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Arctic Coastal Plain
HIGHLIGHTS
Total Area
• 221,590 km²
• 85,556 mi²
Habitat Types
• wet and moist tundra of the
Arctic Coastal Plain
Some Resident Wildlife
• buff-breasted sandpiper
• red-necked phalarope
• pectoral sandpiper
• long-tailed jaeger
• spectacled eider
• snowy owl
• Arctic fox
• polar bear
• grizzly bear
• musk ox
• caribou
WCS Involvement
• Since 1960
Partners
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• BP
• ConocoPhillips, Inc
• North Slope Borough
• Manomet Center for Conservation Science
Contacts
Steve Zack, Ph.D.
szack@wcs.org
Joe Liebezeit, M.S.
jliebezeit@wcs.org
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Portland, OR 97205 US
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In 1960, WCS efforts helped to create the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the only protected arctic coastline in the United States. The refuge, the National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska (NPR-A), and other lands north of the Brooks Range, collectively known as the Alaskan North Slope, are home to a spectacular diversity of wildlife. Today, WCS is working with a diverse group of partners to examine the impacts of oil development on wildlife across the North Slope. Only by understanding the impacts of human activities can we make informed decisions about proposed development in this region of international importance for both wildlife populations and conservation.
Threats
The landscape of arctic Alaska is changing rapidly. This region, once one of the most remote and important for migratory wildlife worldwide, is being threatened by the expansion of oil extraction and related infrastructure, and global climate change. There continues to be political pressure to expand oil development from the existing Prudhoe Bay oilfields east into the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and west into the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A). Dissipation of sea ice, shorter winters, permafrost melting with subsequent thermokarst, and sea level rise risk changing wildlife movement patterns and habitats, and put several arctic-adapted species at risk of extinction, including polar bears. Most patterns of wildlife distribution and abundance are known only from aerial surveillance, and thus little is known of ecological relationships and of species too small for such assessments, including shorebirds.
WCS Activities
WCS’ science niche is diverse in this region. Starting in 2002 we helped initiate and implement a collaborative effort to understand how oil development effects the nest productivity of shorebird and waterfowl populations in arctic Alaska. We continue to monitor shorebird and waterfowl nest productivity in the oilfields as part of a long-term evaluation of changes in wildlife in collaboration with BP. In 2005 we began collecting novel information on diversity, abundance, and productivity of shorebirds in the Teshekpuk Lake region of the NPR-A. With these ongoing efforts to understand variation in shorebird breeding biology, we are also investigating ways to determine how climate change may be affecting this group of migratory birds.
Our vision is to be a key information broker on the effects of oil development and climate change on wildlife, and in identifying the most important regions of arctic Alaska for full wildlife protection through on-the-ground research. We seek to insure the conservation of this internationally important place for migratory wildlife.
Important Next Steps
• Use results from 4-year collaborative study on the effect of oil development on nest productivity of shorebirds and waterfowl to inform land management policies in the NPR-A as leases and development are planned in that region. This effort represents a novel, collaborative effort to evaluate how the oil footprint effects wildlife and the scale of that effect.
• Collect data on diversity, abundance, and productivity of shorebirds in ecologically significant areas of the NPR-A in western arctic.
• Understand the effects of climate change on tundra ecology and how it impacts the migratory birds (shorebirds and waterfowl) that use arctic Alaska to nest and rear young
• Build the capacity of the Native Communities that have ancestral ties to the areas encapsulated within the NPR-A to be effective land managers and stewards of this region
• Participate in stakeholder workshops and meetings, facilitate information exchange, and support policies and practices favorable to wildlife conservation in the region.
Arctic Coastal Plain Related Publications
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