International Symposium on

"The Symptom of Environmental Change in Siberian Permafrost Region"

JSPS Core to Core Program
29-30 November 2005
Sapporo, Japan

Symposium Theme:

Hokkaido University, Japan, and Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany, together with the V.N. Sukachev Institute of Forest and Institute for Biological Problems of Cryolithozone, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences are now proceeding the joint research exchange program about “Upscaling the evaluation for the symptom of environmental change in Siberian permafrost region” under the support from JSPS (Japan Society of the Promotion of Science), called JSPS Core-to-Core Program. The aim of this program is to establish good collaboration among the researchers of three countries and to develop and enlarge the collaboration to other countries in the future. We are focusing our research activities on the conservation and rehabilitation of Siberian taiga forests.

A large area of Siberia is underlain by permafrost. Although the precipitation is often as low as in the dessert, water melted from the permafrost layer during summer nurse a large larch-taiga area. Siberian taiga was a carbon sink for a long time and stored 500 Gt carbon, which is 21% of total terrestrial carbon. Recently, however, forest burning in Siberia has occurred in an area of about 20 million ha every year, which is estimated to release equally as much CO₂ as the annual CO₂ emission of Germany or Japan.

There are many causes and feedback mechanisms controlling ecosystem functioning in Siberian permafrost ecosystems. Loss of vegetation alters the cycling of carbon and nitrogen, and stimulates melting of the permafrost due to change of heat balance. The melting of permafrost causes methane emission enclosed in the ice and increases soil water. These processes change soil quality and stimulate greenhouse gas emissions and nutrient discharge. Furthermore, temperature rise till the end of the 21^st century in Siberia is supposed to be one of the most pronounced worldwide. Degradation of taiga ecosystem will stimulate the warming processes.

However, there are huge uncertainties for quantitative evaluations of greenhouse .gas emissions and nutrient discharge because of insufficient monitoring data. Thus, data collection of status quo and analysis of controlling factors of green house gas emissions and nutrient discharge are highly required to evaluate the effect of the disturbance of Siberian taiga on global environmental change. Technique for scaling up of point data is also required to evaluate large scale of Siberian permafrost region.

In the symposium, we will discuss about the symptoms of the all kind of environmental changes and their controlling factors in Siberian Taiga ecosystems. Based on the discussion we will make the strategies for scaling up the evaluation of the symptoms.

Topics

1. Green house gas emissions
2. Carbon and nitrogen dynamics in Siberian ecosystems
3. Forest disturbance and management
4. Microbiological functions in Siberian ecosystems
5. Geocryological function
6. Geographical information

Date and Place

November 29-30, 2005
Conference hall of Hokkaido University
Kita-ku, Kita-8, Nishi-5, Sapporo, Japan

l It takes about 10 minutes on foot from the North exit of JR Sapporo Station to the university conference hall and Hotel Toyoko-inn in which you will stay in Sapporo.
l It takes 36 minutes by Train Lines JR Airport Rapid from Sapporo-Chitose Airport to JR Sapporo Station.
lSomebody of Japanese member will pick up you at Chitose Airport.
l Emergency Phone: 011-706-3857 or 011-706-2503 (Laboratory of Soil Science, Hokkaido University)
l Hotel Phone: 011-717-1045