The Arctic region, extending from the Arctic Ocean to the tundra and northern boreal forest of North America and Eurasia, is home to ecosystems and peoples uniquely adapted to extreme conditions. Due to the direct and diverse effects of climate change, the Arctic is warming faster than the rest of the globe, and changes are already underway. As a result, species that live there or are reliant on the Arctic for much of their life cycle, are at serious risk.

BRI contaminant projects in the Arctic include:

• Investigating mercury levels in the feathers and blood of a broad suite of shorebirds breeding across North America, from Alaska to Nunavut (in collaboration with the Arctic Shorebird Demographics Network)
• Evaluating mercury exposure in a number of seabirds and waterbirds breeding in Alaska and Russia, including the Kittlitz’s Murrelet, Yellow-billed Loon, Pacific Loon, and Arctic Loon (in collaboration with researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey, and at the Russian Academy of Sciences)

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Publications:

• “A Synthesis of Maternal Transfer of Mercury in Birds: Implications for Altered Toxicity Risk,” Environmental Science and Technology (2020)
• “Mercury exposure and risk in breeding and staging Alaskan shorebirds,” The Condor: Ornithological Applications (2016)

BRI tracking projects in the Arctic include:

• Determining the year-round movements of migratory birds that nest in Denali National Park, Alaska, and identifying migration routes, stopover sites, and wintering areas (in collaboration with the National Park Service)
• Identifying the Asian wintering areas of Yellow-billed Loons breeding on Alaska’s North Slope (in collaboration with Dr. Joel Schmutz, U.S. Geological Survey)

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Publications

• “Ecological insights from three decades of animal movement tracking across a changing Arctic,” Science (2020)

BRI’s Arctic population studies include:

• Capturing and color-banding Yellow-billed Loons on Alaska’s North Slope to monitor their reproductive success, survival, and breeding distribution (in collaboration with Dr. Joel Schmutz, U.S. Geological Survey)
• Collaborating with Russian scientists in the Chukotka region of Siberia to develop on-site field methods for monitoring loons (Yellow-billed, Pacific, and Arctic), and on publications related to the ecology of waterbirds, shorebirds, songbirds, and other Arctic wildlife (with Dr. Diana Solovyeva, Russian Academy of Sciences

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