3 July 2019 Fieldwork at Toolik and Imnavait

My last week in the Arctic has begun! Although I am sad, the team keeps me busy and I try to help out with whatever I can.

Over the last few days we have collected Eriophorum vaginatum, or tussock flowers, also known as cotton grass. Steven Unger will be dissecting these flowers to search for pollinators and other insects. Twice a week the seasons plots are visited for phenology. A previous journal post mentioned that phenology is the science of when. We go plot by plot and write down the stage of several target species. We also use a green seeker to measure the greenness of the plot. At the tram site we take several measurements over a 50 meter transect to monitor the change in vegetation. Check out a previous post about the MISP Tram here.

Here's a video of us doing some fieldwork over the last two days! .be