The Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWAR) has long been a battleground in the escalating conflict between the nation's growing energy demands and long held conservation values. Nearby a little known but more consequential struggle is being waged over development of the 23 million-acre National Petroleum Reserve – Alaska, the single most important breeding ground for migratory wildlife in North America.
At the same time, climate change has begun to transform arctic Alaska. The underlying permafrost is melting threatening the integrity of lakes and wetlands. Increasingly severe summer storms coupled with the loss of sea ice are inundating and eroding the shoreline.
In order to understand the multiple and cumulative impacts these events are having on migratory bird species, WCS scientists are:
- Carrying out a long-term study of the effects of oil development at Prudhoe Bay on nesting songbirds and shorebirds;
- Monitoring the species richness, abundance, nesting cycle and productivity of migratory shorebirds in the National Petroleum Reserve; and
- Assessing the impact of accelerating coastal erosion on post-breeding feeding habitat critical to shorebirds preparing for their return migration.