Alaska Science Center


USGS Changing Arctic Ecosystems: Wildlife Species of Management Concern in the Arctic

The USGS Changing Arctic Ecosystems Initiative will enhance the long-term science foundation needed by the U.S. Department of the Interior and other partners by quantifying the responses of wildlife species and their habitats to ecosystem change in the Arctic, informing management decisions related to development of oil and gas resources, and providing projections of likely future wildlife and habitat responses.

Abstract


The USGS Changing Arctic Ecosystems Initiative is embarking on the next 5-year (FY2020 – 2024) research plan with four main themes. Under the theme of 'Wildlife Species of Management Concern in the Arctic' research projects include: The demographic trend of the Pacific walrus, 2016-2025; Quantifying body condition and reproductive rates in Pacific walrus; Assessing the effects of climate-induced variability on the behavior, distribution and demography of the Porcupine Caribou Herd; Genomic capacity of threatened eiders in a rapidly changing environment; Identifying food web supports to Arctic fisheries; Assessing possible drivers of red-throated loon productivity in the Beaufort Sea; and Assessing the population status of two rare taxa endemic to the central Bering Sea, Alaska: McKay’s Bunting and Pribilof Rock Sandpiper.
Products
Title Type
Morphological Measures of Pacific Walruses Collected in the Chukchi and Bering Seas 1972-1991Data
Metabolic Rates Measured in Three Captive Adult Female Walruses (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) While Resting and DivingData
USGS Changing Arctic EcosystemsProject Website

Contacts

Carey, Michael , 907-786-7197
Jay, Chadwick V., 907-786-7414
Johnson, Heather , 907-786-7155
Matsuoka, Steven , 907-786-7075
Menning, Damian M., 907-786-7466
Ramey, Andrew M., 907-786-7174
Richardson, Rachel M., 907-786-7194
Rode, Karyn D., 907-786-7106
Sonsthagen, Sarah A., 907-786-7054
Taylor, Rebecca , 907-786-7004
Uher-Koch, Brian , 907-786-7052
Von Biela, Vanessa , 907-786-7073

Status: onGoing
Start Year: 2020
End Year: 2024

USGS Mission Area and Program
EcosystemsWildlife Program

Major Initiatives
USGS - Changing Arctic Ecosystems Initiative