September 30) and 20 scientists at once in winter (October 1 to March 31). Accommodations are provided in dormitory-style rooms with two beds each or in rooms in large weatherport tents on wooden bases, also containing two beds each. Full food service is provided in a kitchen/dining hall, and there is always a vegetarian option. There are seven multi-use modular laboratory buildings equipped with refrigerators and freezers, workbenches, fume hoods, drying ovens, and general use printers. Extra lab space is provided in overflow tents equipped with electricity and lab benches or tables, but no laboratory equipment. TFS provides deionized RO water for chemistry. Most research projects bring their own laboratory equipment and supplies, but there is a growing catalog of general use equipment available for checkout, including balances, shaker tables, centrifuges, and incubators (see the TFS web page for details). Other facilities include a workshop, shower module, sauna, small library, herbarium, GIS office, and a lecture hall (tent) that can seat approximately 40 people. Telephone/FAX, internet and email access is provided via a wireless internet network and T-1 fiberoptic line to Fairbanks. A copy machine is available and there are several general-use computers, but many researchers bring their own computers. TFS provides additional logistic support, including electricity generation, water and sewage, freight shipment, fuel for vehicles, and access to three science support vehicles for researchers travelling to the station or to road-accessible field sites. TFS also provides a variety of scientific services, including GIS/GPS support, support for building scientific and field instruments, and limited field assistance.

Transportation

Toolik Field Station is reached by road along the Dalton Highway, a gravel road with some paved sections. The nearest commercial airports are in Deadhorse (Prudhoe Bay), Alaska (~225 km north) and Fairbanks, Alaska (~612 km south). Fairbanks and its immediate vicinity comprise the second largest city in Alaska (population 82,840) with an international airport; the logistics support center for TFS at the University of Alaska is located there. During the summer months, TFS provides shuttle service to Prudhoe Bay on Mondays and Thursdays. During summer, science support trucks are available for travel between Fairbanks and TFS once per week, and a commercial van service (Dalton Highway Express) travels between Fairbanks and TFS three times per week.