Circumpolar Arctic Vegetation Science Initiative (CAVSI): Workshop at ICARP IV and contribution to the Arctic Observing Network

Changes to Arctic vegetation, caused by natural and human-caused drivers, are key indicators of alterations to many components of Arctic systems, including landforms, soils, hydrology, permafrost, trace-gas fluxes, species diversity, wildlife habitat, and Indigenous lands. U.S. and international Arctic research during the next ten years, especially during the intense sampling period of the 5th International Polar Year (2032–2033), will require ground-based Arctic plant-community data and vegetation maps across spatial scales, from plant scales to circumpolar scales.

Arctic vegetation data have been collected in the form of plot data and maps over a period of nearly 80-years. These data provide a framework and historical references for classification, observing, and modeling of changing Arctic systems. However, there still are not consistent, cohesive, standardized, international approaches to describe, classify, and map Arctic vegetation.

The Circumpolar Arctic Vegetation Science Initiative (CAVSI) will address these needs during the Fourth International Conference on Arctic Research Planning (ICARP IV). A three-day workshop will finalize a CAVSI white paper, a CAVSI Science plan for the 2026–2035 decade, and inform NSF's Arctic Observing Network Program Strategy Development. The initiative will be structured around four overarching topics that include 1) Creation of an Arctic Vegetation Observing Network (AVON); 2) Development of protocols for field sampling and data archives for vegetation-plot and map data; and 3) Updated Arctic vegetation species checklists, habitat-type and plant-community checklists, and map legends at different spatial scales; and 4) Application of the products of CAVSI to priority U.S. and ICARP IV Arctic terrestrial research topics.

Important aspects of CAVSI include an international network of permanent vegetation plots that are representative of the diversity of climates, floristic provinces, geological substrates, habitats, and disturbance regimes found in the Arctic; inclusion of legacy vegetation plot and map datasets that are valuable references for vegetation change; and the promotion and development of standardized approaches for sampling, describing, classifying, archiving, and mapping plant species, habitat types, and plant communities at Arctic observing stations. Where possible, existing international examples of Arctic vegetation observing efforts will be examined as possible standards for the AVON.

Where feasible, standardized methods that already exist will be adopted for development of local floras, field sampling, and classification. The project will also adopt new methods for vegetation mapping, such as those using multi-sensor, drone-based approaches to map vegetation, and new classification approaches using artificial-intelligence. The project will also promote a new generation of Arctic vegetation scientists with strong training in Earth system science, Arctic vegetation sampling methods, Arctic plant taxonomy, vegetation mapping, and remote sensing.

Specifically, the project will recruit and provide travel funding for early-career and Indigenous participants to the workshop. Lastly, key CAVSI data products will include a Pan-Arctic Species List, a checklist including vascular plants, mosses, lichens, and liverworts; a circumpolar Arctic Vegetation plot-data Archive (AVA) including site-factor and species composition data from Arctic plot datasets; a checklist of Arctic vegetation types; a new version of the Circumpolar Arctic Vegetation Map (CAVM v. 2); and an Arctic Vegetation Map Archive (AVMA).

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.