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Prioritizing

coastal lagoon and barrier island ecosystems

Por Arctic Beringia

04 de February de 2017

Nursery and Refueling Grounds of the Arctic

Barrier islands and associated land-side lagoons are vital habitat to birds, mammals, and fish in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, and in turn are an important source of food security to many northern communities. Beluga whales, polar bears, walrus, seals, sea ducks, and shorebirds all use this lagoon system, which constitutes over a third of the Chukchi coast in northwestern Alaska.

The lagoon-barrier island ecosystem is under threat from rising seas and increased storm surges associated with a changing climate. The presence of new predators moving north in concert with the climatic warming and those that are refugees from lost summer sea ice (such as polar bears) may now create havoc for birds breeding on barrier islands. Oil spills are another serious risk to these ecosystems, and could originate from either offshore oil drilling or from a grounded vessel; but, it is the vessel traffic that is seen as the most likely cause of a spill. While relatively little oil and petroleum is transported within the Alaska Arctic (e.g., for villages), there are large quantities shipped through Bering Strait and along the Northern Sea Route by the Russians. We are working to establish the most important areas for wildlife and local fisheries to ensure these areas are prioritized for protection in the catastrophic event of an oil spill.

Arctic tern chick on a Kasegaluk Lagoon barrier islands. Photo credit Peter Mather.

Surveying eiders in the Kasegaluk Lagoon. Photo credit Sally Andersen.

Brown bear along the Kasegaluk Lagoon. Photo credit Peter Mather.

Female King eider. Photo credit Zak Pohlen.

Long-tailed duck nestlings near the Kasegaluk Lagoon. Photo credit Peter Mather.

Beluga whales molting near Icy Cape, Alaska. Photo credit Scott Shively.

Walrus near Icy Cape, Alaska. Photo credit Peter Mather.

Spotted seal haulout at Icy Cape, Alaska. Photo credit Peter Mather.

Kotzebue sound whitefish ecology

Whitefish are one of the most important subsistence species in northern Alaska. Our research, in partnership with local villages, addresses the need for a better understanding the ecology of these fish in a changing climate. Without a clear understanding of lagoon ecosystem structure and function, it is impossible to detect long-term changes resulting from climate change, to quantify the impacts of development, or to implement appropriate management plans. Local fishermen have already observed the loss of “countless numbers” of whitefish in some areas of the western Arctic, emphasizing the need to understand, and if necessary, respond to the factors driving perceived declines.

Our work covers the entire open-water season - from melt-out in late June to freeze-up in October. We also return to select lagoons in winter to assess which lagoons support fish under the ice. In some areas, local fishermen utilize this under-ice habitat for catching the largest of the whitefish - Sheefish, or Inconnu as they are locally known.