1. Mountain top vegetation monitoring in Atigun Gorge Field Report Merrill Jensen (all photos taken by Merrill during the project) Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges January 2014 Meeting

2. Project Participants: Janet Jorgensen, USFWS Botanist Al Batten, UAF Herbarium Collections Manager – retired Heidi Helling, USFWS Wildlife Biologist Greta Burkhart, USFWS Aquatic Biologist Charlotte Henson, Volunteer Merrill Jensen, Horticulturist and Volunteer

3. Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments (GLORIA) The purpose of GLORIA is to establish and maintain a world-wide long-term observation network in alpine environments. Vegetation and temperature data collected at the GLORIA sites will be used for discerning trends in species diversity and temperature. The data will be used to assess and predict losses in biodiversity and other threats to these fragile alpine ecosystems which are under accelerating climate change pressures. http://www.gloria.ac.at/

4. Atigun Gorge – monitoring site

5. The Haul Road north of Atigun Pass

6. Roadside attractions

7. USFWS Base Camp at Galbraith Lake

8. Reason #1 to head North

9. Whaaaa…..????

10. Loading packs with survey gear

11. Bugs? What bugs??

12. Arctic home for 5 days

13. The plot layout

14. A square meter of ground, a historic data set, and a missing plant

15. But what is it really?

16. Plot variability

17. Unwinding after a long day

18. Reason #2 to head North 11 pm… Wow…

19. Guarding the offspring

20. Assistant for a day

21. Off to high camp

22. High camp

23. The layout

24. Connecting the points

25. Alpine rock gardens

26. The challenge of terrain

27. What bugs???

28. The geological wonder known as the Atigun Syncline

29. Reason #3 to head North

30. Horned Lark nest

31. Tough duty, but someone has to do it…..

32. Hydrological survey

33. pH testing

34. Reason to head north #4

35. Saxifraga flagellaris

36. Arnica frigida

37. Papaver sp.

38. Saxifraga eschscholtzii

39. Silene uralensis ssp. arctica

40. Boykinia richardsonii

41. Heading Home. Reluctantly.

42. With thanks… Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges Arctic National Wildlife Refuge U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

43. Questions? North Slope Midnight sun