Ecological R. G. Fz~ller* - Battelle Columbns Laboratories, Las Vegas, Nevada Consequences of J. B. ~~irkwooclt Nuclear Testing Battelle Co111mbus Laboratories, Columbus, Ohio Amcl~itka isln,zd has a Iristory of disturbnnce by nroder~r the i~ttertirlnlzone, nird an !inrletermitred nmou,rt of similnr matt, i,rclr~dingUS. military operatio~tson the isla~rddrrring hnbitat runs altered to sonre de~eeby lesser vertical Il'orld ll'nr % n~rterlnthrg the a~tder.qou~rdnuclear tests displacearent. Nilrow nrrd Cannikin, for which preparation begntr in 1966. No type of Imbitat on the islnnd zuns destroyed, and nlarry of the. terrestrial distarbnrrces resttlti,tg from ,taclear /ocn/ixed habitat losses in the terrestrinl, freshwater, and testing were superimposed on scars remai~tirrgfrom the marine ecosystems are belieued to lrnue been too slight to nrilitnry occt~pntiotz. haue perinane~tt effects on associnted biotic populations. Constrriction, road hirprouement, and the hlilrow an(/ No plant or animal population on or around the island was Cnrrnikbt nt~clenr deto~rntions resulted bt the loss or lost or endangered as a resalt of the tests, althouglr deterioratio,t of about 420 Ira (1040ncres) of terrestrial stcbstantial numbers of sen otters and freshwater and mnritte hnbitnt, or less thmr 1.5% of the total area of An~clritka.A fish were killed by the Catrnikin rleto~mtio~r.Posttest few streams and lakes were pollicted by drilling effluettts or inuestigations show that the affected popuiatior~sgenerally human wastes; nornlalflrislting action is expected to restore recaperated promptly throziglt reproduction or recruitnrent the qrrnlity of tnost of tltese freshwnter Iznbitats. I~ueversible from ~reighboringstocks. effects in freshrunters inclrrde tlte drairnbtnge of several ponds, The most sierificnnt ecologic cotrseqaence of the gross clran~relalterntion in a part of one stream, nnd the traclear test program is belieued to haue been the adverse crentio~r of n rrew lake zultich is deeper orrd which 110s n effects of scattered terrain disturbances on the aestlretic greater volume tlrn~r nrry of the inore than 2100 natural qrcnlity of the Amchitkn landrcape, an effect which was lakes on the sorrtheast half of Amchitka. Abotct 6 ha severe in localized areas atrd which will persist for decades (15 acres) of intertidal bench was displaced ton leuel above or centrcries. This chapter summarizes \\,hat is now knolsll about influences of modern man on Amchitka prior to the impacts of nuclear tests on Amchitka ecosys- the start of the recent AEC test series. It is only tems, and the ecological significance of those against this background that we can clearly iden- impacts is discussed. The prompt bioen\,ironmental tify and evaluate the additional impacts assignable effects of the two high-yield nuclear detonations, to the nuclear test program for which preparations Milrow in 1969 and Cannikin in 1971, are dc- started in 1966 and which culminated in the scribed in ICirkxvood (1970) and ICirkwood and ivlilrow and Cannikin tests. Fuller (1972), respectively. Biological and physical effects of these tests are also described in Merritt BACKGROUND: PREVIOUS DISTURBANCES (1970; 1973), U. S. Geological Survey (1970; 1972), and Gonzalez, IVollitz, and Brethauer (1974). Since those references do not discuss Pre-World War I1 effects stemming from occupation of Amchitka by The long and unsavory history of sea otter$ a sizable work force or the impact of support hunting in the western Aleutians, first by the operations, such effects as well as those resulting Russians and later by the Americans, is discussed in directly from the nuclear detonations will be dealt Chaps. 6 and 20 of this volunle and elsewhere (e.g., with in this chapter. Lensink, 1962). For our purposes it is sufficient to Before we describe the overall impacts of the recall that fur hunting had nearly exterminated sea nuclear test program and assess their ecological otters in the Aleutians, including Amchitka, before consequences, we must review the more important $\\'it11 trvo exceptions common names are used for *Present address: Oracle, Arizona. plants and animals referred to in this chapter. Latin names *Present address: U. S. Fish and IVildlife Ser\,ice, for all other species mentioned will he found in the Atlanta, Georgia. preceding chapters. the species was placed under protection by the island ecosystems. A complete inventory and de- terms of an international treaty in 1911. Remnant scription of clvanges wrought by military occupa- populations rcrnained on some islands. Iccnyon tion is beyond the scope of this chapter, but soille (1969) estimates that as many as 100 sea otters of the more obvious features must be called out as may have remained at Amchitka ~vhenthe protec- disturbances that predate nuclear tests on Am- tive treaty took effect. Under protection, sea otter chitka. populations at Amchitka and many other Aleutian Roads and Airstrips. Roads built by the mili- Islands