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2008 Alaska Park Science Symposium
October 14, 2008
The Arctic Strategy: Conserving U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Trust Resources in a Changing Arctic
Philip Martin1, Jeff Adams2, Larry Bright3, David Payer4, Deborah Rocque5, Jim Zelenak6
1Fairbanks Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 101 12th Avenue, Room 110, Fairbanks, AK, 99701, USA
2U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 101 12th Avenue, Room 110, Fairbanks, AK, 99701, USA
3U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
4Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 101 12th Avenue, Room 236, Fairbanks, AK, 99701, USA
5Fairbanks Fish and Wildlife Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 101 12th Avenue, Room 110, Fairbanks, AK, 99701, USA
6Fairbanks Fish and Wildlife Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 101 12th Avenue, Room 110, Fairbanks, AK, 99701, USA
Climate data indicate that warming in arctic Alaska will occur at twice the rate of the global average, placing the region’s unique natural and cultural resources at risk. Terrestrial and near-shore arctic ecosystems support a diversity of migratory birds and mammals, including two species of threatened eiders, threatened polar bears, and four caribou herds. These ecosystems also provide freshwater and brackish/marine habitats for fish. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other federal, state, and private lands on the North Slope provide important subsistence resources for several rural communities. Arctic ecosystems occur nowhere else within the U.S., and species adapted to the Arctic have limited options for northward range shifts in response to habitat change. Melting permafrost and changing precipitation and hydrological patterns will affect not only the distribution and availability of vegetation communities and aquatic habitats, but also the timing of animal migration and plant and insect emergence, with potentially profound consequences for many species. Loss of shore-fast ice and melting permafrost are combining to expose shorelines to rapid erosion. Diminished glacial discharge into arctic rivers will impact fish spawning and over-wintering habitats. The Arctic Strategy is a partnership among scientists and land managers that will assess the sensitivity of habitats and populations of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service trust species to identify those most vulnerable to climate change. We will seek strategies to mitigate climate impacts through conservation planning and adaptive management. Conservation implementation will be integrated with infrastructure planning, and will be coordinated among land management agencies at multiple levels of government, as well as with local communities and international partners.
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