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EnvironmentEcosystems11TuesdayApril22013GeologisttracksdriftwooddownMackenziebasinFindingscouldhaveimplicationsforfuturehydrodevelopmentByMEAGANWOHLBERGGeologistNatalieKramerAndersonisexploringun-chartedterritoryintheNWTbutitsnotinsearchofdia-mondsorgold.Shesfollow-ingwood.ThePhDcandidatefromColoradoStateUniversityistestingnewresearchtech-niquestosolvewhatiscur-rentlytheunknownmysteryofhowmuchdriftwoodiscomingintotheMacken-zieRiverBasinandwhereitsgoing.Wereallydostudyevery-thingthatthewatercarriesshesaid.Wehavegaugingstationsthatcalculatethevolumeofwaterthatscom-ingthroughwemeasurealotofthechemistryinthewater...Wealsomeasurealotofthesedimentload...butwehaventreallyevermeasuredtheactualwoodthatscom-ingdownwhichisanotherthingarivercancarry.AndersonwasintheNWTinMarchtoinstallsixtime-lapsecamerasthroughouttheriverbasinoneontheHayRiveroneontheSlaveoneontheLiardtwoontheMackenzieandoneonthesouthshoreofGreatSlaveLake-aknowndepositionareafordriftwood.ShesalsoplanningonhavingtwomoresetuponthePeelandtheArcticRedRivers.Thosecamerasaretakingphotosevery10minutesinordertocatchtheicebreakupandthemovementofwooddownstreamoverthenextthreemonths.LikethestudyitselfAnder-sonsmethodologies-usingtime-lapsephotographyandvideotakenfromakayakontheriverstomeasurevolume-arepreviouslyunexplored.Itsherhopethatthepho-toswillalsohelpheriden-tifyrelationshipsbetweentheamountofwoodbeingtransporteddowntheriverandotherfactorslikewaterlevelsandtimeofyear.ThoughtheimplicationsmaynotseemaspressingasthoserelatedtoastudyonthewaterschemistryAndersonsaidwoodhasanextremelyimportantandunderratedroleinmaintainingtheequilib-riumofriversystems.Youcanthinkofthewoodasabigblockofnutrientsasitscomingthroughthesystemsoyouretransport-ingnutrientsfromtheupperbasinouttotheoceananditsimportanttoknowwherethosenutrientsgo-iftheyrejustroutedreallyquickly-wedontknowanythingaboutourdeepoceans-buttheyndthatitslikeami-crocosmoflifeahotspotintactshesaid.Notalotoftheforesthasbeendisturbedsothewoodthatscomingdownrightnowisprobablyverysimilartohowitsbeencomingdownsincealltheforestgrewinafterlastgla-ciation.Soitsasystemthatsverymuchinsomesortofequilibrium-itworks.WhatshefindsintheMackenziethereforecouldhaveglobalimplications.Almostallthelargeriversintheworldhavebeenexten-sivelyalteredanddredgedofalltheirwoodsoyoucantreallygetagoodestimateofhowallthesebighugedamsweveputupintheworldhaveaffectedwoodoutputtotheoceanwhichispartofasys-temshesaid.Itmightnotbereadilyapparentrightawaybutitspartofthesystem.ForexamplewoodtrappedbehinddamsonChinaslargeriversishauledawayratherthansentdownstreamandtheeffectsarestartingtobeseen.Peoplearestartingtore-alizemoreandmorethatthatwoodisreallynecessaryforalotofbankerosiononthecoastlinessotheyrelosingalotoftheirbeachestheircoastlinesbecausedriftwoodisnolongeronthebeachesshesaid.ThatswhyAndersonsaidestablishingabaselineintheNorthisimportanttodonowbeforetheriversystemiscom-promised.Suchknowledgeshesaidwillultimatelybejustasimportantforindus-trytounderstandasitisforthosetaskedwithprotectingtheenvironment.Foroperatingadamitmightbeusefulinformationforhowmuchmoneyareyougoingtohavetospendclean-ingoutfrombehindthedamwhenyougetthesebiglogs...Whatifyoumodelledyourdamheightsoitsnotbeingovertoppedbutyoudidntre-allytakeintoaccountwhatifyouhaveallofasuddenoveracoupledays...tonsandtonsoflogsshesaid.Whetheryourefororagainstithydrodoesntmat-teryouhavearesponsibilitytotrytobegintounderstandhowitsgoingtoaffectallthenutrientssuppliedtotheecosystemsdownstream.AndersonsresearchissupportedbyagrantfromtheNationalGeographicSocietysCommitteeforRe-searchandExplorationandColoradoState.WhatsreallyneatabouttheMackenzieiswehaveareallygreatopportunitytostudyasystemthatsgenerallyintact...Itsasystemthatsverymuchinsomesortofequilibrium-itworks.NatalieKramerAndersonthroughtheriversystemoriftheressomefeedbackalongthewayshetoldTheJour-nalduringatrektoinstallacameraontheSlaveRivernearFitzgeraldAlta.Decomposingwoodpro-videsalotofnutrientsforbio-diversityandriparianvegeta-tionalongthecorridor.Littlebugsusuallyliketoeatthewoodandotheranimalsareattractedtothesecritters.Aswelloncewoodreachestheoceanitplaysanotherimportantrolethatpeopleareonlyjustbeginningtounderstand.Theyvealsofoundsunkenlogsindeepoceansofliferightaroundthatonelogbecausetheresnosun-lightdowntheretheresnonutrientsgrowing.EvenpeoplehistoricallyhaveharnessedtheforeignwoodcomingdownstreamforsurvivalinthehighArc-ticcommunitieswheretreesdontexistfortoolslikekay-aksshesaid.AndersonsaidtheMack-enziebasinprovidesagreatopportunityforunderstand-ingthewaywoodimpactslargeriversystems.WhatsreallyneatabouttheMackenzieiswehaveareallygreatopportunitytostudyasystemthatsgenerallyPhotosMeaganWohlbergNatalieKramerAndersonageomorphologistfromColoradoStateUniversityhasinstalledsixtime-lapsecamerasonriversaroundtheNWTincludingthissiteontheSlaveRivernearFitzgeraldAlta.Thecamerasaretakingphotographsevery10minutestogetavisualoftheicebreakupandthedriftwoodloadbeingcarrieddowntheriver.AndersonrightandhereldtechnicianGeneviveCotofFortSmithinstallatime-lapsecameralookingoutontoabendintheSlaveRiverbeforetheCassetteRapids.