Abstract
Successful wildlife management depends upon coordination and consultation with local communities. However, much of the research used to inform management is often derived solely from data collected directly from wildlife. Indigenous people living in the Arctic have a close connection to their environment, which provides unique opportunities to observe their environment and the ecology of Arctic species. Further, most northern Arctic communities occur within the range of polar bears (nanuq, Ursus maritimus) and have experienced significant climatic changes. Here, we used semi-structured interviews from 2017 to 2019 to document Iñupiaq knowledge of polar bears observed over four decades in four Alaskan communities in the range of the Southern Beaufort Sea polar bear subpopulation: Wainwright, Utqiaġvik, Nuiqsut, and Kaktovik. All but one of 47 participants described directional and notable changes in sea ice, including earlier ice breakup, later ice return, thinner ice, and less multiyear pack ice. These changes corresponded with observations of bears spending more time on land during the late summer and early fall in recent decades—observations consistent with scientific and Indigenous knowledge studies in Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. Participants noted that polar bear and seal body condition and local abundance either varied geographically or exhibited no patterns. However, participants described a recent phenomenon of bears being exhausted and lethargic when arriving on shore in the summer and fall after extensive swims from the pack ice. Further, several participants suggested that maternal denning is occurring more often on land than sea ice. Participants indicated that village and regional governments are increasingly challenged to obtain resources needed to keep their communities safe as polar bears spend more time on land, an issue that is likely to be exacerbated both in this region and elsewhere as sea ice loss continues.
Highlights
Environmental scientists, policy makers, and managers have increasingly recognized the opportunity to learn from the knowledge and observations of Indigenous people, especially regarding local transformations resulting from global environmental change (e.g., Orlove et al, 2010; Alexander et al, 2011; Mistry and Berardi, 2016; Makondo and Thomas, 2018)
The population size of each community in 2010 was 4212 residents in Utqiaġvik, 556 in Wainwright, 402 in Nuiqsut, and 239 in Kaktovik. Tribal councils of these villages are represented by the Alaska Nannut Co-Management Council, which co-manages SB polar bears and polar bears in the neighboring Chukchi Sea subpopulation with the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service. Because these communities fall within the boundaries of the SB polar bear subpopulation, they are included in the Iñupiaq-Inuvialuit Southern Beaufort Sea Agreement, established in 1988 and renewed in 2011 (Brower et al, 2002; Kanayurak, 2016)
Projected continued loss of sea ice, including an estimated 60-day reduction in sea ice duration in the Beaufort Sea as early as 2030 (Wang et al, 2018), suggests that polar bears and the people who are dependent on the Arctic marine ecosystem will be increasingly impacted by a warming Arctic
Summary
Environmental scientists, policy makers, and managers have increasingly recognized the opportunity to learn from the knowledge and observations of Indigenous people, especially regarding local transformations resulting from global environmental change (e.g., Orlove et al, 2010; Alexander et al, 2011; Mistry and Berardi, 2016; Makondo and Thomas, 2018). Indigenous people living in the Arctic observe and are most impacted by the direct and indirect effects of global warming because of their close connection to their environment (Krupnik and Ray, 2007; Green and Raygorodetsky, 2010; Ford, 2012). They can provide a unique breadth of knowledge about the occurring changes that are important to informing management and policy. Numerous studies have documented the value of this knowledge (Laidler, 2006; Alexander et al, 2011; Born et al, 2011; Laforest et al, 2018; Laidre et al, 2018a), in developing strategies to manage the effects of climate change (Riedlinger and Berkes, 2001; Vinyeta and Lynn, 2013)
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