T
T
T

Impacts of Emerging and Submerging Shorelines on Biota and Communities

Status
Completed
Start Date
February, 2018
A. Johnson examining beach asparagus bed in Klawock, Alaska. Photo credit: Andrea Cook.

Our research aims to better understand shoreline change, learn about community concerns, facilitate student science opportunities, and contribute to a place-based science curriculum in southeast Alaska.

Project Description

We are using direct measurements, remote sensing, and databases to assess various threatened coastal species in multiple southeast and southcentral Alaskan communities. As part of this multi-faceted project, students are being provided opportunities to engage with community members and help gather information about the communities' use of coastal species, such as clams, eelgrass (crab grass), and beach asparagus, and their concerns about resource availability. Together with an educator at Mt. Edgecombe High School in Sitka, Alaska, and a Youth Science Outreach Coordinator, we are working to synthesize the ideas developed from student involvement in this research to create an evolving, place-based high school science curriculum.

Purpose and Scope

Our research addresses food security concerns in southeast and southcentral Alaskan communities using a four-pronged approach. We are:

  1. examining coastal geomorphic change and impacts on local biota and food resources;
  2. engaging students in relevant place-based activities and research to better understand community concerns about natural resources;
  3. evaluating the suitability of clam gardens, as well as the status of beach asparagus and eelgrass habitats at specific sites; and
  4. developing place-based science opportunities for students in coordination with educators.

Methods

The original research project initiated in 2015 was conducted in communities in southeast and southcentral Alaska, including Tatitlek, Chenega, Cordova, Yakutat, Hoonah, Angoon, Petersburg, Hydaburg, Klawock, Kasaan, Kake, Sitka, and Juneau. Initially, we used data from the ShoreZone database along with measured relative sea level changes to project shoreline change 100 years into the future for these six communities. With input from local educators, Tribes, and the Sitka Conservation Society, we identified student interns to lead discussions with community leaders and elders. These discussions enabled us to identify which food resources these communities gathered and havested, as well as their specific concerns about changes in the availability of these natural resources.

Building off the information that was collected from over 200 student discussions with communities and our evaluation of physical coastline change, we initiated a second phase of the project in 2018. This phase of the project is investigating critical eelgrass, clam garden, and beach asparagus sites using a combination of field measurements, mapping, remote sensing apparatus, and information provided from local communities.

Project Deliverables

  • Kruger, L.E. and Johnson, A., 2017. Coastal Climate Change in Southeast Alaska. Rural Connections 11(1):33-36.
  • Johnson, A. C., Jim Noel, J., Gregovich, D., Kruger, L. E., and Buma, B. (in press). Impacts of Submerging and Emerging Shorelines on Various Biota and Indigenous Alaskan Harvesting Patterns, Journal of Coastal Research.
  • Gregovich, D., Johnson, A. C. and Elliott, J. 2019 (in review). Depiction of 100-year projected change in relative sea level. Southeast Alaksa. ArcGIS On-line mapping project.
  • An animated film, "Shoreline Change and Impacts to Traditional and Cultural Gathering Patterns," by A. C. Johnson was created to share the findings from student conversations with community members and Tribal elders:

Here is a comprehensive list of useful references gathered from the conversations summarized in the short animated film, "Shoreline Change and Impacts to Traditional and Cultural Gathering Patterns":

  • Goldschmidt, W.R., Haas, T.H., Inglis, J. and Thornton, T.E., 2000. Haa Aani, Our land, Tlingit & Haida Land Rights & Use. British Columbia History, 33(3), p.27.
  • Southeast Alaska Traditional Food Guide compiled by SEARCH Health Promotion, http://keepitsacred.itcmi.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2015/06/Traditional-Foods-Resource-Guide.pdf(link is external), includes an array of field guides, seasonal harvesting pattern, and cookbooks.
  • http://keepitsacred.itcmi.org/traditional-foods-resource-guide/
  • Schofield, Janice J., and Janice Schofield Eaton. Alaska's Wild Plants: A Guide to Alaska's Edible Harvest. Alaska Pocket Guide, 1993.
  • Eaton, Janice Schofield. Discovering Wild Plants: Alaska, Western Canada, the Northwest. Alaska Northwest Books, Anchorage, AK (1989).
  • O'Clair, Rita M., Sandra C. Lindstrom, and Irwin M. Brodo. Southeast Alaska's Rocky Shores: Seaweeds and Lichens. Plant Press, 1996.
  • Hulten, Eric. Flora of Alaska and Neighboring Territories: A Manual of the Vascular Plants, Vol. 2193. Stanford University Press, 1968.
  • The Kayaani Commision Ethnobotany Field Guide. USDA Forest Service, 2006
  • Garza, Dolores A. Common Edible Seaweeds in the Gulf of Alaska. Alaska Sea Grant College Program, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2005.
  • Garza, Dolly. Outdoor Survival Training for Alaska's Youth. Instructor Manual and Student Manual. Alaska Sea Grant College Program, Univ. of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775-5040 (instructor manual: 1-4 copies, $8 each; 5-9 copies, $6.40 each; 10 or more, $4.80 each; student manuals free with purchase of instructor manual, specify how many are needed when ordering), 1993.
  • Garza, Dolly. Surviving. 1989.
  • http://ankn.uaf.edu/publications/
  • Duncan, Pauline. Tlingit Food Book.
  • Biggs, Carol. Wild Edible & Medicinal Plants: Alaska, Canada & Pacific Northwest Rainforest, Vol. 1
  • >Lichens of the National Forests; in Alaska. USDA https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/beauty/lichens/
  • Mushrooms of the National Forests in Alaska. USDA http://sacmush.com/specifics/AlaskaFungi.pdf
  • Arora, David, and Hal Hershey. Mushrooms Demystified, Vol. 23. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 1986.
  • Coastal Pilot, NOAA Online Charts Viewer.
  • ADF&G Finfish and Shellfish regulations
  • NOAA website for weather (graphical)
  • ShoreZone information http://www.shorezone.org/about-us
  • >Boreal Plants
  • Culture Camps,
  • Traditional Maps; great resources in multiple communities
  • Shellfish Poisoning; http://www.seator.org/Lab

Collaborators

  • Sitka Conservation Society

  • Communities and Tribes of Klawock, Kasaan, Kake, Hoonah, Sitka, and Yakutat

  • TerrainWorks

  • University of Alaska Fairbanks

  • Ecotrust

Last updated January 18, 2024
Return to top