New Research Highlights the Distinctive and Dynamic Characteristics of Arctic Beringia Coastal Lagoon Ecosystems

A new scientific review study led by WCS highlights the distinct and dynamic aspects of coastal lagoon ecosystems in the Arctic Beringia Region and analyzes how climate change and human activity may affect these habitats.

Lagoons from the Arctic's 'forgotten coast'

(Photo : Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Lagoons cover 40% of Alaska's Chukchi Sea shoreline and are essential components of ecologically protected regions, such as Cape Krusenstern National Monument, Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, and Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, as per ScienceDaily.

They are also key wild food harvesting areas for the Inupiat People, who rely on subsistence hunting and gathering for food security.

Significant subsistence harvest species like shellfish, Dolly Varden char, saffron cod, commercially important chum salmon, and Beringia-endemic taxa such as Bering cisco and Alaska blackfish are regularly observed in the lagoons.

Tundra swans, Caspian terns, Arctic terns, Sandhill cranes, long-tailed jaegers, and glaucous gulls are among the birds observed breeding and foraging near the lagoons.

Musk oxen, grizzly bears, bearded seals, beluga, caribou, and beaver are some of the mammals we frequently see along or near lagoons.

The review study was published in the Arctic, a scientific publication published by the University of Calgary and the Arctic Institute of North America, in September 2022.

The primary author, Dr. Kevin Fraley, is a fisheries ecologist with the World Conservation Society's Arctic Beringia Program in Fairbanks, Alaska.

This review is the culmination of a decade of WCS and partner fisheries monitoring and research efforts at these lagoons, and while many aspects of these unique and important ecosystems remain to be studied, the article represents the best understanding of Arctic coastal lagoon structure and ecology to date, according to Fraley.

The authors finished the article by synthesizing findings from long-term fisheries monitoring and research efforts conducted at multiple lagoons within the Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, Cape Krusenstern National Monument, and Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge.

Furthermore, Inupiat and other Northwest Alaska residents entrusted the authors with Traditional Ecological Knowledge relating to lagoon ecology and subsistence harvest practices.

Finally, the endeavor included a review of pertinent published material.

One of the most important issues highlighted in the research was that the presence of seasonal waterways connecting lagoons to the Chukchi Sea influences physical architecture, water chemistry, invertebrate richness, and fish ecology within lagoons.

Because these channels are small and prone to perturbations such as storms, coastal erosion, and natural and artificial beach gravel rearrangement, climatic change and human activities influencing the channels might have disproportionately detrimental effects on lagoon ecosystems.

Although this evaluation marks a significant milestone in the process of studying the lagoons of the Arctic Beringia area, WCS and partners want to continue monitoring these ecosystems to identify any biological alterations induced by natural and anthropogenic disturbances.

WCS will also pursue more research options to better understand these unique ecosystems and advocate for their protection.

Also Read: Warm Atlantic Waters Melting Sea Ice in Arctic

How Does The Climate Crisis Threaten The Arctic?

Since 1979, the amount of Arctic sea ice has already decreased by more than 43%, and the sea ice cover continues to grow younger and thinner, as per WWF.

In the western Arctic, the depth of snow on sea ice has decreased by more than 33% in the previous 30 years.

If we can limit global warming to 1.5°C, the Arctic may be able to keep some summer sea ice, which is vital to its marine ecosystems.

However, if the temperature rise exceeds 1.5°C, we will lose Arctic summer ice within decades.

Declines in sea ice thickness and area and changes in ice melt timing are placing ice-dependent creatures at risk, including narwhals, polar bears, and walruses.

Polar bears in Canada's far north may suffer hunger and reproductive failure by 2100.

The survival of most plants and animals on the Arctic tundra is dependent on favorable snow conditions.

Many, for example, require late-winter snow cover to survive.

Large herbivores, such as reindeer, are unable to reach their food when hard ice layers replace soft snowpack, as occurs during the increasingly frequent freeze-thaw cycles (when rain falls on snow and freezes, forming an impenetrable covering of ice that prevents the animals from reaching their food).

The issue is that we don't know how the snow will change as the temperature warms, or what the Arctic snow conditions will be like if we can keep global warming to 1.5°C.

The snow might either cushion or accelerate changes in Arctic biodiversity, depending on the rate of change.

Arctic sea ice is quickly melting, causing global warming to accelerate. Sea ice reflectivity influences the quantity of sunlight that penetrates the Arctic region, and hence the temperature of the region.

As more sea ice melts, the underlying ocean surface becomes visible.

This darker ocean surface absorbs rather than reflects sunlight, enabling significantly more heat to reach the Arctic system.

Less sea ice implies more open water, more heat absorption, and greater climate change, not only inside the region but outside.