Nutritional restrictions in winter may reduce the availability of protein for reproduction and survival in northern ungulates. We refined a technique that uses recently voided excreta on snow to assess protein status in wild caribou (Rangifer tarandus) in late winter. Our study was the first application of this non-invasive, isotopic approach to assess protein status of wild caribou by determining dietary and endogenous contributions of nitrogen (N) to urinary urea. We used isotopic ratios of N (?15N) in urine and fecal samples to estimate the proportion of urea N derived from body N (p-UN) in pregnant, adult females of the Chisana Herd, a small population that ranged across the Alaska-Yukon border. We took advantage...
Studies moose or Alces alces, caribou or Rangifer tarandus and grizzly bear or Ursus arctos distribution in relation to road traffic in Denali National Park, Alaska. Development of wildlife monitoring system using 19 landscape level viewsheds stratified into four sections based on decreasing traffic along the road corridor; Absence of traffic avoidance patterns for caribou and grizzly bears.
Originating from different activities that were part of the University of Alaska’s contribution to the Fourth International Polar Year, this interdisciplinary volume addresses a host of current concerns regarding the rapid transformation of the Arctic and its impacts on people and ecosystems. Close to a hundred contributors with a broad range of backgrounds examine Arctic change from an Alaska perspective, providing insight into different approaches of evaluating and preparing for environmental and socio-economic change. Thanks to its coverage of important social-ecological systems and processes, including fresh water, marine resources, the coasts, and oil and gas development, this volume explores opportunities...
Ongoing and rapid environmental change within western and northern Canada is of major societal and scientific concern and has local- to global-scale implications. There is an urgent need to understand the changes and develop improved diagnostic and predictive modeling tools to manage uncertain futures.
