Understanding 8,000 Years of Climate Change in Southwest Alaska through Archeofaunal Analyses

Project ID: J8W07100037

Federal Agency: National Park Service

Partner Institution: Western Washington University

Fiscal Year: 2010

Initial Funding: $126,000

Total Funding: $280,436

Project Type: Research

Project Disciplines: Biological

National Park: Alaska Region

Principal Investigator: Etnier, Michael

Agreement Technical Representative: Schaaf, Jeanne

Abstract: Archeofaunal collections are important repositories of unique natural and cultural resource scientific data spanning several millennia. This collaborative project will make information from Holocene faunal collections available to interdisciplinary researchers and resource managers as proxy records of resource response to environmental instability and climate change. These assemblages, which include the physical remains of vertebrate and invertebrate fauna, have the potential to add significantly to our understanding of past climate change, beyond the limitations of data sources currently used as proxy records, such as lake sediment, marine sediment and ice cores. There are five primary objectives in this project: locate and evaluate archeofaunal collections from Southwest Alaska; complete the analysis of key faunal collections; conduct studies necessary to provide the categories of data relevant to studying long-term ecological change; create and populate an online database with information about archeofaunal collections, and distribute results to public and professional audiences. Park managers and staff, researchers, visitors, park users and other stakeholders across southwest Alaska and elsewhere are mostly unaware of the climate change history embedded in the archeological record and how it can inform researchers and the public in planning our response to climate change. This project will generate valuable data directly applicable to the core mission of NPS and the general public in addressing key questions associated with climate change by sharing data relevant to managing currently endangered marine species and species that will be affected by climate change.