Why is Modeling Permafrost Dynamics Important?
• The dynamics of permafrost influences the physical environment, ecosystem function, ecosystem structure, and the disturbance regime • The effects of disturbance on permafrost dynamics influences vegetation trajectories after disturbance • Permafrost is warming in many high latitude regions • Areas of discontinuous permafrost are most vulnerable to melting and are also regions of higher population density • Thawing of permafrost has important impacts on humans in high latitude regions The following diagram describes our conceptualization of the soil temperature model. We profile black spruce forest soil into snow cover, mosses, organic soil, mineral soil, and a lower boundary layer. Air temperature or surface thermal fluxes are model drivers.
