Coastal Lagoon Community and Ecological Monitoring in the Southern Chukchi Sea National Park Units over Five Decades ~ Status and 2012 Field Sampling Report ~

Robards, Martin

Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) provided their first year of assistance to the National Park Service with the design and implementation of the Coastal Lagoon Vital Sign component of the Inventory and Monitoring Program. Our 2012 field effort assessed a) the feasibility of implementing a focused portion of the recommendations from the 2010 Draft Protocol for the Arctic Coastal Lagoon Vital Sign Monitoring Protocol at Cape Krusenstern National Monument (Reynolds and Clough, 2010), and b) adding coverage of the Lagoon Vital Sign to Bering Land Bridge National Preserve. The 2012 Coastal Lagoon Vital Sign monitoring effort explicitly addressed the logistical issues raised in the draft protocol. Earlier Vital Sign efforts were challenged using ground access (4-wheelers) due to impassable outflow channels, leading to underachievement on protocol implementation, and the suggestion that float plane access may be a more viable way of supporting long-term monitoring. Between July 21st and July 29th 2012, a four-person crew from the Wildlife Conservation Society and the National Park Service successfully utilized a Cessna 185 on floats to access Ikpek and Cowpack lagoons in Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, and Kotlik, Krusenstern, and Aqulaaq lagoons in Cape Krusenstern National Monument. Over two days at each lagoon (one day at Aqalaaq Lagoon), we used a small inflatable boat equipped with a 9 horsepower motor to visit four long-term (Center, Outflow, Inflow, and Adjacent-to-the-Ocean stations) and three Random stations in each lagoon. At each station, we collected (or attempted to collect) data on physical water parameters (sonde instrumentation), chorophyll a (filtered samples and lab spectrographic analysis), benthic invertebrates (Ponar grab), nearshore fish (beach seine), pelagic fish (gillnet), and opportunistic observations of the avian community. Results from prior sampling efforts in 1979/1980 (Raymond et al., 1984); 1982/1983 (Dames and Moore, 1983 – and reports therein); 2003/2004 (Reynolds, 2012); and 2009 (Reynolds and Clough, 2010) were synthesized, placed in a single file (excel) for the first time, and are presented here with new results from 2012. Collectively, we are using these field efforts to: a) provide a summary of reference conditions in the lagoons of Cape Krusenstern and Bering Land Bridge National Park Units; b) continue development of the Vital Sign Monitoring Protocol, c) frame more in-depth assessments to place long-term monitoring in the context of seasonal variability, d) initiate new fisheries research in collaboration with the Native Village of Kotzebue to better understand the management needs for whitefish in these coastal lagoons, and e) begin to assess prioritization of coastal lagoons for protection from oil spills based on their ecological or subsistence contribution.

Coastal Lagoon Community and Ecological Monitoring in the Southern Chukchi Sea National Park Units over Five Decades ~ Status and 2012 Field Sampling Report ~

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