ALBERT

Description / Table of Contents: Introduction 2 --- Physical Setting 6 --- Topography 8 --- Geologic Setting: Glaciers & Karst 11 --- Air Temperature 14 --- Precipitation 18 --- Snow 22 --- Watersheds & Value Comparison Units (VCUs) 27 --- Biological Setting 32 --- Biogeographic Provinces 34 --- Wetlands 39 --- Estuaries 41 --- Land Cover & Forest Vegetation 44 --- Old-growth & Second-growth Forest 51 --- Core Areas of High Biological Value 57 --- Index of Cumulative Ecological Risk 60 --- Anadromous Fish 66 --- Anadromous Fish Habitat 68 --- King (Chinook) Salmon 73 --- Red (Sockeye) Salmon 76 --- Silver (Coho) Salmon 79 --- Pink (Humpy) Salmon 82 --- Chum (Dog) Salmon 85 --- Steelhead Trout 88 --- Dolly Varden 91 --- Coastal Cutthroat Trout 95 --- Eulachon 99 --- Birds 108 --- Bird Species Richness 110 --- Important Bird Areas (IBAs) 114 --- Marine Bird Colonies 117 --- Marbled Murrelet 120 --- Kittlitz’s Murrelet 123 --- Shorebirds 126 --- Prince of Wales Spruce Grouse 129 --- Queen Charlotte Goshawk 132 --- Bald Eagle 135 --- Mammals 142 --- Mammal Species Richness 144 --- Northern Flying Squirrel 147 --- Sitka Black-tailed Deer 150 --- Alexander Archipelago Wolf 155 --- Brown Bear 160 --- Black Bear 164 --- Human Uses 174 --- Land Ownership 176 --- Transportation and Energy Infrastructure 180 --- Community Subsistence Use 187 --- Timber 191 --- Metals Mining 195 --- Sport and Commercial Fishing 201 --- Land Use Designations 206 --- Conservation Area Design for Southeast Alaska 211 --- Tongass 77 Watersheds 214 --- Conservation Summary 222

