Wolf Creek, near Whitehorse, Yukon, is the location of a long-term multidisciplinary research project that started in 1992. Originally, the Wolf Creek project concentrated on water research. Now, research activities have expanded to include climate and climate change, vegetation, forestry, fisheries and wildlife. Each added element increases our understanding of the complex forces at work in the drainage basin's ecosystems.

The Wolf Creek drainage basin was chosen for research because it's conveniently close to Whitehorse and because of the variety of terrain it offers. The stream drains almost two hundred square kilometres of land area with a change in elevation of 1300 metres, ranging from rugged mountain top to thick boreal forest. Three meteorological stations were established in 1993 within the three different ecological zones in the drainage basin. These consist of boreal forest, subalpine shrubland (which makes up more than half of the basin), and alpine tundra. Each of the stations records air temperature, rainfall, snowfall, wind speed, humidity, solar radiation, snow depth, blowing snow, soil temperature and soil heat flux.

The project began as part of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada's Arctic Environmental Strategy, in partnership with Environment Canada's National Hydrology Research Institute and was designed to improve knowledge of Yukon waters. The information gained at Wolf Creek about how water moves through a drainage basin can be used in other parts of the Yukon for purposes like flood forecasting, environmental impact assessments, and water licence reviews.

Then the site was adopted as a Canadian Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) Program site, linked with the World Climate Program. The goal of the GEWEX program is to help develop accurate computer models of energy and water balance processes in order to learn more about the effects of climate change. Wolf Creek was the third site in Canada to join the GEWEX program.

In 1997, Wolf Creek was added to the list of about a hundred stations making up Canada's Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Network (EMAN). The goal of EMAN is to monitor environmental stress on Canadian ecosystems, particularly on the plants and animals that are part of them. More than 20 separate research and monitoring projects are now under way, operated by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (Water and Forest Resources); Environment Canada (National Hydrology Research Centre, Canadian Wildlife Service, Environmental Protection, and Atmospheric Environment Branch); Agriculture Canada; Fisheries and Oceans Canada; Yukon Government Renewable Resources; universities of: McMaster, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Waterloo, York, and British Columbia; Yukon College; and Whitehorse schools.

The Wolf Creek studies offer opportunities for broad educational use. Yukon College uses data from Wolf Creek for student demonstrations, field exercises, and laboratory assignments. Since the Wolf Creek drainage basin is so close to Whitehorse, it also gives school classes a chance to see science in action. (Adapted from yourYukon Column 47. See also Column 46.)

Compendium of 1998 Research