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Open-File Report 2011–1085

Conceptual Ecological Models to Support Detection of Ecological Change on Alaska National Wildlife Refuges

By Andrea Woodward and Erik A. Beever

Thumbnail of and link to report PDF (14.7 MB)Abstract

More than 31 million hectares of land are protected and managed in 16 refuges by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in Alaska. The vastness and isolation of Alaskan refuges give rise to relatively intact and complete ecosystems. The potential for these lands to provide habitat for trust species is likely to be altered, however, due to global climate change, which is having dramatic effects at high latitudes. The ability of USFWS to effectively manage these lands in the future will be enhanced by a regional inventory and monitoring program that integrates and supplements monitoring currently being implemented by individual refuges. Conceptual models inform monitoring programs in a number of ways, including summarizing important ecosystem components and processes as well as facilitating communication, discussion and debate about the nature of the system and important management issues. This process can lead to hypotheses regarding future changes, likely results of alternative management actions, identification of monitoring indicators, and ultimately, interpretation of monitoring results. As a first step towards developing a monitoring program, the 16 refuges in Alaska each created a conceptual model of their refuge and the landscape context. Models include prominent ecosystem components, drivers, and processes by which components are linked or altered. The Alaska refuge system also recognizes that designing and implementing monitoring at regional and ecoregional extents has numerous scientific, fiscal, logistical, and political advantages over monitoring conducted exclusively at refuge-specific scales. Broad-scale monitoring is particularly advantageous for examining phenomena such as climate change because effects are best interpreted at broader spatial extents. To enable an ecoregional perspective, a rationale was developed for deriving ecoregional boundaries for four ecoregions (Polar, Interior Alaska, Bering Coast, and North Pacific Coast) from the Unified Ecoregions of Alaska. Ecoregional models were then developed to illustrate resources and processes that operate at spatial scales larger than individual refuges within each ecoregion. Conceptual models also were developed for adjacent marine areas, designated as the North Pacific, Bering Sea, and Beaufort-Chukchi Sea Marine Ecoregions. Although many more conceptual models will be required to support development of a regional monitoring program, these definitions of ecoregions and associated conceptual models are an important foundation.

First posted April 6, 2011

For additional information contact:
Director, Alaska Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
4210 University Dr.
Anchorage, Alaska 99508-4650
http://alaska.usgs.gov

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Suggested citation:

Woodward, Andrea, and Beever, E.A., 2011, Conceptual ecological models to support detection of ecological change on Alaska National Wildlife Refuges: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2011–1085, 136 p.



Contents

Abstract

Introduction

Role of Conceptual Ecological Models in Monitoring

Ecoregional Context of Alaska NWRs

Ecoregional Models

Synthesis

Future Steps in Ecoregional Monitoring Program Development

Acknowledgments

References Cited

Appendix 1. Comparisons Between Ecoregional Classifications and Landscape Conservation Cooperatives

Appendix 2. Polar Ecoregion—Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Appendix 3. Bering Coast Ecoregion—Togiak, Yukon Delta, and Selawik National Wildlife Refuges

Appendix 4. Interior Alaska Ecoregion—Innoko National Wildlife Refuge

Appendix 5. Interior Alaska Ecoregion—Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge

Appendix 6. Interior Alaska Ecoregion—Kenai National Wildlife Refuge

Appendix 7. Interior Alaska Ecoregion—Koyukuk, Nowitna and Northern Innoko National Wildlife Refuges

Appendix 8. Interior Alaska Ecoregion—Selawik National Wildlife Refuge

Appendix 9. Interior Alaska Ecoregion—Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge

Appendix 10. Interior Alaska Ecoregion—Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge

Appendix 11. North Pacific Coast Ecoregion—Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge

Appendix 12. North Pacific Coast Ecoregion—Alaska Peninsula and Becharof National Wildlife Refuges

Appendix 13. North Pacific Coast Ecoregion—Izembek National Wildlife Refuge

Appendix 14. North Pacific Coast Ecoregion—Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge

Appendix 15. Beaufort—Chukchi Seas Marine Model

Appendix 16. Bering Sea Marine Model

Appendix 17. North Pacific Sea Marine Model


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