Project Summary

1. Project Identification

Name	Historical Biodiversity at Remote Air Force Sites
Region	Alaska
State	Alaska
Location	Point Barrow and Barter Island Long Range Radar Sites, AK
Date of this update	March 5, 1998

2. Problem(s) addressed (check one or more)

Habitat Restoration/Protection
Wetlands
River systems
Beaches/Dunes
Offshore areas
Mangroves
Assisting Species at Risk		Tundra Plants and Invertebrates
Pollution Mitigation
Non-Point Source Pollution
Other (describe)		Coastal tundra adjacent to beaches are the habitat, but restoration was not funded as part of this effort. The project this was a study, and will ultimately provide information for upcoming management decisions for protection/restoration.

3. Project Description (100 words or less. Please include qualitative information, e.g. acres of habitat restored, miles of steam reopened to migration, and legislative authorization, e.g. WRDA, ISTEA, CWA/NEP, CZMA, etc.)

The project built inventories of present and past biotic communities at two Air Force remote sites as a basis for establishing guidelines for mitigation and restoration. Inventories included modern plant communities, modern insects, Holocene plant communities, and Holocene insects. The goal was to link these data together, to give a view of the history of biological communities and their responses to environmental change over the last 10,000 years.

The areas studied are military reservations built by the U.S. Air Force in the 1950s as part of the Defense Early Warning (DEW Line) system of radar sites across the high latitudes of North America. The DEW Line Stations were converted to LRRS in the 1980s and presently function as remote Air Force sites in the Alaska Radar System. Coastal tundra biological communities are present at Point Barrow LRRS and Barter Island LRRS as well as five other Air Force radar sites located on the North Slope of Alaska.

4. Goals/Benefits (quantify where possible using measures of success list)

Fossil samples were collected below the surface to a depth into the permafrost. The surface soils thaw each summer for limited plant growth; underlying it is permafrost which is permanently frozen soil. A chain saw was needed to collect some samples from frozen peat. Frozen peat is a permafrost soil with a large component of partially decomposed vegetation.

The study found significant differences in both ancient and modern environments between eastern and western regions along the arctic coast of Alaska. These differences are most likely caused by varying substrates and different climatic conditions. A suite of plant species that may be suitable for revegetation efforts at arctic coastal sites was identified. The outward appearance of the vegetation at the two LRRS is very similar and typical of coastal areas across northern Alaska.

During the early Holocene, the vegetation at what would become Point Barrow LRRS was dominated by grasses and heaths; conditions were probably moister and warmer. The Holocene is the period of geologic time since the last ice age. The dominance of grass was not recorded at what would become Barter Island LRRS. The oldest sample from Barter Island [10,500 years before present (yr BP)] yielded a significantly different insect assemblage, with species that are indicative of substantially warmer climatic conditions. The fossil taxa here and elsewhere in arctic Alaska and Yukon indicate that warmer climate conditions could have supported a coniferous forest, only for a brief interval of time probably about 11,000-10,000 yr BP. This is the same period of time that the North Slope archeological records have shown the area to be first inhabited by man. There is no support that a forest existed at that earlier time, the vegetation was similar to today's where the harsh climate keeps the vegetation to only inches high.

Was a cost-benefit study conducted for this project? yes/no If yes, provide a summary of findings.

No, successes (cost benefit) are not quantified.

5. Partners (include each participant's responsibilities - funding, permitting, etc.)

• Federal

  Lead - U.S. Air Force, 611th Civil Engineer Squadron, Natural Resource Management - Project Management & Funding

• Non-Federal

  Laboratory Assistance - Alaska Dept. Of Natural Resources' Alaska Plant Material Center
  University of Colorado Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research - Principal Investigator
  All-Russia Research and Institute for Hydrology and Engineering Geology - Field Research Assistance
  North Slope Borough, Barrow AK - Logistical Assistance

6. Funding/Contributions (organization and amount)

• Cash

  Federal		$105,000
  Non Federal	State government
  	Local government
  	Private industry
  	Public interest groups
  Total		$105,000

• In-Kind Services (hours, equipment, or other forms of assistance and estimated dollar value)
  1. USFWS valued at approximately $10,000 for paid staff, office space, materials, supplies, and tools
  2. University of Western Ontario, University of Massachusetts no estimate currently available, used laboratory and office space, materials, supplies and tools
• Volunteers (number of people and hours, and estimated dollar value)

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7. Legislative authorities used by each participant

None Specified

8. Value added by Coastal America Partnership including Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) goals achieved through this collaboration (500 words or less)

Incomplete, an applicable example was not available

9. Project Status

Project is underway, expect a draft in March 98 and final report May 98

Initiation date	September 25, 1995
Completion date
Current stage	Initiated

10. Contacts

• Project Manager

  Mr. Gene V. Augustine, USAF, 611 CES/CEVPN

• Participating Agency/Organization Contacts: (e.g. volunteer groups, conservation groups, state agencies, and other federal agency contacts)

  Principle Investigator:
  Mr. Julian B. Fischer, USFWS, AMNWR

  Refuge Assistant Manager:
  Mr. Jeff Williams, USFWS, AMNWR

11. Any additional information/comments

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This page was last updated on Saturday, 24-Jun-2000 11:48:46 EDT
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