Moose are vitally important to Alaska’s subsistence and recreational hunters, wildlife viewers, and economy. Both the State of Alaska and federal government are mandated to manage moose populations. Specific information needs vary across the state, but the ability to monitor the size, trend, and composition of moose populations is fundamental to sound scientific management. Moose population monitoring (including measures of abundance, composition, and trend) in Alaska routinely involve aerial surveys flown in the fall and early winter, prior to antler drop, when sexes can be distinguished. These surveys rely on complete snow cover to optimize sightability. Over the past decade, delayed onset of snowfall has crippled...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) recently quantified subsistence harvest of shorebirds throughout Alaska and documented related indigenous knowledge. This study (1) indicated the importance of shorebirds as food and cultural subsistence resources; (2) suggested that harvests of Bar-tailed Godwits are relatively high related to the harvest potential for this declining species; and (3) identified outreach as an effective tool to address conservation concerns related to shorebird harvest in Alaska. Keeping momentum, ~$120K was recently secured from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and ADF&G to develop and implement outreach efforts in 3 communities on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, where most shorebird...
In the last two decades, the spruce beetle (Dendroctonus rufipennis Kirby) has killed >1.5 million ha of forest in Southcentral Alaska, and more than 350,000 cumulative hectares have been impacted since 2016. We need to understand what landscape and climate conditions predispose forests to stand level mortality during beetle outbreaks in order to identify areas most prone to beetle disturbance and to support the development of appropriate climatic indices that can serve as early warning of outbreaks. The goal of this project is to determine what initiated the recent beetle-kill event on the Kenai Peninsula so that appropriate indices can be monitored and/or effective adaptation strategies can be taken for future...
The fauna and flora of the Pribilof Islands, Alaska, are unique and include many taxa restricted to the central Bering Sea region. The islands, which includes St. George and St. Paul Island, have undergone substantial ecological change this past century through a combination of anthropogenic resource use and climate-mediated alterations to both ocean and terrestrial ecosystems. These islands and their natural resources are managed by Alaska Native Village Corporations (include the list here), the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. An assessment of land cover types is needed for the islands to 1) help these land owners better understand the status and...
A data management plan (DMP) helps staff identify and plan to support the data management needs of a project. This document provides guidance on how to develop a DMP and identifies the items that should be considered to help ensure that data and associated products are documented, discoverable, accessible and secure throughout their useful lifespan. A DMP: 1) identifies key data management roles, 2) identifies project staff that will fill those roles and perform the associated duties and 3) summarizes how data are acquired, used, maintained and distributed. Any non-standard workflows, security requirements or access restrictions should be emphasized in the DMP.The information in a DMP is used by project staff to...
In an effort to address intuitive observations on changes in the natural environment, Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC), is currently developing a mobile-device app designed primary for use by rural community members to record and archive observations on the natural environment. Here, we propose to complete the development phase and implement a public outreach and educational phase of community-based monitoring (CBM) across the Yukon and Upper Kuskokwim river basins - primarily in Alaska Native villages (however, not exclusive). Our effort will focus on subject matters relating to non-salmon fish, migratory waterfowl and will consider water temperature measurements, as part of a broader initiative by TCC to develop...
The overarching goal of this project is to develop spawning and rearing habitat potential estimates for the Yukon and Kuskokwim river basins in Alaska. To accomplish this goal we will compile georeferenced data on Chinook salmon juvenile and adult habitat use from existing databases, and incorporate input from agencies and community members solicited through targeted workshops to develop habitat potential models and a user-friendly tool to facilitate habitat potential mapping. Our specific objectives are to: 1) Compile georeferenced juvenile and adult Chinook salmon distribution data and classify these data based on uncertainty 2) Use previously-developed Chinook salmon models from Alaska to produce initial maps...
The Alaska Region of the US Fish and Wildlife Service began a requirements analysis for a regional data management system in early 2020. A needs assessment was completed to identify mandatory requirements and better understand staff needs and desired features. The needs assessment aimed to understand: 1) current data management practices of staff; 2) quantity and format of the data staff produce; 3) where data are stored; 4) data management challenges; and 5) desired features that staff would like to have incorporated into a future system. Staff who work with scientific data in the Alaska Region were given the opportunity to complete a questionnaire and participate in individual interviews regarding their data management...
This project connects the science and conservation capacity of federal agencies and conservation NGOs with the operational expertise of the marine vessel and oil spill response industry to identify locations in the Bering and southern Chukchi seas where oil spills threaten key species and subsistence harvest areas. It leverages significant capacity from a National Academy of Sciences (NAS) funded study being led by the Alaska Ocean Observing System (AOOS) and Axiom Data Science (see Appendix I) as well as previous efforts led by the Aleutian and Bering Sea Islands LCC, National Park Service and Defenders of Wildlife and other partners to better understand risks associated with vessel traffic. The National Park Service...
The main objective of this study is to examine the spatial ecology of lynx, including travel rates, habitat use, and dispersal corridors, based on GPS data and, if funding permits, stable isotope chemistry. The proposed study focuses on lynx movement ecology across several F&WS NWRs (Tetlin, Yukon Flats, Kanuti, and Koyukuk/Nowitna) and one national park (Gates of the Arctic, GAAR). Lynx will be captured in cage traps and foot snares (winter) or modied foot traps (autumn) by biologists from F&WS and UAF during January – April and August – October, depending on study location. These activities will be coordinated with FWS collaborators and students in an attempt to maintain 10-20 GPS collars per study region per...
WELCOME to the Landscape Conservation Management and Analysis Portal This is the primary access to the LC MAP Data Catalog tool, powered by ScienceBase. LC MAP was originally developed by the U.S. Geological Survey in coordination with the Great Northern LCC and is broadly available for ScienceBase users to share, access, and analyze common datasets. LC MAP was developed to aid resource managers share data across partners agencies and perform intensive geospatial analysis on a landscape scale. LC MAP allows users to discover, assess, edit, analyze, and model common data themes and provides powerful geospatial analysis capabilities of ArcGIS 10 and its broad array of extensions. More information about LC MAP is available...
The Alaska Region of the US Fish and Wildlife Service began a requirements analysis for a regional data management system in early 2020. A needs assessment was completed in January 2021 to identify mandatory requirements and better understand staff needs and desired features (https://doi.org/10.7944/P9T1UDMY). This report built upon that assessment by providing a system suitability analysis. System requirements and needs and wants of the staff were categorized and placed in a Quality Function Deployment (QFD) Model, along with the most common systems used by staff and several options in use by other DOI and Federal agencies. Overall, modular systems that have been purpose-built to manage the life cycle of data...
