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| Courtesy of Ron Niebrugge |
Scientists at the University of Alaska Fairbanks are hoping to be able to offer berry pickers better data on when berries are ripening and how long they last through winter — by compiling survey data direct from the berry pickers.
UAF’s the Winterberry citizen project needs help gather information about berries across the state. They are trying to better predict how berries are being effected by climate change and want you to tell them when berries are ready for picking. They are hoping to determine how many berries will survive winter and provide food for for the small animals.
Rose hips, high and low bush cranberries and crowberries are the focus of the study as those berries are important food sources for voles, fox, and ptarmigan. With early summers and later winters, researches are concerned that the gap between berries getting ripe and freezing will make many of the fruits inedible, making a hard winter for those who depend on the superfoods nutrients.
According to the folks at Alaska Wildberry Products, this summer has been a difficult year for Alaskan’s favorite fruit.
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| Dr. Christa Mulder |
Alaska Wildberry Products Kon Lor: “Salmonberries are bad, raspberries, because of all the rail, haven’t been doing that great. Berry people have been finding red and black currants, and I think red and black currants are already dwindling. We haven’t had anything else come in. Fireweed hasn’t been that great – it’s been so rainy.”
Unseasonably damp conditions are something new that the researchers are looking at as well.
UAF’s Dr. Christa Mulder:”…the other thing that may be really important and we are starting to think about as we are looking at berries from this year, is that if it is a really wet year they may also rot more. It might not just be temperature and timing, it also might be the conditions that they are in when they are hanging out until they freeze.”
Any Alaskan who wants to help can sign up and complete training either in person or online, they are looking for individual volunteers, K-12 classes, after school programs, parents and children. Participants must commit to watching a berry patch for two years.
Story as aired on KSRM News:
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