3SIS 



Alaska — Our Livini^ Resources 



Sound and chLim salmon (O. keia) in the 

 Kuskokwim Ri\er in western Alaska are experi- 

 encing major declines and need attention. 



There is a long history of biological studies 

 in Denali National Park and Preserve. Wolves, 

 caribou, brow/n bears, moose (Alves alces). and 

 Dal! sheep ((9\;.v dalli) all live in this large 

 ecosystem. The park provides scientists the 

 opportunity to study the natural interactions of 

 these species and serves as a baseline for com- 

 parison with areas where hunting occurs. 

 Adams and Mech (this section) document the 

 natural fluctuations expected in species inhabit- 

 ing such a dynamic and variable environment. 



Brown bears on the Kodiak Archipelago are 

 renowned for their large size and dense aggre- 

 gations along salmon-spawning streams. Barnes 

 et al. (this section) estimate a population of 

 more than 2.800 bears on the archipelago. 

 Through intensive management by Alaska and 

 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the status of 

 the Kodiak bear population is better now than in 

 the early 1900"s. 



Populations of the three marine mammals 

 for which the Department of the Interior has 

 management authority — polar bears (Ursus 

 mantimus). Pacific walrus (Odobenus wsmanis 

 divergens). and sea otters (Enhxdra liiths) — are 

 healthy. The estimated population of polar bears 

 along Alaska's north coast and the Beaufort Sea 

 is nearly 2.000 and probably larger compared to 

 the early 1900's (Amstrup et al., this section). 



About 250 years ago. more than se\eral hun- 

 dred thousand sea otters were continuously dis- 

 tributed from Baja California, north and west 

 along the Pacific Rim to Kamchatka, and south 

 along the Kuril Islands to northern Japan. When 

 the Russian fur harvest was halted in 1911. only 

 a few survivine colonies, likelv numberins a 



few hundred animals or less, remained. Now. 

 Bodkin et al. (this section) estimate more than 

 100.000 sea otters living throughout about 75% 

 of their original range, illustrating the healthy 

 recovery of a species after protection and active 

 management. 



Pacific walruses in the Bering and Chukchi 

 seas of Alaska and Russia are an important 

 source of meat and ivory for Native peoples of 

 Alaska and the Chukotka Peninsula of Russia 

 (Gamer, this section). These marine mammals 

 are also a highly visible indicator of the health 

 of the Arctic marine ecosystem. Cooperative 

 U.S. -Russia surveys conducted at 5-year inter- 

 vals since 1975 provide estimates ranging from 

 246.000 walruses in 1980 to 200.00(nn" 1990. 

 Even though the survey estimates have large 

 confidence intervals, some researchers believe 

 these surveys indicate a general decline in num- 

 bers between 1975 and 1990. 



The Mentasta caribou herd, a small herd that 

 lives in and around Wrangell-St. Elias National 

 Park and Preserve, exhibits typical population 

 trends and management problems found in 

 many mountain herds in central Alaska and the 

 Yukt)n Territory of Canada. This herd increased 

 from about 2.000 caribou in the early 1970's to 

 3.200 in the early 1980's (Jenkins, this section). 

 From 1989 to 1993. the herd decreased to 900 

 caribou, about a 24% decrease per year. 



Klein (this section) documents the distribu- 

 tion and abundance of the tundra or Arctic hare 

 (Lepiis timidus) in western Alaska. The Arctic 

 hare has long been used for food and clothing 

 by indigenous people living in western Alaska. 

 Arctic hares have declined in number through- 

 out much of their range, though biologists are 

 not sure why. 



The Arctic 

 Tundra 

 Ecosystem in 

 Northeast 

 Alaska 



by 



Thomas R. McCabe 



National Biological Service 



Donald P. Garrett 



U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 



Don Russell 



Canadian Wildlife Service 



Ken Whitten 



Alaska Department of Fish 



and Game 



The tundra of the coastal plain of the Arctic 

 National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR: Fig. 1) 

 represents nearly pristine, intact Arctic ecosys- 

 tem. It is unique because of the close arrange- 

 ment of the plants and animals occurring 

 between the Brooks Mountains and the 

 Beaufort Sea (Fig. 2). The Porcupine caribou 

 {Raiigifer tummlus) herd (PCH). which ranges 

 between Canada and Alaska, uses the narrow 

 Coastal Plain for calving after migrating hun- 

 dreds of kilometers from its winter habitat. A 

 now healthy muskox (Ovibos moschatus) popu- 

 lation was reintroduced in 1969 after being 

 hunted to extinction in the late 1800"s. Large 

 predators including gray wolves (Canis lupus). 

 brown bear (.Ursus arctos). and golden eagles 

 {Aquila chrysaetos) are also important compo- 

 nents as well as sensitive measures of ecosys- 

 tem health. 



Extensive cooperative U.S. and Canadian 



biological research has occurred on the Coastal 

 Plain during the last decade because it overlies 

 a potentially large and economically productive 

 oilfield. The biological information resulting 

 from these cooperative efforts will guide 

 Congress in its decision to develop the oilfield. 

 The information also provides an excellent 

 measure of the status and trends of key animals 

 in a near-pristine Arctic ecosystem (McCabe et 

 al. 1992). 



Monitoring the Ecosystem 



We monitored the status and trends of cari- 

 bou, muskox, and large predators to enhance 

 our understanding of the important relation- 

 ships of the Arctic ecosystem and to identify 

 and predict the potential impacts of oil and gas 

 development on that system. 



