Arctic Alaska Coastal Plain, USA
- Teshekpuk, Alaska Video
- Alaska's northern coastal plain is the home to millions of migratory bird species.
- ©WCS
- Arctic Alaska Coastal Plain Photo
- WCS researchers examine how energy development affects the breeding of migratory birds, many of which travel thousands of miles to this important nesting site.
- ©Steve Zack
Arctic Alaska boasts the greatest spectacle of migratory wildlife in all of North America. Beginning in late May, millions of shorebirds and waterfowl migrate from every continent and every ocean to breed on the immense wetlands of the coastal plain. Examples include tundra swans from North America, buff-breasted sandpipers from South America, bar-tailed godwits from New Zealand, Arctic terns from Antarctica, parasitic jaegers from the Indian Ocean, and dunlin from Asia. Four immense herds of caribou also migrate to the coastal plain to calve their young, escape predators, and find relief from biting insects. Polar bear, muskoxen, Arctic fox, and other quintessential Arctic wildlife reside here, along with Gwich’in and Inupiat communities that maintain subsistence lifestyles, hunting caribou, bowhead whales, and seals.
WCS has a long history of conservation work in Arctic Alaska, dating back to 1897 when the first biological survey of Alaskan wildlife helped pass laws to control overhunting. Surveys supported by WCS in the 1950s led to the creation of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In 2001, we reestablished an active, on-the-ground presence in Arctic Alaska and today WCS conservationists are working to advance wildlife conservation in this once-remote region, amid a rapidly changing climate and expanding energy development.
Fast Facts
- Spanning 37,000 square miles, the National Petroleum Reserve (NPR-A) is the largest single piece of public land in the U.S. It is bigger than 11 states and remains mostly undeveloped.
- Bar-tailed godwits migrate south from Alaska to New Zealand in one continuous flight of 9,000 miles.
- Arctic temperatures have increased at almost twice the global average; one major consequence is that the summer sea ice of the Arctic Ocean may disappear within a decade.
- When threatened by a predator, musk oxen form a defensive ring, facing out and surrounding their young.
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Challenges
WCS scientists are investigating how climate change is transforming the Arctic. Sea ice loss and permafrost melting on land are precipitating a cascade of changes that will likely seriously affect terrestrial and marine wildlife. Earlier springs are shifting migratory calendars and nesting habits for some birds, whose chicks may hatch before there is sufficient insect prey to feed them. Some Arctic regions are drying significantly, affecting wildlife species that depend on fertile Arctic wetlands for sustenance. Shorelines are eroding dramatically, creating the need for coastal communities to relocate inland. Regarding the Arctic's shrinking sea ice cover, WCS scientists estimate that polar bears traveling from retreating sea ice will soon have to wander five times as far to reach maternity dens in Alaska. Expanding oil concessions will displace wildlife from important habitat, and the infrastructure of such development makes it easier for predators like Arctic fox, glaucous gulls, and ravens, to reach the nests of migratory birds. Only small populations of musk oxen remain scattered on the landscape. Some of these herds are mysteriously declining.
WCS Responds
WCS is the only conservation group with a long-term, on-the-ground presence in Arctic Alaska. WCS leads collaborative efforts to identify key regions for wildlife in the NPR-A and to gain protections for these areas in advance of development. We are studying how energy development affects the breeding of
migratory birds and how best to mitigate any negative effects of new development on wildlife.
WCS has worked to monitor climate change in the Arctic, assessing how sea ice is fading from this region and how that endangers polar bears and other wildlife. In addition, our researchers study musk oxen to understand why some populations are in decline.
WCS Projects
The Arctic coastal plain of Alaska serves as the spring nesting ground for millions of shorebirds, waterfowl, loons, and other types of birds. Climate change is interfering with their migration, nesting, and feeding patterns. WCS-North America conservationists study how the birds cope with the changing landscape, and identify key areas for conservation.
From the Newsroom
WCS senior scientist Joel Berger reflects on how Alaska’s recent decision to cull an Arctic predator in order to protect its prey may redefine the ecosystem’s hierarchy in unforeseen ways.
From mighty caribou to tiny hummingbirds, by air and by land, many of the great American wildlife migrations are at risk.
Dr. Steve Zack blogs on his migratory bird studies from Alaska’s Teshekpuk Lake, the largest Arctic wetland complex in the world.
A
four-year WCS study finds the Teshekpuk Lake region within the National
Petroleum Reserve to hold the highest breeding bird density in Arctic
Alaska—one solid reason for its permanent protection from energy development.
At a recent symposium held at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s National
Conservation Training Center facility in Shepherdstown, West Virginia,
Dr. George Schaller called for increased protection of the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern Alaska.
Despite its low profile, the musk ox has persisted through the Pleistocene exinctions, outlasting the woolly mammoth and other prehistoric mammals. WCS Senior Scientist Joel Berger studies America’s least known large mammal and its unusual survival tactics.
As the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge celebrates its 50th anniversary,
WCS calls for the coastal plain’s permanent protection from energy development.
WCS
asks the government to fully protect “Special Areas” in Alaska’s National
Petroleum Reserve for caribou and migratory birds.
WCS is extremely encouraged by the Department of Interior’s decision to protect 170,000 acres south and northeast of Teshekpuk Lake in the National Petroleum Reserve from leasing. The area provides critical habitat for breeding birds and caribou populations.
This week, WCS scientists are trekking across the vast and remote Alaskan Arctic and deep into the National Petroleum Reserve to explore how best to conserve Arctic wildlife
in the midst of expanding energy development.
WCS conservationist Steve Zack is chronicling the trip for
the New York Times' Scientists at Work blog.
WCS receives $100,000 for Arctic wildlife conservation and climate change research from Disney’s Friends for Change: Project Green.
A WCS-led study says some nesting bird species are declining near oil development in the Arctic. Infrastructure from oil drilling, coupled with edible garbage, creates “subsidized housing” for as opportunistic predators like foxes and gulls.
WCS scientists working in northern Alaska spot a shorebird originally tagged 8,000 miles away, in Victoria, Australia. The bar-tailed godwit flew the length of the Pacific in an epic journey that underscores the importance of this northern breeding ground.
WCS evacuated five of its scientists from a remote camp in northern Alaska because of a new and unusual threat: a polar bear stuck on land due to climate change.
Birds and other wildlife score protection from energy exploration in Alaska’s Teshekpuk Lake region. At 23 million acres, Teshekpuk is the largest single piece of public land in the U.S.