gradually recovered from the effects of tary forces include a central roadway running overexploitation. almost the length of the island, a complex of roads In 1921, iunder a fox-farming agreement be- around Constantine Harbor and extending across tmeen the U. S. Department of Agriculture and the island, and a number of branch roads running Aleuts living on Atka, blue foxes were introduced from the central roadway to either seacoast. h,fost onto Ainchitka (Merritt, Chap. 6, this volume). roads were of dirt or dirt with gravel surfacing. This deliberate introdirction of a new predator had (The Geological Survey map in the pocket at the a predictable adverse effect on at least one avian back of this volume slto\vs most of the importaut species, the Aleutian Canada Goose, which for- military roads.) merly nested on Amchitka.* Three airstrips were constructed inland from Robert Jones, Jr., former h~Ianager of the Constantine Harbor. The longest, Baker Run\vay, is Aleutian Islands National Wildlife Refuge, of which about 3 km (2 miles) long and is in use today. The Amchitka is a part, cotnmented as follo\vs on the airstrips are hard-surfaced, and the two longer ones effects of the fox-farming enterprise at Amchitka: arc adjoined by numerous hardstands connected to "An episode in the islmd's history that can only be the landing strips by taxiways. regarded, from the vie\vpoint of the utilization of lands devoted to wildlife purposes, as un\vise and Off-Road Traffic. Beyond the established unfortunate, began according to our records, in roadways, military occupation left many scars on 1921. It was in this year that seven blue foxes Iverc the tundra mantle, the result of single or multiple placed on Amchitka by the native Atka residents as passes with tracked off-road vehicles. In the lo!\,- 'lessee' of the island for fox farming pur- land part of the island, even regularly used foot- poses. \\re have the statement of the Atka paths remained as visible marks on the tundra. natives that Canada geese were abundant nesters on Housing. A3ilitary housing consisted of nearly Amchitka prior to 1921 and they attributed the 1900 widely dispersed Quonset-type huts, mostly disappearance of the population directly to the located near main or branch roads, primarily in the introduction of the foxes" (Jones, 1961). southeastern part of the island (Figs. 7 and 8, The Aleutiau Caiiarla Goose still does not breed Chap. 6, this volume). In the construction of the on Amchitka, although the fox population has huts, tundra vegetation and underlying peat was been extirpated. The effects, if any, of foxes on scraped aside and used to bank around the base of the breeding success of other avian species is hard the building \valls, h4ost buildings were framed of to evaluate since another predator, the Norway rat, ~voodwith masonite-type roofing and \\.ere left was inadvertently introduced during \\'orld War I1 standing when the occupation ended. They are (Brechbill, Chap. 12, this volume). gradually disintegrating by weathering. Some have been burned by Refuge personnel, and others were \\'orld War I1 Military Occupation burned by AEC contractors at the request of U. S. Department of the Interior representatives. hkany of the surface disturbances on Amchitka associated with AEC site preparation and opera- Other Construction. A dock was built on tions arc superimposed on the extensive arcas of wood pilings on the north side of Constantine disturbance that date from occupation of the Harbor; lookout posts and gun emplacements were island by U. S. military forces. That occupation, built at some points on the coastal bluffs. Two over the period 1943 to 1950, produced \vide- large gravel pits and a nulnber of sn~allerquarries spread and persistent changes in the appearance of and borro\v pits mere opened to provide materials the island and had some important impacts on for road building and other construction. Status at Ter~lli~latio~lof Military Occupa- *A third of a century earlier, Turner (1886) had tion. When military occupation ended some sal- reported: "On some of these islands foxes of various kinds vageable material was removed, but most of the are numerous, hence while they are excellent feeding grounds for the geese in the fall, the geese are compelled to dispersed housing units and a considerable amount rear their yoling on the nearest islets where the foxes of debris were left in place. The disintegrating cannot molest the young goslings." buildings are still a prominent feature of the Ecological Co~~sequencesof ~VuclearTesti~rg 629 Amchitka landscape. Even where the buildings thc blue fox, another nontlative predator, had ha\re been destroyed (by the elements or by fire), earlicr bce~l established on the island through the peat embankments with ~vhichthe bases of the deliberate human intervention. ICenyon believed hut walls were banked still mark the sites where that rats had extirpated t\vo nesting species, the they formerly stood.