Collaborative Research: Environmental Variability, Bowhead Whale Distributions, and Inupiat Subsistence Whaling - Linkages and Resilience of an Alaskan Coastal System

合作研究：环境变化、弓头鲸分布和因纽特人生存捕鲸——阿拉斯加沿海系统的联系和恢复力

• 批准号: 0436131
• 负责人: Carin Ashjian
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-09-15 至 2009-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0436131&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Environmental; Variability; Bowhead

The coupling between atmosphere, sea ice, ocean, bowhead whales, and subsistence whaling by the Native human populations is fundamental to the physical-biological-human systems of the Northern Alaska Coast. Whale migration routes and habitat use are determined by zooplankton aggregations, which are driven by oceanographic conditions, which depend on the climatic regime. Successful hunting depends on interactions between environmental and societal factors that vary each year and are driven by forces originating outside the system. This complex suite of environment-whale-human factors comprises a system that is vulnerable both to global climate and human generated change. This proposal seeks to identify and understand the complex linkages, mechanisms, and interactions within and between the atmosphere, ocean, and human components of this system. The response and resilience of these components and the system as a whole to variable forcing by external environmental change will also be investigated. The work is highly interdisciplinary and focuses on the linked ocean-human systems of coastal Alaska, concentrating specifically near Barrow, Alaska. Four distinct yet highly interrelated approaches to understanding the system are used: 1) Biological and physical ocean modeling to identify mechanisms of frontal and eddy formation and plankton aggregation, to describe the effects of environmental forcing from outside on the local ocean, and to understand longer term, past and future variability in outside forcing on whaling success, 2) High resolution field sampling to demonstrate presence of physical features and associated biological concentrations and to validate modeling, 3) Assessment of the resilience and vulnerability of the subsistence hunting economy and culture in Barrow, and 4) Retrospective analysis synthesizing modeled ocean and climate conditions with available information on whale location, feeding, and harvest success to asses the resilience and vulnerability of the whale-ocean-human system to environmental change. Intrinsic Merit: On the local scale, the results of the research will provide a greater understanding of the factors influencing a natural resource, demonstrating linkages between discovery and application to policy issues of bowhead whale management. The social structure and fabric of the Inupiat communities are intimately linked to the whaling tradition and are particularly vulnerable to both environmental change and human-generated pressures. On the broader scale, the research will address how multiple physical, biological, and human factors are linked in a complex natural system that may be critically affected by environmental variability. Biogeochemical and physical manifestations of climate change in this region (e.g., ice reduction, changes in marine mammal migration and ecosystem structure) will have consequences for local human linkages to the Arctic ecosystem by influencing hunting success, ease of travel, and the relative importance of subsistence and cash economies and are representative of those of the broader Arctic with important impacts on global carbon cycling. All these topics are highly relevant to the Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH) program. This project is cutting-edge in that it assimilates research of multiple disciplines from oceanography to social science to address questions that can only successfully be answered using this multi-faceted, integrative approach. Broader Impacts: The locally relevant science proposed for this project is of significant interest to the Barrow community and neighboring villages, to policy makers at the IWC, NOAA, and MMS, and to the broader public. The interdisciplinary collaborative partnership between academic researchers and staff at a federal agency and at a regional wildlife management agency is an investment in human and social capital that enhances the broader research infrastructure. Climate variability and its effects on access to and mobility within the Arctic Ocean have broader impacts for global and local commerce and national security. The proposed high school internship program involves the participation of native people who are often underrepresented in the fields of science and technology. Broader involvement of high school students and teachers through the ARMADA program will communicate to the scientists of the next generation understanding of field research, of the Arctic Ocean ecosystem, and of the importance of climate variability to this ecosystem.

大气、海冰、海洋、弓头鲸和原住民捕鲸活动之间的耦合是阿拉斯加北部海岸物理-生物-人类系统的基础。鲸鱼的迁徙路线和栖息地利用是由浮游动物聚集决定的，而浮游动物聚集是由海洋条件驱动的，而海洋条件又取决于气候状况。成功的狩猎取决于环境和社会因素之间的相互作用，这些因素每年都在变化，并且由系统外部的力量驱动。这一系列复杂的环境-鲸鱼-人类因素构成了一个容易受到全球气候和人类造成的变化影响的系统。该提案旨在识别和理解该系统的大气、海洋和人类组成部分内部和之间的复杂联系、机制和相互作用。还将研究这些组件和整个系统对外部环境变化的可变强迫的响应和恢复力。这项工作是高度跨学科的，重点关注阿拉斯加沿海地区相互联系的海洋与人类系统，特别集中在阿拉斯加巴罗附近。使用四种不同但高度相关的方法来理解该系统：1）生物和物理海洋建模，以确定锋面和涡流形成以及浮游生物聚集的机制，描述外部环境强迫对当地海洋的影响，并了解外部强迫对捕鲸成功的长期、过去和未来的变化，2）高分辨率现场采样，以证明物理特征和相关生物浓度的存在并验证模型，3）评估 巴罗自给狩猎经济和文化的复原力和脆弱性，以及 4) 回顾性分析综合模拟海洋和气候条件以及鲸鱼位置、进食和收获成功的现有信息，以评估鲸鱼-海洋-人类系统对环境变化的复原力和脆弱性。内在优点：在当地范围内，研究结果将有助于更好地了解影响自然资源的因素，展示发现和应用与弓头鲸管理政策问题之间的联系。因纽特人社区的社会结构和结构与捕鲸传统密切相关，特别容易受到环境变化和人类造成的压力的影响。在更广泛的范围内，该研究将解决复杂的自然系统中多种物理、生物和人为因素如何相互联系，而该系统可能受到环境变化的严重影响。该地区气候变化的生物地球化学和物理表现（例如冰减少、海洋哺乳动物迁徙和生态系统结构的变化）将通过影响狩猎的成功、旅行的便捷性以及自给和现金经济的相对重要性，对当地人类与北极生态系统的联系产生影响，并且代表了更广泛的北极地区，对全球碳循环产生了重要影响。所有这些主题都与北极环境变化研究（SEARCH）项目高度相关。该项目是前沿的，因为它吸收了从海洋学到社会科学的多个学科的研究，以解决只有使用这种多方面的综合方法才能成功回答的问题。更广泛的影响：巴罗社区和邻近村庄、IWC、NOAA 和 MMS 的决策者以及更广泛的公众对本项目提出的与当地相关的科学具有重大意义。学术研究人员与联邦机构和地区野生动物管理机构的工作人员之间的跨学科合作伙伴关系是对人力和社会资本的投资，可增强更广泛的研究基础设施。气候变化及其对北冰洋内进入和流动的影响对全球和地方商业和国家安全具有更广泛的影响。拟议的高中实习计划涉及在科学技术领域代表性不足的当地人的参与。通过 ARMADA 计划，高中生和教师更广泛地参与，将让下一代科学家了解实地研究、北冰洋生态系统以及气候变化对该生态系统的重要性。