New Datasets Exploring Small Mammal Impact on Arctic Vegetation with Dr. Laura Gough

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Background and Research Expertise 

Laura Gough assessing vegetation cover near Toolik Lake, Alaska. Photo credit: Nicole Williamson.

Trained as a plant ecologist, Laura Gough has worked in a variety of ecosystems throughout her career. When completing her PhD at Louisiana State University, she studied coastal marshes and was interested in answering questions pertaining to climate change like sea level rise. New to the tundra, Gough embraced the opportunity to complete a postdoc at the Marine Biological Laboratory working with Gaius Shaver that involved summer fieldwork at Toolik Field Station. That experience has sparked a lasting commitment to Arctic science, where she has remained actively involved ever since. Gough now works as a professor of Biological Sciences at Towson University where she focuses on plant ecology and inclusive excellence in STEM.

Dataset Highlight

Four different ways that voles and lemmings can impact tundra plant communities. Image provided by Austin Roy.

Her collaborative research focuses on trying to understand how microtine rodents such as voles and lemmings affect element cycling in the tundra near Toolik Lake, Nome, and Utqiagvik, Alaska. As part of this project, each site had three treatment plots and a control plot where animals were introduced or excluded from enclosures.

Tundra vole captured near Toolik Lake, Alaska. Photo credit: Ryan Stephens.

Enclosures were established to maintain a set density of animals over varying timeframes, aiming to understand how the density and frequency at which these rodents are present in the tundra affect vegetation and nutrient cycling. Measured variables are vast and include information on vegetation, soil biology, gas flux, temperature data, and more.

As part of this research effort, Gough and her colleagues published a multitude of new datasets hosted by the Arctic Data Center, including:

See additional relevant datasets at the end of this page.

Methods & Technology

Experimental design for Team Vole project. Treatments were replicated three times at all three locations in Alaska. Images and photo by Nicole Williamson.

This collaborative project has been successful due to its extensive fieldwork component. Gough explained that each site was sampled once a year during peak season, where the field campaign would last up to two weeks with a team of graduate and undergraduate students working with the Principal Investigators. The team assessed the relative abundance of the plant species and took the soil samples back to a lab in Texas to be analyzed. The team also used a variety of other methods such as taking digital pictures to document what was happening and remote ground-level sensing to assess the greenness of the canopy. An exception to this method was the data collected on the small mammals. Collaborator Rebecca Rowe and her team visited each site two times each summer to collect data, which was logistically challenging at times. They utilized mark and recapture techniques in a trapping grid for a set amount of time, tagging the animals in order to distinguish them when revisiting the same sites over the course of the project. Gough mentioned that the logistics of visiting each site two times each year became challenging at times particularly when COVID-19 restricted travel and required team members to quarantine before going to the field sites. 

Tundra vole captured in a live trap near Toolik Lake, Alaska. Photo by Nicole Williamson.

The team also monitored the animals inside the enclosures by live trapping. Collaborator Jenny McClaren and her students would measure thaw depth at all the sites at the end of the season and monitor the enclosures to see if they contained enough animals. If there were too few, the team would work to retrieve additional rodents, Gough noted that since lemmings are slower than voles, they could sometimes be captured by hand.

Looking ahead to the future of Arctic research, Gough expressed optimism in remote sensing techniques, which will allow for increased understanding of animal density. Her team distinguished that lemmings and voles make hay piles for food and shelter, and because of their brown color they believed remote sensing could help with detecting them. If more remote sensing technology was available to use for determining animal activity and influence, then it could alleviate the logistical challenges with being in-person and on the ground in the Arctic. Not only that, but it would help researchers collect more data during the off-season when fieldwork opportunities are limited or not possible.

Working in the Arctic

Team Vole researchers checking rodent traps under the midnight sun near Toolik Lake, Alaska. Photo credit: Nicole Williamson.

Working in the Arctic comes with its challenges that differ between projects, locations, and people. One challenge that is location-dependent is land ownership. While Toolik Field Station is operated by University of Alaska, Fairbanks, it sits on public federal land managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Other field sites may be privately owned. When working in Nome, Alaska, Gough and her colleagues ran into land ownership barriers that ultimately prevented them from completing the full project. Gough explained that additional challenges include the logistics and expense of getting to and living at a remote site, the difficulty of being away from family and friends for lengthy periods of time, scientists struggling to prepare for remote work and travel without the proper training, and the logistics of transporting, storing, and cooking food depending on the location.

The future of Arctic Research

As a long-time Arctic researcher herself, Gough sees the region as an amazing place to conduct ecological research. She notes that some special aspects of the Arctic include the uniquely short plants that make it easy for field observations compared to more lush regions. For early career scientists or students looking to pursue a career in Arctic research, Gough recommends finding a mentor who is already experienced and conducting work in the Arctic. She explains that Arctic research can be a daunting field to break into because of the logistical challenges, so finding someone who is already in the field opens the door to greater opportunities. Additionally, Gough recommends keeping an eye out for REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) opportunities and checking the Toolik Field Station job board. A great project to look into is the Arctic Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTER) that is always interested in bringing junior scientists onto the project.

A Love for Collaboration

Researchers inspecting vole enclosure near Imnavait Creek, Alaska. Photo credit: Jennie McLaren.

When asked about the most rewarding aspect of her career so far, Gough immediately reflected on the people she’s worked with. Whether it’s students, postdocs (including Jennie McLaren who was her postdoc and is now a co-PI), or collaborators like Natalie Boelman, the time spent in the field together is special. Gough explained that even students who only visit Toolik Field Station for a short time, often as short as a few weeks, leave a lasting impression on her and their experience in the field shapes their future career paths. Additionally, Gough enjoys getting to see how they progress from their time as an undergraduate student, through graduate school, and beyond.

How is the Arctic Data Center useful for researchers?

With a long affiliation with the Arctic Long Term Ecological Network (LTER), much of Gough’s work had been uploaded onto the LTER Network and Environmental Data Initiative (EDI). However, for this dataset and others, Gough decided to upload the data onto the Arctic Data Center. In most recent times, Amanda Young, Spatial & Environmental Data Center Manager at the Toolik Field Station, has encouraged Arctic researchers to utilize the ADC for data submission and explained that the data portal tool would allow for all Toolik data to be place-based. Alongside Young and other colleagues of Gough, the encouragement to use the ADC was met with great success. When asked about her experience with the ADC, Gough mentioned, “It was easy and the [data curation] support was excellent… I was so pleased.”

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Relevant Datasets: 

 

Co-written by Nicole Greco & Angie Garcia

Community Engagement and Outreach Coordinators, Arctic Data Center