NNA Research: Collaborative Research: Fate of the Caribou: from local knowledge to range-wide dynamics in the changing Arctic

航行新北极(NNA)是NSF的十大想法之一。NNA项目解决了快速变化的北极地区汇聚的科学挑战。这项北极研究需要为国家、更大区域和全球的经济、安全和韧性提供信息。NNA增强了从地方到国际的新的研究伙伴关系，使下一代北极研究人员多样化，加强正式和非正式教育的努力，并在适当的情况下整合共同创造知识。该奖项通过在以下NNA重点领域解决自然环境和建筑环境之间的相互作用来实现这一目标的一部分：北极居民、数据和观测、预测和全球影响。北极最丰富的大型动物是驯鹿(Rangifer Tarandus)。驯鹿对社会和自然系统有重大影响。这些动物以多达50万个个体的群体进行着地球上最长的陆地迁徙。驯鹿是北方土著人民精神和物质文化的核心。在许多社区，粮食安全直接取决于驯鹿的存在。驯鹿也是北极生态系统的重要组成部分，因为它们对森林和冻土带产生了影响。因此，非常令人担忧的是，近几十年来，全球驯鹿数量有所下降，一些驯鹿群自1990年以来减少了95%以上。这些下降很可能与北极发生的许多环境变化有关，但真正的原因尚不清楚。这项研究遵循土著社区和其他利益攸关方的领导，直接解决阿拉斯加北部和加拿大驯鹿的未来问题。该项目在几所美国大学培训学生和博士后研究员，为强大的STEM劳动力做出贡献。结果得到广泛传播，数据向公众开放，包括有价值的新空间数据产品和可视化。了解驯鹿的减少是北极最紧迫的问题之一，该项目提供了数据，为管理这一重要资源的决策提供信息。该项目测试了将特定的气候和生态关系与迁徙的驯鹿种群迁徙联系起来的假设。这些假设直接来自当地的观察和受影响社区的直接关切。北极环境的几个相关变化包括：冻土带植被、雪的质量和数量、火灾制度、昆虫骚扰以及建成环境的影响。这些分析使用了史无前例的北美驯鹿监测和卫星项圈跟踪数据汇编，这些数据是由阿拉斯加北部和加拿大的地区和联邦机构的合作伙伴收集的，结合了土著知识和植被、火、雪和土地覆盖的遥感。与北极社区伙伴，包括土著领导的共同管理治理委员会和政府机构，建立了牢固和良好的关系，从而建立了广泛的知识库。通过利用一个庞大的合作网络，可以比较和对比驯鹿种群，突出相关互动的基本过程和当地特殊性。最终结果将是，随着北极的持续变化，总体上能够预测驯鹿的命运。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Navigating the New Arctic (NNA) is one of NSF's 10 Big Ideas. NNA projects address convergence scientific challenges in the rapidly changing Arctic. This Arctic research is needed to inform the economy, security and resilience of the Nation, the larger region and the globe. NNA empowers new research partnerships from local to international scales, diversifies the next generation of Arctic researchers, enhances efforts in formal and informal education, and integrates the co-production of knowledge where appropriate. This award fulfills part of that aim by addressing interactions among the natural environment and built environment in the following NNA focus areas: Arctic Residents, Data and Observation, Forecasting, and Global Impact.The most abundant large animal in the Arctic is caribou (Rangifer tarandus). Caribou have significant influences on social and natural systems. These animals perform the longest terrestrial migrations on Earth in herds of up to half a million individuals. Caribou are central to the spiritual and material culture of Indigenous peoples across the North. In many communities, food security depends directly on caribou presence. Caribou are also an important part of Arctic ecosystems through their impact on forest and tundra. It is therefore extremely concerning that global caribou numbers have declined over recent decades, with some herds collapsing by over 95% since 1990. These declines are likely related to the many environmental changes occurring in the Arctic, but the true causes are unknown. This research follows the leadership of Indigenous communities and other stakeholders to directly address the future of caribou across northern Alaska and Canada. The project trains students and postdoctoral fellows at several U.S. universities, contributing to a strong STEM workforce. Results are disseminated broadly, and data are accessible to the public, including valuable new spatial data products and visualizations. Understanding caribou decline is one of the most pressing concerns in the Arctic, and this project provides data to inform decision-making on the management of a vital resource. This project tests hypotheses that relate specific climatic and ecological relationships to the movements of populations of migratory caribou. The hypotheses are directly informed by local observations and the immediate concerns of affected communities. Several relevant changes in Arctic environments include: tundra vegetation, snow quality and quantity, fire regimes, insect harassment, and impacts of built environments. The analyses use an unprecedented compilation of caribou monitoring and satellite collar tracking data amassed by partners in territorial and federal agencies across northern Alaska and Canada, combined with Indigenous Knowledge and remote sensing of vegetation, fire, snow, and land-cover. Strong, well-established relationships with Arctic community partners, including Indigenous-led co-management governance boards and government agencies, enable a broad knowledge base. By leveraging an enormous collaborative network, it is possible to compare and contrast caribou populations, highlighting both fundamental processes and local particularities of relevant interactions. The ultimate outcome will be the ability to generally anticipate the fate of caribou as the Arctic continues to change.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.