Habitat Use by Urban Muskoxen in Nome, Alaska

部落学院和大学计划（TCUP）的一个目标是提高为国家土著学生服务的特定高等教育机构的科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）教学和研究能力。扩大这些机构的研究能力，可以扩大学生在STEM领域追求具有挑战性、回报丰厚的职业的机会，为当地相关领域的研究提供机会，并鼓励教师群体超越传统课堂，寻求智力和专业发展。阿拉斯加费尔班克斯大学西北校区的这个项目直接符合这一目标，并将促进对当地社区重要物种的了解。该项目的重点是在阿拉斯加诺姆附近的城市地区使用麝牛（Ovibos moschatus）种群的栖息地。该种群是重要的食物和纤维资源，具有重要的生态旅游和文化价值。该地点提供了一个独特的机会，可以在城市附近研究自由放养的麝牛，并调查采矿复垦的意外结果。该项目假设，在城市附近受干扰的开垦地区和未受干扰的农村地区，麝牛饲料种类存在差异，并且城市地区的春季植物群出现得更早。该项目的目的是开发复垦矿区的演变剖面、标准化植被指数（NDVI）和直接实地测量的物候记录、饲料物种的营养和矿物剖面以及麝鼠位置和栖息地的地理信息系统地图。对阿拉斯加本地个人和社区的好处包括，减少与城市麝牛有关的人类与野生动物冲突所需的信息，这些信息可能会产生建议，例如在哪里设置围栏或修改植被以防止麝牛进入关键区域，以及对矿山尾矿回收程序的建议。该项目还旨在为阿拉斯加土著学生提供学习研究技术和科学交流技能的机会。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

A goal of the Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP) is to increase the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) instructional and research capacities of specific institutions of higher education that serve the Nation's Indigenous students. Expanding the research capacity at these institutions expands the opportunities for students to pursue challenging, rewarding careers in STEM fields, provides for research studies in areas that may be locally relevant, and encourages a faculty community to look beyond the traditional classroom for intellectual and professional growth. This project at the University of Alaska Fairbanks–Northwest Campus aligns directly with that goal and will advance knowledge about a species of importance to local communities.The project focuses on the habitat use of a population of muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) using urban areas around Nome, Alaska. This population is an important food and fiber resource and valued for ecotourism and cultural significance. The location offers a unique opportunity to study free-ranging muskoxen near an urban area and investigate unexpected outcomes of mining reclamation. The project hypothesizes that there is a difference in muskoxen forage species between disturbed, reclaimed areas near urban sites and undisturbed rural sites and that spring flora emergence occurs earlier in urban sites. The project aims to develop successional profiles for reclaimed mining areas, phenological records from normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and direct field measures, nutritional and mineral profiles of forage species, and GIS maps of muskox locations and habitats. Benefits for Native Alaskan individuals and communities include information needed to mitigate human-wildlife conflicts associated with urban muskoxen that could result in recommendations, such as where to erect fences or modify vegetation to prevent muskox movement into critical areas and suggestions for mine tailing reclamation procedures. The project also aims to provide opportunities for Native Alaskan students to learn research techniques and skills in scientific communication.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.