NSSI Information Exchange Workshop
Breakout Session Worksheet 1
What are the important natural system components (receptors) on the North Slope?
1. List
2. Prioritize within each column.
Biological
Polar bears (1)
-decline of sea ice, access to, extent
-onshore denning
Fish (10)
-freshwater-NPR-A, ice roads and
lakes- water withdrawal
-basic ecology unknown, baseline
ecological data
-reduction in habitat access (roads
bisecting streams) vs. fish production
-winter fish habitat
Caribou (8)
-behavior related to roads during
calving
-potential for interaction during
wintering season
-herds, population status, subsistence
-impacts of drilling on 4 different
populations
Musk ox (1)
-dispersion of range, behavior
Physical
Accurate and fine grain physiography
Elevation data
Hydrography
Permafrost –thermokarst (5)
River channels
Sea ice-temporal and spatial scale, snow
cover (3)
River bluffs (1)
Barrier islands (1)
Ocean primary productivity (4)
Ambient noise (1)
-onshore and offshore
Seasonal cycle in physical processes (4)
Freshwater (1)- surface, liquid phase and its
role in constructing biological hot spots
Chlorine and its transformations under
warming regimes
Contaminant levels- monitoring (1)
-understanding transport systems for
airborne contaminants
Circumpolar changes
Perennial springs (1)
Human Dimension
Subsistence patterns and
activities (13)
-bowhead subsistence
Recreation
Transportation
Sociopathology (3)- crime,
mental health, drugs, alcohol,
counseling
Research (1)
Sociocultural systems (1)
Economic subsystems and
characteristics (1)
Land status (2)
Land ownership
Legal property boundaries
Health issues (1)
-respiratory
-effects of climate change
Humans as receptors of
biochemical accumulation
Sewage/refuse treatment
status
NSSI Information Exchange Workshop
Breakout Session Worksheet 1
What are the important natural system components (receptors) on the North Slope?
1. List
2. Prioritize within each column.
Biological
surrounding development
Pack ice seals (2)
-impact of changing sea ice on
reproduction, abundance of distribution,
subsistence use
Subsistence Species (3.5)
Biologically productive hot spot- (7)where they are, dynamics, attributes
Migratory waterfowl (3)
-climate change and alterations of habitat,
migration
Predator/prey relationships (3)
Air Quality and Biological
Impacts/Implications (1)
-noise levels and night skies
Vegetation (6)
-role in soil stability
-water quality protection, habitat, drainage
protection, soil temperature
-community composition and distribution
Linkages between abiotic and biotic
processes (1)
-dynamics of nutrient cycling, effects on
time and space (scales)
Physical
Deep lakes
Near shore salt-affected areas
Implications of rising sea levels
Water quality (9)-physical, chemical,
biological, habitat, temporal
Air particulates (4)
Stream and lake morphology (3)
Nutrient cycling in aquatic, terrestrial, near
shore systems (1)
Nutrient transfer- (1)
Hydrology- freshwater, surface and ground
systems, watershed (5)
Changes in sea level and ice (2)
Sea surface temperatures
View shed (1)
Subsea permafrost (1)
Erosion- freshwater and saltwater
Sea state, wave Climate,
Riparian zones
Geomorphic processes (2.5)
Permafrost and thermal karsting (4)
Terrestrial snow cover (1)
Oceanographic currents- eddies (1)
Solar radiance, natural light cycles,
Human Dimension
Infrastructure needs
Management systemsfederal/state level (2)
-wildlife management
-land management
Perception of change
(context specific) (1)
Dynamics of human
behavior over time and
across scales (includes
historic analysis of patterns)
(1)
Decision-making processes
by communities, agencies,
gov’t (3)
Perception of risk and
consequence of decisions
Adaptive capacity of
communities under change
scenarios (2)
Access issues/patterns (4)
-perceived and real
improvements
-perceived and real reductions
NSSI Information Exchange Workshop
Breakout Session Worksheet 1
What are the important natural system components (receptors) on the North Slope?
1. List
2. Prioritize within each column.
Biological
Habitat as overarching (3)
-control areas
-bowhead whales, ground squirrels
Onshore and offshore habitat
fragmentation (3)
Arctic cod
-food webs
Benthic communities offshore (.5)
-what are they, what do they need, how
they are being affected
Insect populations
-relationship to climate change and
moisture regimes
Invertebrate species in freshwater lakes
and impacts (1)
Microtines and trophic roles
-species relationship (1)
Ice associated zooplankton communities
(1)-what is driving their
abundance/impacts
-changes in ice, what drives abundance in
distribution
Microbial communities and role in
Physical
absorption (1)
Long term climate cycles (1)
Global climate change
-effect on populations
-soils
Water quantity and flow rates (1)
Fire
Soils (2)
-compacted
Lagoons and estuaries (1.5)
Physical Benthic Habitat (2)
Human Dimension
Demographic shifts (8)
-loss of support for protecting
wildlife, change in values
-migration in diff. temporal
scales
Air and water- (1)
-Emission/effluent inventoriesarea, mobile, point source
Belief systems/spiritual
elements of communities (2)
Wildland and wilderness
values (3)
Protected areas (1)
Laws, regulations, permits,
procedures (3)
Bowhead Subsistence (1)
Anthropogenic Noise and
Light (1)
Settlement pattern
Balance of money v.
subsistence
Relationships within and
among North Slope, State,
and nation and all Arctic
NSSI Information Exchange Workshop
Breakout Session Worksheet 1
What are the important natural system components (receptors) on the North Slope?
1. List
2. Prioritize within each column.
Biological
ecology
Raptor populations
Bowhead whales
-sensitivity and behavior to development
Megafauna response and behavior,
threshold of change, sensitivity related
to development (9)
Macroinvertebrate species’ frequency,
abundance, distribution (as indicator to
water quality) (2)
Appropriate scales for ecological
analysis
Intact control areas (3)
Ring seals, near shore-denning, ice roads, pupping
Predators- everything, including humans
(6)
Tundra nesting birds
Effect of contaminants on biological
organisms and habitats
Boulder patch community
Energetics on all groups (2)
Physical
Human Dimension
nations (7)
Privacy and security
Values of migratory species
outside of region for
subsistence (3)
Intangible values to people
outside of regionsubsistence, recreation
Economic well-being (1)
Human population dynamics
(3)
Community perceptions of
safety of subsistence
(contaminants) (1)
NSSI Information Exchange Workshop
Breakout Session Worksheet 1
What are the important natural system components (receptors) on the North Slope?
1. List
2. Prioritize within each column.
Biological
-trophic relationships
Endangered and threatened species and
recovery (4)
Invasive species
-terrestrial, marine, aquatic
Native Species suitable for revegetation
(2)
Should humans be included????
Moose
-habitat
Red fox
Arctic fox
-decline
Identification of native species
Anadromous fish distribution and
abundance (1)
-causeways, storms, spills
Physical
Human Dimension
NSSI Information Exchange Workshop
Breakout Session Worksheet 1
What are the important natural system components (receptors) on the North Slope?
1. List
2. Prioritize within each column.
Biological
Physical
Human Dimension
NSSI Information Exchange Workshop
Breakout Session Worksheet 1
What are the important natural system components (receptors) on the North Slope?
1. List
2. Prioritize within each column.
Biological
Physical
Human Dimension
NSSI Information Exchange Workshop
Breakout Session Worksheet 1
What are the important natural system components (receptors) on the North Slope?
1. List
2. Prioritize within each column.
Biological
Physical
Human Dimension