Expansion of the Southeast Alaska Network Vital Signs Monitoring Program to the Outer Coasts of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve and Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve
Womble JN, Amundson CL, Bliss AK, Bower MR, Danielson SL, Goodwin DS, Loso MG, Questel JM, Ziomek TR. 2025. Expansion of the Southeast Alaska Network Vital Signs Monitoring Program to the Outer Coasts of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve and Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. Science Report. NPS/SR—2025/349. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado. https://doi.org/10.36967/2315213
Despite its extensive scale and global significance, the Outer Coast region of Wrangell-St. Elias and Glacier Bay national parks and preserves was not included in the National Park Service Inventory & Monitoring Program until 2019. The relatively pristine Outer Coast is undergoing rapid change. Multiple stressors, including projected increases in air and ocean temperatures, increased rates of ocean acidification, changes in glacier mass balance and volume, isostatic rebound, and growth in vessel traffic and visitation have the potential to impact local ecosystems and landscape dynamics through both direct and indirect pathways. Given expected future changes to the region, establishment of an integrated multidisciplinary long-term monitoring program to better understand ecosystem processes and inform park management is essential. Here, sampling is proposed to establish baseline conditions and inform the design of a long-term, interdisciplinary monitoring program focused on key environmental drivers and their influences on fjord and nearshore biological communities. The plan is based on conceptual ecological models identified during the Southeast Alaska Network (SEAN) scoping process as well as recent publications and frameworks that are focused on integrated marine and coastal ecosystem science. This document outlines a research and monitoring plan, leveraging methods based on published protocols for a subset of existing SEAN vital signs in combination with sampling to inform future protocol development. The vital signs included are: (1) weather and climate; (2) glacial dynamics; (3) landform and landcover; (4) oceanography; (5) marine predators, including marine birds and marine mammals; and (6) environmental contaminants. Data and associated metadata will be deposited to the National Park Service’s DataStore and public data repositories. Quantitative analyses and systems-level models will be used to integrate physical, chemical, and biological components of park ecosystems, to identify ecosystem linkages, document status and trend of key resources, and identify information gaps and future monitoring needs. Results will be synthesized in peer-reviewed publications and recommendations will be presented for long-term monitoring along the Outer Coast region of Wrangell-St. Elias and Glacier Bay national parks and preserves.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Womble, Jamie; Amundson, Courtney; Bliss, Andrew; Bower, Michael; Danielson, Seth; Goodwin, Deborah; Loso, Michael; Questel, Jennifer; Ziomek, Thomas
- Date of Issue
- 2025-09
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- DOI
- 10.36967/2315213
- Units
- GLBA , NRSS , SEAN , WRST
- Keywords
- Climate, Environmental Contaminants, Fjord Ecosystems, Glaciers, GLBA, Long-term Monitoring, Marine Birds, Marine Mammals, Oceanography, Outer Coasts, WRST