The eight national park areas studied were Glacier, Mount Rainier, Olympic, Rocky Mountain, Sequoia & Kings Canyon, Denali, Gates of the Arctic and Noatak.
Alaska Ecology
Study supports Bering Strait migration, Siberian origin to Native Americans
The study’s findings hint at supporting evidence for scholars who believe early inhabitants followed the coasts to spread south into South America, rather than moving in waves across the interior.
Alaskan Pleistocene gray wolves faced Ice Age extinction
This previously unrecognized type of wolf joined wooly mammoths and saber-toothed cats in the end-Pleistocene extinction 12,000 years ago.
Bering Sea ecosystem responding to changes in Arctic climate
These highly productive waters, according to NSF, act as “sponges” for carbon dioxide, absorbing quantities of the gas that otherwise would remain in the atmosphere where it would be expected to contribute to warming.
Glaciologist: Central Alaska Range glacier advances
The lower portion of the McGinnis Glacier was observed covered in cracks, crevasses and ice pinnacles — evidence that the glacier moved forward.
UW biologist: Spawning salmon behavior triggers stream ecosystem changes
The “rototilling” effect most happens wherever salmon are found in high densities, such as British Columbia, Alaska and some individual streams in the Pacific Northwest.
Alaska quake altered Yellowstone hydrothermal system
A powerful earthquake that rocked Alaska in 2002 changed the timing and behavior of some of Yellowstone’s geysers and hot springs.