Wildlife and Wild Landscapes

An overview of Arctic Refuge:

Refuge lands stretch from interior Alaska north across the Brooks Range mountains to the Arctic Ocean, providing homes to a wide variety of wildlife and plants.

• A Sense of the Refuge booklet (1.1 meg pdf file)

Changing Climate:

The arctic is a fine balance between what is frozen and what is thawed. As a changing climate warms the area, this balance shifts.

• Impacts of a changing climate

Wildlife:

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is home to some of the most diverse and spectacular wildlife in the arctic. The Refuge's rich pageant of wildlife includes 42 fish species, 37 land mammals, eight marine mammals, and more than 200 migratory and resident bird species.

• Mammals:
  • Refuge mammal list
  • Gray Wolf
  • Wolf Story: A family of wolves
  • Wolf Story (Polish language version)
  • Polar Bears
  • Polar bear denning locations and habitats
  • Brown Bears
  • Black Bears
  • Moose migration study
  • Wildlife Trends: North Slope Moose
  • Caribou (Porcupine Caribou Herd, Central Arctic Herd, Caribou and the Coastal Plain)
  • Maps of Caribou locations
  • Caribou movements in a late spring year (1987)
  • A Caribou Year (and a scientist's year)
  • Frequently Asked Questions about Caribou
  • Three caribou herds
  • Muskoxen
  • Dall Sheep

• Birds:
  • Refuge bird list
  • Which Arctic Refuge birds travel to or through your area?
  • Bird migration routes
  • Worldwide bird migration
  • Tundra Swans
  • Snow Geese
  • Map of Snow Geese fall use areas
  • Eider Egg Hunt: Field Research along the Coast
  • Wildlife Trends: Peregrine Falcons
  • Bluethroats
  • Buff-breasted Sandpiper

• Fish:
  • Refuge fish list
  • Arctic Grayling
  • Map of Arctic Grayling locations
  • Dolly Varden
  • Map of Dolly Varden locations
  • Arctic Cisco

Additional information is available from the references listed in the partial bibliography of scientific research pertaining to the Refuge.

Wild Landscapes:

The Arctic Refuge contains remote, complete, and undisturbed lands across five different ecological regions: lagoons, beaches and saltmarshes of coastal marine areas; coastal plain tundra; alpine tundra of the Brooks Range; the forest-tundra transition south of the mountains; and tall spruce, birch, and aspen of the boreal forest.

• Compare the Refuge to other areas: Ecological regions of northern Alaska.
• Discover some of the frozen ground features of the arctic.
• See how ice wedges and other permafrost features are created.
• Unearth the mysteries of the active layer.
• Expand your vocabulary with the frozen ground glossary.
• Learn what Water and Water Rights mean to the Refuge.
• Explore seismic trails on the Arctic Refuge coastal plain.

Biological References:

Additional information is available from the following references:

• Biological Reports
• 1987 Report to Congress (LEIS) (27 meg pdf file)
• Bibliography of Scientific Research