Announcement of Opportunity
Changing Seasonality in the Arctic System (CSAS)
Arctic System Science Program
National Science Foundation
Full Proposal Deadline: 10 October 2008
For further information, please go to:
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2008/nsf08567/nsf08567.htm
The National Science Foundation (NSF) announces a funding opportunity
for research aimed at understanding changing seasonality in the arctic
system. There now exists abundant evidence that pervasive changes are
underway in the patterns of seasonality in the Arctic. The timing and
dynamics of key events such as spring melt and fall freeze-up are
shifting in response to a changing arctic climate, impacting the
interconnected physical, biological, and human components and processes
of the arctic system. Interdisciplinary proposals are sought that employ
field studies, retrospective investigation, modeling, or synthesis to
explore how changes in succession (the sequence, nature, and timing of
critical seasonal events, to include but not be limited to ecological
succession) affect the linkages between, and feedbacks among, components
and processes of the arctic system, thus altering the characteristics
and functioning of the system as a whole.
Better predictability and understanding of the Arctic as a system will
require more knowledge of changes in the seasonal timing and synchrony
of events that are critical to the functioning of the system. The goal
of this solicitation is to improve understanding of key linkages that
are time sensitive and to begin to identify patterns in the kinds of
processes that are vulnerable to changes in synchrony. Priority will be
on proposals that explore time sensitive linkages among parts of the
system, particularly in cases where environmental changes may perturb
the synchrony of linked events, resulting in a structural change in the
interactions among system components. Proposals are sought that address
one or more of the following broad questions:
1. What seasonal events in the arctic system are key to its
functioning as it does now, how are they changing and what is
changing them?
2. How do shifts in seasonal events alter linkages among system
components and how do these changes alter the functioning of the
arctic system as a whole?
3. How do seasonal shifts in the biological, chemical and
physical elements of the system affect subsistence systems (use of
Arctic resources for food, fiber and water)?
4. How do seasonal changes within the arctic system alter
linkages between the arctic and larger scale Earth systems?
Priority will be placed on proposals that involve interdisciplinary
research, including fieldwork, synthesis, and modeling, as appropriate,
to develop a novel, integrated understanding of how shifts in the timing
of important events alter arctic system functioning, how changes in this
system interact with the larger global system, and how they affect
people who live and work in the Arctic. Since the Arctic System Science
(ARCSS) Program supports research that contributes to broad system-level
understanding, projects that consider multiple components and that
consider interactions among human, biological, chemical, and/or physical
aspects of the arctic system are particularly encouraged.
The deadline for proposal submission is 10 October 2008.
For further information and submission guidelines, please go to:
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2008/nsf08567/nsf08567.htm