See slides from AWA Vice President’s presentation last month
Action Alert: Strengthen Protections for National Wildlife Refuges
Our 2023 Annual Report!
We Published! Impact of Climate Change on Alaska Natives in December 2023 Journal of Environmental Health
From the abstract: Alaska, with its unique geographical and ecological characteristics, is experiencing the detrimental effects of climate change at an alarming rate. The Alaska Native (AN) population, deeply connected to the land and its resources, faces disproportionate vulnerability to these impacts. We call attention to climate change impacts on AN food sovereignty, mental and behavioral health, cultural and spiritual practices, resiliency and adaptation, and how local Alaskan organizations are addressing climate change impacts.
This article also highlights the urgent need for environmental public health professionals to engage with AN and Native American communities, address health inequities, and participate in mitigation and adaptation efforts to address the environmental public health threats and consequences of climate change. Increasing awareness of climate- related health impacts on these communities is crucial and immediate actions are needed to support safer, healthier, and more sustainable and climate-resilient communities. Government agencies at all levels should also seek to integrate perspectives from Indigenous Peoples, engage in co-management strategies, and provide equitable funding and support for Indigenous communities. Unity, resilience, and adaptation become attainable goals by joining communities in caring for the environment. This message resonates not only in Alaska but also globally, highlighting the need for collective action in the face of climate change.
AWA Publication: Reimagining large river management
From the abstract, “Anticipating and managing climate-induced ecosystem transformations in large rivers is particularly challenging given their inherently complex socio-ecological dynamics that often cross jurisdictional boundaries. We examine how the Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) framework can facilitate informed decision making and a more cohesive and proactive approach to managing ecological trajectories…”
The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly of the Southcentral Board of Game meeting
Plants and animals on the move: the borealization of a rapidly warming Alaska
Click here or scroll below to see AWA’s Vice President, Dr. John Morton’s, presentation Plants and animals on the move: the borealization of a rapidly warming Alaska for the 20th Annual Conference of North American Travel Journalists Association on May 17th in Fairbanks, AK.
AWA Presentation! Our Changing Climate: Past, Present, Future
New Publication! The Dynamics of a Changing Lutz Spruce Hybrid Zone on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Join us in congratulating AWA Vice President, Dr. John Morton, and co-authors Diana Wolf, Matthew Bowser, Naoki Takebayashi, and Dawn Magness in their recent publication in the Canadian Journal of Forest Research!
Abstract
We investigated the genetic makeup of Lutz spruce, a natural hybrid between white and Sitka spruce on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. Microsatellites indicate 72% of individuals sampled had predominantly white spruce ancestry whereas 14% had predominantly Sitka spruce ancestry; some individuals classified as white spruce had Sitka spruce plastid genotypes. As Picea mitochondria are maternally inherited and plastids are paternally inherited, it appears that white spruce was the ancestral seed parent of nearly all spruce on the peninsula, whereas Sitka spruce alleles originated from pollen. Pollen records show that white spruce colonized the western peninsula ~8,500 YBP from glacial refugium, whereas Sitka spruce arrived on the eastern peninsula ~4,000 YBP after migrating up the Pacific coast. Our data suggest that Sitka spruce migration onto the western peninsula may have occurred not via seed dispersal, but by long distance transport of wind-borne pollen and subsequent hybridization with established white spruce populations. Hybridization was an important mechanism that allowed Sitka spruce to expand the leading edge of its range in response to historical climate change. As the climate continues to warm, climate envelope modeling suggests Lutz spruce may ultimately displace white spruce on the western peninsula even as Sitka spruce is constrained to the eastern peninsula where it will continue to hybridize.
