Long-term ecological changes in marine mammals driven by recent warming in northwestern Alaska

Abstract

Carbon and nitrogen isotopes analyses were performed on marine mammal bone collagen from three archaeological sites (ad 1170-1813) on Cape Espenberg (Kotzebue Sound, northwestern Alaska) as well as modern animals harvested from the same area to examine long-term trends in foraging ecology and sea ice productivity. We observed significant and dramatic changes in ringed seal stable isotope values between the early 19th and early 21st centuries, likely due to changing sea ice productivity and reduced delivery of organic matter to the benthos driven by recent warming in the Arctic. These data highlight the importance of the archaeological record for providing a long-term perspective on environmental variation and interpreting recent changes driven by anthropogenic processes.

Keywords: Arctic; climate change; marine mammals; paleoecology; sea ice; stable isotopes; western Alaska.