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Which Species Are Most at Risk?

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Which Species Are Most at Risk? Climate Change and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Which Species Are Most At Risk? CARIBOU, ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE © MARK KELLY/ALASKASTOCK LLC/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC STOCK he Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on the rise as protective sea ice retreats earlier, is in meltdown mode. Like much exposing the region’s shores to damaging storm of its home state of Alaska, the surges. And this is just the beginning: Climate 19-million-acre refuge—America’s models project that Alaska’s average annual second largest—has warmed more temperature could be 3.5 F to more than 7.0 F than 4 degrees Fahrenheit over the last 50 years, higher by mid-century. Taccording to the U.S. Global Change Research What will these changes mean for the wild- Program. The northern part of the state, where life that live in the refuge, a harsh and beautiful the refuge is located, is projected to warm more land of forests, mountains, tundra, rivers and quickly than anywhere on the continent. As a coastlines? In particular, how will the impacts result of warmer air, which holds more mois- of climate change affect the large and small ture, the refuge is already seeing more snow and mammals, most of them year-round residents and freezing rain events that leave vital food plants all of them critical to the fragile Arctic food web? thickly encased in ice. Coastal erosion is also Are some more vulnerable than others? K TOC S HIC P EN PICTURES EN D RA G ASTCOTT/MIN ATIONAL GEO ATIONAL E N / G OSIN & JOHN JOHN & R K ATIU M ORBERT ORBERT N VA MO VA Y OLAR BEARS © © OLAR BEARS P SQUIRREL © © SQUIRREL D ROUN G RCTIC RCTIC A Left: A polar bear naps with her cub. The coastal plain of the Arctic refuge is an important denning and birthing site for polar bears. Right: The arctic ground squirrel, a hibernator that can cool its body to record lows, is highly vulnerable to changes in temperature, moisture and snow cover. THE ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE METHOD Assessing Vulnerability REFUGE supports an array of very specialized mammals—from the sea-ice- and seal-dependent To get some answers about how the mammals of the Arctic polar bear, one of the largest carnivores on Earth refuge will fare as the world warms, Defenders’ climate at up to 1,600 pounds, to the pygmy shrew, a change science team used the Climate Change Vulnerability Index, a modeling and assessment tool developed by subterranean insect-eater that barely outweighs NatureServe, a nonprofit that provides information and a penny, making it the smallest mammal in technical tools to guide science-based conservation. North America. The adaptations to life at high Using the index, we categorized the climate change latitude exhibited by the refuge’s animals are as threat to each of the 38 mammals found on the refuge varied as their body sizes. Some spend the winters based on: hibernating, like the arctic ground squirrel that can “supercool” its body to 27 F, a record low • Exposure. The magnitude of the changes directly among mammals. Others stay active all winter, related to changes in climate conditions (temperature, moisture, ice and snow) the species will face. like the caribou that can cover 2,500 miles each year as it travels with its herd between winter • Sensitivity. The degree to which the changes will affect grazing grounds and summer calving grounds, the the species based on its habitat requirements, diet and longest migration of any land mammal. other factors. Because the animals of the Arctic are so The index incorporates species characteristics that research specialized to the extreme conditions in which they shows have affected—or will potentially affect—its sensitivity live, species diversity is low and the food web is to climate change. These include dispersal ability, versatility relatively simple. The depletion of even one species of diet and habitat, dependence on cold or snowy areas, when those conditions change could have a ripple response to changes in natural disturbances such as floods and fires, and genetic variation within the population, a effect on the entire food web. To avert disaster in factor that influences whether or not individuals will adapt to the future, we need to know now which refuge change and survive. mammals are most at risk as temperatures continue The index also includes indirect exposure factors that to rise and determine how we can best help them result from climate change, such as sea-level rise, and factors survive. With that in mind, Defenders conducted not directly tied to climate change that may contribute to a preliminary assessment of the vulnerability of the sensitivity of a species, such as natural and man-made Arctic refuge mammals to climate change. barriers to species movement. 