Remote sensing aides studies of climate and wildlife in the Arctic-on land, at sea, and in the air (Invited)

Every day a variety of remote sensing technologies collects large volumes of data that are supporting new analyses and new interpretations about how weather and climate influence the status and distribution of wildlife populations worldwide. Understanding how climate presently affects wildlife is crucial for projecting how climate change could affect wildlife in the future. This talk highlights climate-related wildlife studies by the US Geological Survey in the Arctic. The Arctic is experiencing some of the most pronounced climate changes on earth, raising concerns for species that have evolved seasonal migration strategies tuned to habitat availability and quality. On land, large herbivores such as caribou select concentrated calving areas with high abundance of rapidly growing vegetation and calf survival increases with earlier green-up and with the quantity of food available to cows at peak lactation. Geese time their migrations and reproductive efforts to coincide with optimal plant phenology and peak nutrient availability and departures from this synchrony can influence the survival of goslings. At sea, the habitats of polar bears and other sea-ice-dependent species have dramatically changed over just the past two decades. The ice pack is comprised of younger ice that melts much more extensively during summer-a trend projected to continue by all general circulation models under all but the most aggressive greenhouse gas mitigation scenarios. Studies show that by mid-century optimal polar bear habitats will be so reduced that the species may become extirpated from some regions of the Arctic. In the air, a variety of shorebird species make non-stop endurance flights between northern and southern hemispheres. The bar-tailed godwit undertakes a trans-Pacific flight between Alaska and Australasia that lasts more than seven days and spans more than 10,000 km. Studies show that godwits time their flights to coincide with favorable wind conditions, but stochastic weather events en route can impose energetic costs that affect reproduction and possibly survival. As more is learned about how climate and climate change affect species and ecosystems, better adaptive management decisions can be made. Remote sensing will continue to play an essential role.