Cumulative human impacts in the Bering Strait Region

Introduction:Human impacts on Arctic marine ecosystems are increasing in extent and intensity as sea ice shrinks and utilization of marine resources expands. The effects of climate change are being felt across the arctic while stressors such as commercial fishing and shipping continue to grow as the...

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Main Authors: Jamie C. Afflerbach, Dan Yocum, Benjamin S. Halpern
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2017-08-01
Series:Ecosystem Health and Sustainability
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20964129.2017.1379888
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author Jamie C. Afflerbach
Dan Yocum
Benjamin S. Halpern
author_facet Jamie C. Afflerbach
Dan Yocum
Benjamin S. Halpern
author_sort Jamie C. Afflerbach
collection DOAJ
description Introduction:Human impacts on Arctic marine ecosystems are increasing in extent and intensity as sea ice shrinks and utilization of marine resources expands. The effects of climate change are being felt across the arctic while stressors such as commercial fishing and shipping continue to grow as the Arctic becomes more accessible. Given these emerging changes, there is need for an assessment of the current cumulative impact of human activities to better anticipate and manage for a changing Arctic. Cumulative human impacts (CHI) assessments have been widely applied around the world in a variety of ecosystem types but have yet to incorporate temporal dynamics of individual stressors. Such dynamics are fundamental to Arctic ecosystems. Outcomes:Here, we present the first CHI assessment of an Arctic ecosystem to incorporate sea ice as a habitat and assess impact seasonality, using the Bering Strait Region (BSR) as a case study. We find that cumulative impacts differ seasonally, with lower impacts in winter and higher impacts in summer months. Large portions of the BSR have significantly different impacts within each season when compared to a mean annual cumulative impact map. Cumulative impacts also have great spatial variability, with Russian waters between 2.38 and 3.63 times as impacted as US waters. Conclusion:This assessment of seasonal and spatial cumulative impacts provides an understanding of the current reality in the BSR and can be used to support development and evaluation of future management scenarios that address expected impacts from climate change and increasing interest in the Arctic.
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spelling doaj.art-e9fa9148552d4999b5f2283b027657762023-09-02T16:30:38ZengAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)Ecosystem Health and Sustainability2096-41292332-88782017-08-013810.1080/20964129.2017.13798881379888Cumulative human impacts in the Bering Strait RegionJamie C. Afflerbach0Dan Yocum1Benjamin S. Halpern2University of CaliforniaUniversity of CaliforniaUniversity of CaliforniaIntroduction:Human impacts on Arctic marine ecosystems are increasing in extent and intensity as sea ice shrinks and utilization of marine resources expands. The effects of climate change are being felt across the arctic while stressors such as commercial fishing and shipping continue to grow as the Arctic becomes more accessible. Given these emerging changes, there is need for an assessment of the current cumulative impact of human activities to better anticipate and manage for a changing Arctic. Cumulative human impacts (CHI) assessments have been widely applied around the world in a variety of ecosystem types but have yet to incorporate temporal dynamics of individual stressors. Such dynamics are fundamental to Arctic ecosystems. Outcomes:Here, we present the first CHI assessment of an Arctic ecosystem to incorporate sea ice as a habitat and assess impact seasonality, using the Bering Strait Region (BSR) as a case study. We find that cumulative impacts differ seasonally, with lower impacts in winter and higher impacts in summer months. Large portions of the BSR have significantly different impacts within each season when compared to a mean annual cumulative impact map. Cumulative impacts also have great spatial variability, with Russian waters between 2.38 and 3.63 times as impacted as US waters. Conclusion:This assessment of seasonal and spatial cumulative impacts provides an understanding of the current reality in the BSR and can be used to support development and evaluation of future management scenarios that address expected impacts from climate change and increasing interest in the Arctic.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20964129.2017.1379888Arctic marine ecosystemscumulative human impactsBering Straitsea iceclimate change
spellingShingle Jamie C. Afflerbach
Dan Yocum
Benjamin S. Halpern
Cumulative human impacts in the Bering Strait Region
Ecosystem Health and Sustainability
Arctic marine ecosystems
cumulative human impacts
Bering Strait
sea ice
climate change
title Cumulative human impacts in the Bering Strait Region
title_full Cumulative human impacts in the Bering Strait Region
title_fullStr Cumulative human impacts in the Bering Strait Region
title_full_unstemmed Cumulative human impacts in the Bering Strait Region
title_short Cumulative human impacts in the Bering Strait Region
title_sort cumulative human impacts in the bering strait region
topic Arctic marine ecosystems
cumulative human impacts
Bering Strait
sea ice
climate change
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20964129.2017.1379888
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AT danyocum cumulativehumanimpactsintheberingstraitregion
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