Description / Table of Contents: Chapter 1: Introduction 2 --- 1.1 Introduction 2 --- 1.2 A Closer Look: Kawerak’s Contribution of Traditional Knowledge 7 --- Map 1.1 Regional Overview 12 --- Chapter 2: Physical Setting 14 --- 2.1 Ocean Currents 16 --- Map 2.1 Ocean Currents 20 --- 2.2 Sea Ice 22 --- Map 2.2a Sea Ice Advance 26 --- Map 2.2b Sea Ice Retreat 28 --- 2.3 Climate 30 --- Maps 2.3a–p Climate 36 --- 2.4 A Closer Look: Bering Sea Weather 38 --- Chapter 3: Biological Setting 42 --- 3.1 Primary Productivity 44 --- Map 3.1 Primary Productivity 46 --- 3.2 Zooplankton 48 --- Map 3.2 Zooplankton 50 --- 3.3 Benthic Biomass 52 --- Map 3.3 Benthic Biomass 56 --- 3.4 Snow and Tanner Crabs 58 --- Map 3.4 Snow Crab 62 --- 3.5 Red King Crab 64 --- Map 3.5 Red King Crab 67 --- Chapter 4: Fishes 72 --- 4.1 Forage Fish Assemblages 74 --- Map 4.1.1 Osmerids 78 --- Map 4.1.2 Pacific Herring 80 --- 4.2 Walleye Pollock 82 --- Map 4.2 Walleye Pollock 84 --- 4.3 North Pacific Cods 85 --- Map 4.3 North Pacific Cods 88 --- 4.4 Atka Mackerel 90 --- Map 4.4 Atka Mackerel 92 --- 4.5 Yellowfin Sole 94 --- Map 4.5 Yellowfin Sole 96 --- 4.6 Pacific Halibut 98 --- Map 4.6 Pacific Halibut 100 --- 4.7 Pacific Salmon 101 --- Map 4.7 Pacific Salmon 104 --- Chapter 5: Birds 110 --- 5.1 Marine Bird Colonies 112 --- Map 5.1.1 Marine Bird Colonies 116 --- Maps 5.1.2a–d Foraging Guilds 118 --- 5.2 Important Bird Areas 120 --- Map 5.2 Important Bird Areas 122 --- 5.3 A Closer Look: Bird Density and Survey Effort 124 --- Map 5.3.1 Annual Bird Density 124 --- Map 5.3.2 Bird Survey Effort 124 --- Maps 5.3.3a–d Seasonal Bird Density 125 --- Marine Waterbirds --- 5.4 Eiders 126 --- Map 5.4.1 King Eider 132 --- Map 5.4.2 Spectacled Eider 134 --- Map 5.4.3 Steller’s Eider 136 --- Map 5.4.4 Common Eider 138 --- 5.5 Long-tailed Duck 140 --- Map 5.5 Long-tailed Duck 144 --- 5.6 Loons 146 --- Map 5.6.1 Yellow-billed Loon 150 --- Map 5.6.2 Red-throated Loon 152 --- 5.7 Red-faced Cormorant 154 --- Map 5.7 Red-faced Cormorant 156 --- 5.8 Phalaropes 157 --- Map 5.8.1 Red-necked Phalarope 160 --- Map 5.8.2 Red Phalarope 160 --- 5.9 Aleutian Tern 161 --- Map 5.9 Aleutian Tern 163 --- 5.10 Kittiwakes 164 --- Map 5.10.1 Red-legged Kittwake 167 --- Map 5.10.2 Black-legged Kittwake 167 --- 5.11 Ivory Gull 168 --- Map 5.11 Ivory Gull 170 --- Seabirds --- 5.12 Murres 171 --- Map 5.12.1 Common Murre 174 --- Map 5.12.2 Thick-billed Murre 174 --- Map 5.12.3 Total Murres 175 --- 5.13 Puffins 176 --- Map 5.13.1 Horned Puffin 179 --- Map 5.13.2 Tufted Puffin 179 --- 5.14 Auklets 180 --- Map 5.14.1 Parakeet Auklet 186 --- Map 5.14.2 Crested Auklet 186 --- Map 5.14.3 Whiskered Auklet 187 --- Map 5.14.4 Least Auklet 187 --- 5.15 Short-tailed Albatross 188 --- Map 5.15 Short-tailed Albatross 190 --- 5.16 Shearwaters 191 --- Map 5.16 Short-tailed / Sooty Shearwater 194 --- Chapter 6: Mammals 204 --- 6.1 Polar Bear 206 --- Maps 6.1a–d Polar Bear Seasonal Distribution 212 --- Pinnipeds --- 6.2 Pacific Walrus 214 --- Map 6.2a Pacific Walrus Summer / Fall 220 --- Map 6.2b Pacific Walrus Winter / Spring 222 --- 6.3 Ice Seals 224 --- Map 6.3.1 Bearded Seal 230 --- Map 6.3.2 Ribbon Seal 230 --- Map 6.3.3 Ringed Seal 231 --- Map 6.3.4 Spotted Seal 231 --- 6.4 Steller Sea Lion 232 --- Map 6.4 Steller Sea Lion 234 --- 6.5 Northern Fur Seal 236 --- Map 6.5 Northern Fur Seal 238 --- Cetaceans --- 6.6 Beluga Whale 240 --- Map 6.6.1 Beluga Whale Stocks 243 --- Map 6.6.2 Beluga Whale 244 --- 6.7 Bowhead Whale 246 --- Maps 6.7a–d Bowhead Whale Seasonal Distribution 250 --- 6.8 Gray Whale 252 --- Map 6.8 Gray Whale 254 --- 6.9 Humpback Whale 255 --- Map 6.9 Humpback Whale 257 --- Chapter 7: Human Uses 266 --- 7.1 A Closer Look: Historical Perspective 268 --- 7.2 Transportation and Energy Infrastructure 270 --- Map 7.2 Transportation and Energy Infrastructure 274 --- 7.3 Petroleum Exploration and Development 276 --- Map 7.3 Petroleum Exploration and Development 282 --- 7.4 A Closer Look: Artificial Islands 284 --- 7.5 Vessel Traffic 285 --- Map 7.5.1 Vessel Density 288 --- Map 7.5.2 Vessel Traffic Patterns 290 --- Maps 7.5.3a–m Vessel Traffic by Month 292 --- 7.6 A Closer Look: Unimak Pass and Bering Strait Vessel Traffic 294 --- 7.7 Fisheries Management Conservation Areas 296 --- Map 7.7 Fisheries Management Conservation Areas 298 --- 7.8 Subsistence 300 --- Maps 7.8.1a–g Subsistence Harvest Areas by Species 306 --- Map 7.8.2 Reported Subsistence Harvest 310 --- 7.9 A Closer Look: The Legal Framework for US Arctic Marine Resource Protection 312 --- 7.10 Conservation Areas 314 --- Map 7.10 Conservation Areas 318 --- Chapter 8: Conservation Summary 326

Description / Table of Contents: In July 2016, Audubon Alaska completed a long-term effort to integrate the best available science into a series of maps highlighting key resources within Alaska's Western Arctic. The resulting publication, the Ecological Atlas of Alaska's Western Arctic, helps the reader explore the land­scape and better understand the overlap of wildlife, people, and development to inform conservation and management.