16 of 38 Refuge Mammals Extremely RESULTS EN PICTURES EN D or Highly Vulnerable. Sixteen of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s 38 mammals may be M. JONES/MIN M. D heading for serious trouble. Our Climate Change Vulnerability Index © DONAL © assessment found six species—polar bear, arctic fox, muskox, tundra vole, brown lemming and collared lemming—“extremely vulnerable” to climate change, indicating an extremely high likelihood that their num- bers or range within the refuge will substantially decrease or disappear by 2050. Ten species—lynx, wolverine, caribou, Dall sheep, Alaska mar- mot, arctic ground squirrel, singing vole, northern bog lemming, tundra shrew and barren ground shrew—were assessed as “highly vulnerable,” their abundance or range likely to decrease significantly by 2050. With the threat of climate change imminent for highly and extremely vulnerable species alike, refuge management priorities should focus on the animals of both designations—the 16 most vulnerable mammals in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Three Arctic refuge mammals—brown bear, marten and taiga vole— were projected to be “moderately vulnerable,” meaning that the changes within the refuge may have some effect on their population and range, K but not likely a severe one. These species may be more sensitive to climate TOC S HIC change in other parts of their range. P RA G Nineteen of the 38 Arctic refuge mammals assessed were found “not vulnerable” to climate change, at least within the refuge. These ATIONAL GEO ATIONAL N / are mainly species with wide distributions across a variety of habi- LLC K tats and climate zones, such as red fox, black bear, coyote, beaver TOC S A A K and river otter. LAS A I/ K Other observations drawn from our climate-change vulnerability assessment include: TEVEN KAZLOWS TEVEN S The species most vulnerable to climate change in the Arctic © © • National Wildlife Refuge are the ones specially adapted to the cold, snow and ice. For the most part, species that live in the boreal forest in the southern portion of the refuge, have flexible habitat needs—or a distribution that extends well into warmer areas—tend to be less vulnerable. • The refuge’s tundra-dependent animals are particularly at risk from changes in precipitation type, especially a shift from dry Top: A muskox sports a dense, wooly coat, small snow to freezing rain and ice that coat important grazing areas comfort as more frequent ice storms glaze over or collapse small mammal tunnels under the snow. Tundra tundra vegetation and make it more difficult species are also sensitive to warming trends that encourage the for this grazer to feed. Bottom: An arctic fox blends into the background on the snow- expansion of boreal forest into areas that are currently open covered tundra, the better to hunt lemmings and tundra, eliminating vital habitat. voles. Climate change threatens the habitat and the prey of this top predator. • The particular geography of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge may itself be a contributing factor: The strip of coastal plain See the charts on the next two tundra at the northern extent of the Brooks Range in the refuge pages for brief background is narrower than it is elsewhere in the North Slope of Alaska information and a summary of and adjacent areas of Canada. Consequently, climate-mediated climate-related contributing habitat changes could quickly squeeze out tundra between the factors for each of the 16 most encroaching boreal forest and the sea. vulnerable species. SPECIES MOST VULNERABLE TO CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE EXTREMELY VULNERABLE ContriBUting faCtors SPECIES ● Greatly increases vulnerability ● Increases vulnerability ● Somewhat increases vulnerability Sea level rise Natural barriers Sensitivity to rising Sensitivity to Sensitivity to changesDependence on Habitat versatility Dietary versatility Genetic factors to range shift temperature moisture change in fires and floods ice and snow Polar Bear Adapted to life on Arctic sea ice and classified as marine mammal. Hunts preferred prey, seals, from ice. Dens and gives birth along coast of refuge, where sea-ice loss is already acceler- ● ● ● ● ● ● ating. Population predicted to decline by two-thirds over next 50 years as sea ice continues to disappear. Arctic Fox Turns white in winter. Acute hearing helps locate small rodents under snow. Habitat in refuge confined to narrow strip of tundra bordered by the ocean. Faces competition ● ● ● ● ● ● from larger red fox as boreal forest expands northward with climate change. Muskox Grazes on tundra vegetation that freezing rains can encase in ice. Also vulnerable to parasites that thrive in warmer temperatures. With fewer than 300 in refuge, lacks ● ● ● ● ● ● ● genetic variation that facilitates adaptability. Collared Feeds on plants and twigs in upland Lemming areas of tundra. Only rodent that turns white in winter. Depends on snow cover for insulation and to avoid predators. Ocean limits ability ● ● ● to shift northward. Brown Found in moister areas of tundra, Lemming not as far north as collared lemming.
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