Ringed seal (Pusa hispida) breeding habitat on the landfast ice in northwest Alaska during spring 1983 and 1984.
There has been significant sea ice loss associated with climate change in the Pacific Arctic, with unquantified impacts to the habitat of ice-obligate marine mammals such as ringed seals (Pusa hispida). Ringed seals maintain breathing holes and excavate subnivean lairs on sea ice to provide protecti...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:2cc025eda2904b8abd9306681d03d00b 2023-05-15T15:16:46+02:00 Ringed seal (Pusa hispida) breeding habitat on the landfast ice in northwest Alaska during spring 1983 and 1984. Donna D W Hauser Kathryn J Frost John J Burns 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260644 https://doaj.org/article/2cc025eda2904b8abd9306681d03d00b EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260644 https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0260644 https://doaj.org/article/2cc025eda2904b8abd9306681d03d00b PLoS ONE, Vol 16, Iss 11, p e0260644 (2021) Medicine R Science Q article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260644 2022-12-31T16:32:29Z There has been significant sea ice loss associated with climate change in the Pacific Arctic, with unquantified impacts to the habitat of ice-obligate marine mammals such as ringed seals (Pusa hispida). Ringed seals maintain breathing holes and excavate subnivean lairs on sea ice to provide protection from weather and predators during birthing, nursing, and resting. However, there is limited baseline information on the snow and ice habitat, distribution, density, and configuration of ringed seal structures (breathing holes, simple haul-out lairs, and pup lairs) in Alaska. Here, we describe historic field records from two regions of the eastern Chukchi Sea (Kotzebue Sound and Ledyard Bay) collected during spring 1983 and 1984 to quantify baseline ringed seal breeding habitat and map the distribution of ringed seal structures using modern geospatial tools. Of 490 structures located on pre-established study grids by trained dogs, 29% were pup lairs (25% in Kotzebue Sound and 33% in Ledyard Bay). Grids in Ledyard Bay had greater overall density of seal structures than those in Kotzebue Sound (8.6 structures/km2 and 7.1 structures/km2), but structures were larger in Kotzebue Sound. Pup lairs were located in closer proximity to other structures and characterized by deeper snow and greater ice deformation than haul-out lairs or simple breathing holes. At pup lairs, snow depths averaged 74.9 cm (range 37-132 cm), with ice relief nearby averaging 76 cm (range 31-183 cm), and ice deformation 29.9% (range 5-80%). We compare our results to similar studies conducted in other geographic regions and discuss our findings in the context of recent declines in extent and duration of seasonal cover of landfast sea ice and snow deposition on sea ice. Ultimately, additional research is needed to understand the effects of recent environmental changes on ringed seals, but our study establishes a baseline upon which future research can measure pup habitat in northwest Alaska. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Chukchi Chukchi Sea Climate change Pacific Arctic Pusa hispida ringed seal Sea ice Alaska Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Chukchi Sea Pacific PLOS ONE 16 11 e0260644 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Medicine R Science Q |
spellingShingle |
Medicine R Science Q Donna D W Hauser Kathryn J Frost John J Burns Ringed seal (Pusa hispida) breeding habitat on the landfast ice in northwest Alaska during spring 1983 and 1984. |
topic_facet |
Medicine R Science Q |
description |
There has been significant sea ice loss associated with climate change in the Pacific Arctic, with unquantified impacts to the habitat of ice-obligate marine mammals such as ringed seals (Pusa hispida). Ringed seals maintain breathing holes and excavate subnivean lairs on sea ice to provide protection from weather and predators during birthing, nursing, and resting. However, there is limited baseline information on the snow and ice habitat, distribution, density, and configuration of ringed seal structures (breathing holes, simple haul-out lairs, and pup lairs) in Alaska. Here, we describe historic field records from two regions of the eastern Chukchi Sea (Kotzebue Sound and Ledyard Bay) collected during spring 1983 and 1984 to quantify baseline ringed seal breeding habitat and map the distribution of ringed seal structures using modern geospatial tools. Of 490 structures located on pre-established study grids by trained dogs, 29% were pup lairs (25% in Kotzebue Sound and 33% in Ledyard Bay). Grids in Ledyard Bay had greater overall density of seal structures than those in Kotzebue Sound (8.6 structures/km2 and 7.1 structures/km2), but structures were larger in Kotzebue Sound. Pup lairs were located in closer proximity to other structures and characterized by deeper snow and greater ice deformation than haul-out lairs or simple breathing holes. At pup lairs, snow depths averaged 74.9 cm (range 37-132 cm), with ice relief nearby averaging 76 cm (range 31-183 cm), and ice deformation 29.9% (range 5-80%). We compare our results to similar studies conducted in other geographic regions and discuss our findings in the context of recent declines in extent and duration of seasonal cover of landfast sea ice and snow deposition on sea ice. Ultimately, additional research is needed to understand the effects of recent environmental changes on ringed seals, but our study establishes a baseline upon which future research can measure pup habitat in northwest Alaska. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Donna D W Hauser Kathryn J Frost John J Burns |
author_facet |
Donna D W Hauser Kathryn J Frost John J Burns |
author_sort |
Donna D W Hauser |
title |
Ringed seal (Pusa hispida) breeding habitat on the landfast ice in northwest Alaska during spring 1983 and 1984. |
title_short |
Ringed seal (Pusa hispida) breeding habitat on the landfast ice in northwest Alaska during spring 1983 and 1984. |
title_full |
Ringed seal (Pusa hispida) breeding habitat on the landfast ice in northwest Alaska during spring 1983 and 1984. |
title_fullStr |
Ringed seal (Pusa hispida) breeding habitat on the landfast ice in northwest Alaska during spring 1983 and 1984. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ringed seal (Pusa hispida) breeding habitat on the landfast ice in northwest Alaska during spring 1983 and 1984. |
title_sort |
ringed seal (pusa hispida) breeding habitat on the landfast ice in northwest alaska during spring 1983 and 1984. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260644 https://doaj.org/article/2cc025eda2904b8abd9306681d03d00b |
geographic |
Arctic Chukchi Sea Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Chukchi Sea Pacific |
genre |
Arctic Chukchi Chukchi Sea Climate change Pacific Arctic Pusa hispida ringed seal Sea ice Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Chukchi Chukchi Sea Climate change Pacific Arctic Pusa hispida ringed seal Sea ice Alaska |
op_source |
PLoS ONE, Vol 16, Iss 11, p e0260644 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260644 https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0260644 https://doaj.org/article/2cc025eda2904b8abd9306681d03d00b |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260644 |
container_title |
PLOS ONE |
container_volume |
16 |
container_issue |
11 |
container_start_page |
e0260644 |
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1766347057979719680 |