Past Inventories
Fossilized Invertebrates
Vascular Plants

Project Summary

Alaska's Bering Glacier is the largest and longest glacier in continental North America. Remote sensing projects conducted since 1995 have indicated the Bering Glacier is thinning and retreating at an exceptional rate (annual water loss ~50 cubic km/year). Superimposed on the retreat is a pattern of periodic glacial surges and retreats that alternatively expose, cover, and alter the surrounding lands and waters. Extensive monitoring of the physical habitat has demonstrated that the Bering Glacier region is unique in its land and ice dynamics. However, the baseline monitoring of the flora and fauna of the area has significantly lagged behind that of the physical properties. While it is recognized that glacial movements have resulted in forelands where there is a mosaic of young and old habitats and biotic communities, the impact of glacial retreat and surges on the flora and fauna of the area has not been systematically studied.

 Our preliminary work at the Bering Glacier Site has suggested that the site is biologically significant. Paleontological research has documented a diverse assemblage of invertebrate species, preserved forests, and ancient peats, and preliminary botanical studies have identified more than 250 vascular and non-vascular species. The foregrounds are also known to support a highly diverse vertebrate community: fresh and anadromous fishes, three rare subspecies of Canada geese, genetically distinct populations of wolf and goat, and a previously undocumented harbor seal population. The diversity of fauna and flora in the area around the margins of the Bering Glacier is likely due to the dynamic physical habitat. In contrast to the forelands of most retreating glaciers, in which distance from the glacier reflects both habitat age and climate, the pattern of surges and retreats have created a landscape where local climate and time since glacial cover have effectively been decoupled. Within this relatively small region, the impact of habitat age, climate, and physical properties on community structure can be studied independently over a broad range of habitats. In the limited area around the glacier habitats vary from newly exposed rocks at close to sea-level, to 10,000⁺year-old moraines at elevations above 1,000m, and from wet fens to relatively dry sub-alpine forests.  

In the face of such physical and biological diversity, the overall objectives of this study are twofold: first the project will describe and document subsets of the biota in a variety of distinct habitat types, and second the project will lead to a greater understanding of how the biotic communities impact, and are impacted by, the dynamic physical environment in which they are found. The biotic surveys will encompass a broad range of taxa: Paleontological studies will continue to document past invertebrate and plant assemblages in order to reconstruct climatic history; Microbial research will address how water quality and habitat age influence species composition and metabolic pathways; Vascular and non-vascular plant surveys will examine species diversity with respect to physical and biological habitat features; Studies of freshwater and anadromous fish communities will reveal how changes in water quality influence species composition and evolution; and research on marine mammals will link terrestrial and nearshore dynamics to oceanographic communities. This work is critical because the Bering Glacier landscape is being substantively changed as glacial retreat continues, and as human impacts due to recreational and commercial activities increase rapidly. 

The final goal of this research is to facilitate extensive data sharing and collaboration among all researchers interested in the Bering Glacier habitat. To do so we will coordinate an annual workshop on environmental research near the Bering glacier; develop web accessible databases of specimens, habitat information, and research activities in this region; and create a web-accessible Bering Glacier geographic information system (GIS). We anticipate that the collaborative nature of this project, and its emphasis on increased structure and organization will enhance understanding of species abundance, diversity patterns, and community structure of the environment as a whole.