Climate change, moose, and subsistence harvest: social-ecological assessment of Nuiqsut, Alaska
Assessing the impact of a rapidly warming climate on subsistence-based livelihoods in the Arctic is critical for building resilience for rural communities. We used a social-ecological system (SES) framework to evaluate the possible range of changes in moose abundance, distribution, and harvesting fo...
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Resilience Alliance
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:bc520dc61a3240edbaa034dac0b717c5 2023-05-15T13:13:24+02:00 Climate change, moose, and subsistence harvest: social-ecological assessment of Nuiqsut, Alaska Jiake Zhou Gary P. Kofinas Knut Kielland Randall B. Boone Laura Prugh Ken D. Tape 2022-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-13175-270329 https://doaj.org/article/bc520dc61a3240edbaa034dac0b717c5 EN eng Resilience Alliance https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol27/iss3/art29/ https://doaj.org/toc/1708-3087 1708-3087 doi:10.5751/ES-13175-270329 https://doaj.org/article/bc520dc61a3240edbaa034dac0b717c5 Ecology and Society, Vol 27, Iss 3, p 29 (2022) adaptive capacity alaska arctic climate change community resilience moose nuiqsut subsistence Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Ecology QH540-549.5 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-13175-270329 2022-12-30T20:56:07Z Assessing the impact of a rapidly warming climate on subsistence-based livelihoods in the Arctic is critical for building resilience for rural communities. We used a social-ecological system (SES) framework to evaluate the possible range of changes in moose abundance, distribution, and harvesting for Nuiqsut, a small native community in northern Alaska. Our results indicate that within the area used for hunting by the village, moose (Alces alces) abundance has been highly variable despite recent increases in tall shrubs, which provide forage and cover for moose. Projections for moose abundance also indicate continued fluctuation in the future. Our analysis shows that future increases in moose distribution under a warming climate will not be in river systems accessible to hunters by boat. Hunter access (i.e., river navigability) also may not increase under warming. The community of Nuiqsut thus offers a case study of high exposure to an expansion of moose habitat and distribution under warming, but low sensitivity to this change because of constraints on harvesting. These outcomes are not evident when evaluating social and ecological components separately, illustrating the value of an SES approach. They also provide an example in which a rapid change in an arctic landscape and subsistence resource under climate warming may not translate into altered harvest opportunities. Article in Journal/Newspaper Alces alces Arctic Climate change Moose Alaska Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Ecology and Society 27 3 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
adaptive capacity alaska arctic climate change community resilience moose nuiqsut subsistence Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Ecology QH540-549.5 |
spellingShingle |
adaptive capacity alaska arctic climate change community resilience moose nuiqsut subsistence Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Ecology QH540-549.5 Jiake Zhou Gary P. Kofinas Knut Kielland Randall B. Boone Laura Prugh Ken D. Tape Climate change, moose, and subsistence harvest: social-ecological assessment of Nuiqsut, Alaska |
topic_facet |
adaptive capacity alaska arctic climate change community resilience moose nuiqsut subsistence Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Ecology QH540-549.5 |
description |
Assessing the impact of a rapidly warming climate on subsistence-based livelihoods in the Arctic is critical for building resilience for rural communities. We used a social-ecological system (SES) framework to evaluate the possible range of changes in moose abundance, distribution, and harvesting for Nuiqsut, a small native community in northern Alaska. Our results indicate that within the area used for hunting by the village, moose (Alces alces) abundance has been highly variable despite recent increases in tall shrubs, which provide forage and cover for moose. Projections for moose abundance also indicate continued fluctuation in the future. Our analysis shows that future increases in moose distribution under a warming climate will not be in river systems accessible to hunters by boat. Hunter access (i.e., river navigability) also may not increase under warming. The community of Nuiqsut thus offers a case study of high exposure to an expansion of moose habitat and distribution under warming, but low sensitivity to this change because of constraints on harvesting. These outcomes are not evident when evaluating social and ecological components separately, illustrating the value of an SES approach. They also provide an example in which a rapid change in an arctic landscape and subsistence resource under climate warming may not translate into altered harvest opportunities. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jiake Zhou Gary P. Kofinas Knut Kielland Randall B. Boone Laura Prugh Ken D. Tape |
author_facet |
Jiake Zhou Gary P. Kofinas Knut Kielland Randall B. Boone Laura Prugh Ken D. Tape |
author_sort |
Jiake Zhou |
title |
Climate change, moose, and subsistence harvest: social-ecological assessment of Nuiqsut, Alaska |
title_short |
Climate change, moose, and subsistence harvest: social-ecological assessment of Nuiqsut, Alaska |
title_full |
Climate change, moose, and subsistence harvest: social-ecological assessment of Nuiqsut, Alaska |
title_fullStr |
Climate change, moose, and subsistence harvest: social-ecological assessment of Nuiqsut, Alaska |
title_full_unstemmed |
Climate change, moose, and subsistence harvest: social-ecological assessment of Nuiqsut, Alaska |
title_sort |
climate change, moose, and subsistence harvest: social-ecological assessment of nuiqsut, alaska |
publisher |
Resilience Alliance |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-13175-270329 https://doaj.org/article/bc520dc61a3240edbaa034dac0b717c5 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Alces alces Arctic Climate change Moose Alaska |
genre_facet |
Alces alces Arctic Climate change Moose Alaska |
op_source |
Ecology and Society, Vol 27, Iss 3, p 29 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol27/iss3/art29/ https://doaj.org/toc/1708-3087 1708-3087 doi:10.5751/ES-13175-270329 https://doaj.org/article/bc520dc61a3240edbaa034dac0b717c5 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-13175-270329 |
container_title |
Ecology and Society |
container_volume |
27 |
container_issue |
3 |
_version_ |
1766258168485117952 |