Mission of the Arctic Geobotany Center
- Explore and understand Arctic geoecological relationships and dynamics at local to global scales;
- Promote interdisciplinary Arctic science research and collaboration;
- Investigate Arctic land-use and conservation issues through geoecological research;
- Educate and train students in Arctic vegetation science field skills and analysis; and
- Disseminate information about our research to educators, students, scientists and the general public.
Recent AGC Publications
Point Lay Permafrost: Infrastructure and Permafrost Degradation in Point Lay, Alaska.
ARCUS Witness Community Highlights, 27 September 2022
Jones, B.M., Peirce, J.L., Connor, B., Kanevskiy, M., Shur, Y., Curry, T., Bolz, P. & Tracey, B.
Cumulative impacts of a gravel road and climate change in an ice-wedge polygon landscape, Prudhoe Bay, AK.
Actic Science, 2 March 2022
doi: 10.1139/as-2021-0014 (Open Access)
Walker, D.A., Raynolds, M.K., Kanevskiy, M.Z., Shur, Y.S., Romanovsky, V.E., Jones, B.M., Buchhorn, M., Jorgenson, M.T. & (...) Peirce, J.L.
70-year retrospective of remote sensing applied to cumulative impact assessments, Prudhoe Bay Oilfield, Alaska. Invited presentation by Skip Walker at the 16th International Circumplar Remote Sensing Sympoisum, Fairbanks, AK, 16-20 May, 2022 | View slides
Landscape impacts of 3D‐seismic surveys in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska.
Ecological Applications, published online 25 April 2020
doi: 10.1002/eap.2143 (Open Access)
Raynolds, M.K., Jorgenson, J.C., Jorgenson, M.T., Kanevskiy, M., Liljedahl, A.K., Nolan, M., Sturm, M. & Walker, D.A.
CAFF Proceedings Volume September 2019: Arctic Vegetation Archive and Arctic Vegetation Classification: Proceedings and abstracts from two workshops 2017 and 2019. Read the report
The Raster Circumpolar Arctic Vegetation Map (Raster CAVM) maps 16 vegetation types, glaciers, saline water, and freshwater at 1-km resolution. It builds on the strengths of the original CAVM, using the same legend, extent and projection, while providing a finer spatial resolution, raster format, and improved mapping of Arctic vegetation. Download map data (zip)
AGC-sponsored Workshops
Upcoming Workshops
Arctic Vegetation Archive / Arctic Vegetation Classification Workshop, ASSW Vienna, February 2023
Rapid Transitions due to Climate and Infrastructure (RATIC) Workshop, ASSW Vienna, February 2023
Past Workshops
Rapid Transitions due to Climate and Infrastructure (RATIC) Workshops, 2014-2022
3rd International Arctic Vegetation Archive Workshop, Arkhangelsk, Russia, 21 May 2019
2nd International Arctic Vegetation Archive Workshop, Prague, Czech Republic, 30-31 March, 2017
Land-cover Land-use Change Workshops, 2008-2014
More Publications by AGC Researchers & Colleagues
The shifting mosaic of ice-wedge degradation and stabilization in response to infrastructure and climate change, Prudhoe Bay Oilfield, Alaska
Arctic Science. Just-IN 3 Feb 2022.
doi: doi:10.1139/AS-2021-0024
Kanevskiy, M., Shur, Y., Walker, D.A. (Skip), Jorgenson, T., Raynolds, M.K., Peirce, J.L., Jones, B.M., Buchhorn, M. & (...) Watson-Cook, E.
The Yedoma Permafrost Genesis: Over 150 Years of Mystery and Controversy
Frontiers in Earth Science. 2022.
doi: doi:10.3389/feart.2021.757891
Shur, Y., Fortier, F., Jorgenson, M.T., Kanevskiy, M., Schirrmeister, L., Strauss, J., Vasiliev, A. & Jones, M.W.
Lake and drained lake basin systems in lowland permafrost regions
Nature Reviews Earth & Environment. 2022.
doi: doi:10.1038/s43017-021-00238-9
Jones, B.M., Grosse, G., Pascale, R-L., Veremeeva, A., Kanevskiy, M.Z. & Gaglioti, B.V.
Seasonal and Long-Term Changes to Active-Layer Temperatures after Tall Shrubland Expansion and Succession in Arctic Tundra
Ecosystems. 2018.
doi: 10.1007/s10021-017-0165-5
Frost, G.V., Epstein, H.E., Walker, D.A., Matyshak, G. & Ermokhina, K.
Vegetation on mesic loamy and sandy soils along a 1700-km maritime Euarasia Arctic Transect
Applied Vegetation Science. 2018.
doi: 10.1111/avsc.12401 (open access)
Walker, D.A., Epstein, H.E., Sibik, J., Bhatt, U., Romanovsky, V.E., Breen, A.L., Chasnikova, S., Daanen, R. & (...) Timling, I.
Circumpolar Arctic Vegetation Classification
Phytocoenologia 48:181-201. 2017.
doi: 10.1127/phyto/2017/0192 (open access)
Walker, D.A., Daniëls, F.J.A., Matveyeva, N.V., Šibík, J., Walker, M.D., Breen, A.L., Druckenmiller, L.A., Raynolds, M.K. & (...) Wirth, L.M.
Degradation and stabilization of ice wedges: Implications for assessing risk of thermokarst in northern Alaska
Geomorphology 297:20-42. 2017.
doi: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2017.09.001
Kanevskiy, M., Shur, Y., Jorgensen, T., Brown, D.R.N., Moskalenko, N., Brown, J., Walker, D.A., Raynolds, M.K. and Buchhorn, M.
The Alaska Arctic Vegetation Archive (AVA-AK). Phytocoenologia 46:221-229. 2016.
doi:10.1127/phyto/2016/0128
Walker, D.A., Breen, A.L., Druckenmiller, L.A., Wirth, L., Fisher, W, Raynolds, M.K, Sibík, J., Walker, M.D., Hennekens, S., & (...) Zona, D.
Increased wetness confounds Landsat-derived NDVI trends in the central Alaska North Slope region, 1985-2011
Environmental Research Letters, 11:085004. 2016. doi:10.1088/1748-9326/11/8/085004
Raynolds, M.K. and Walker, D.A.
Circumpolar arctic vegetation: A hierarchic review and roadmap toward an internationally consistent approach to survey, archive and classify tundra plot data Environmental Research Letters, 11(5), 055005. 2016. doi:10.1088/1748-9326/11/5/055005
Walker, D.A., Daniëls, F.J.A., Alsos, I., Bhatt, U.S., Breen, A.L., Buchhorn, M., Bültmann, H., Druckenmiller, L.A., Edwards, M.E., & (...) Webber, P.J.
Differentiating among Four Arctic Tundra Plant Communities at Ivotuk, Alaska Using Field Spectroscopy
Remote Sensing, 8(1), 51. 2016. doi:10.3390/rs8010051
Bratsch, S.N., Epstein, H.E., Buchhorn, M. and Walker, D.A.