Northwest Boreal Science and Management Research Tool
Dates
Start Date
2015
End Date
2020
Release Date
2015
Summary
Throughout Alaska, land managers and rural communities are faced with developing climate adaptation strategies to prepare for changes in landscapes, ecosystems and terrestrial habitats and their associated resources and services. One of the greatest challenges for land use managers and stakeholders in Alaska is the discovery and accessibility of relevant scientific information and data. The effective dissemination and communication of science relies on improving access for stakeholders to discover research, management plans, and data within their geographic area of interest. To respond to this need, the Northwest Boreal Landscape Conservation Cooperative (NWBLCC) has launched the Northwest Boreal Science and Management Research Tool. [...]
Summary
Throughout Alaska, land managers and rural communities are faced with developing climate adaptation strategies to prepare for changes in landscapes, ecosystems and terrestrial habitats and their associated resources and services. One of the greatest challenges for land use managers and stakeholders in Alaska is the discovery and accessibility of relevant scientific information and data. The effective dissemination and communication of science relies on improving access for stakeholders to discover research, management plans, and data within their geographic area of interest.
To respond to this need, the Northwest Boreal Landscape Conservation Cooperative (NWBLCC) has launched the Northwest Boreal Science and Management Research Tool. This tool allows users to search by keyword and geography to find relevant documents across the boreal region. With this tool, users can explore thousands of curated peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles, state and federal government resource reports, land use management plans, graduate student dissertations and theses and more. Each entry includes geographic information about the area of study, allowing users to draw a box on a map to narrow searches to information directly related to a specific region in Alaska, the Yukon, British Columbia, and Northwest Territories.
Researchers are now working to publicize and deliver the tool to land use managers and Alaska Native Tribes within the NWBLCC region. The researchers plan to inform climate adaptation planning by presenting the scientific information and tool at local conferences, state-wide webinars, and integrating the tool into future research projects.
Throughout Alaska, land managers and rural communities are being called upon to develop climate adaptation strategies that prepare for changes in terrestrial habitat characteristics and their associated resources and services. Discovery of relevant documents and data sources is one of the greatest challenges for land use managers and stakeholders within Alaska despite -- and because of -- the tsunami of information available on the Internet. A focused document portal with geospatial and semantic search capabilities would assist land use mangers in their decision-making and planning processes by connecting them to current and historical research and scientific reports within their region of interest. Effective scientific communication and outreach relies on improving access for stakeholders to discover research, plans, and data within their geographic area of interest. The tool allows users to search by keyword and geography to find relevant documents (i.e., peer-reviewed journal articles, government reports, land use management plans, dissertations, theses, etc.) across the boreal. The Northwest Boreal Landscape Conservation Cooperative is pleased to announce the launch of the Northwest Boreal Science and Management Research Tool. Explore thousands of curated scholarly articles, state and federal resource reports, land management plans, and more. Each entry includes geographic information about the area of study, allowing users to draw a box on a map to narrow searches to information directly related to a specific region in Alaska, the Yukon, British Columbia, and Northwest Territories.