Ecology of Bering Land Bridge National Preserve
Learn more about the ecology of Bering Land Bridge National Preserve.
The ecology of the Bering Land Bridge National Preserve is thought to mirror that which existed when animals first crossed the land bridge, with a few exceptions. The animals thought to occupy the bridge included bison and muskox. Extinct animals such as the mastodon, wooly mammoth and scimitar cat may have roamed the area as well. While the largest of the preserve’s animals are now extinct, caribou, wolves, bears, and elk still roam the area as well as 170 species of birds (Nature and Science (NPS), 2021). Plants common to the area include fireweed, azalea, monkshood, arctic rhododendron, mountain avens, as well as many species of lichen.
Migration over the Bering Land Bridge
The fact of animal and human migration over the Bering Land Bridge is relatively uncontested within the scientific community, however, whether it is the site where humans first crossed into North America remains highly controversial. Some hypothesize with growing evidence that there may have been multiple migrations, some of which may have occurred by boat along the Pacific coast or from across the Atlantic. For a long time, archaeologists thought the first American settlers were the “Clovis” people who arrived around 13,000 years ago. But more recent excavations have revealed evidence of settlements that may predate Clovis culture, such as Monte Verde in Chile, Buttermilk Creek in Texas, Cooper’s Ferry in Idaho, Topper Site in South Carolina, and Cactus Hill in Virginia. Even within Alaska itself there is evidence of coastal migration earlier than the Bering Land Bridge crossing by 16,500 years ago (Potter et al., 2018; Other migration theories (NPS), 2021).
Modern Human Settlement
With the progression of global warming today, there is a reduction in sea ice along the coast. Sea ice in winter often serves as an erosion barrier, and its reduction along with other factors such as thawing permafrost has led to high erosion levels of the villages of Shishmaref and Kivalina. These concerns are echoed at many coastal villages, as well as towns prone to intense flooding with rising sea level, with prime examples including Deering and Newtok, Alaska. Newtok, in particular is located on the banks of the Ninglick river and is losing as much as 70ft of land per year (Waldholz, 2017).
Many native communities in Alaska still harvest resources from ancestral hunting grounds as part of subsistence living, which is negatively affected by the prevalent erosion and flooding. Climate change, sea level rise, and water temperature changes threaten the feasibility of subsistence harvesting as well as fishing in these areas. The Bering sea region has nine island communities in particular that would most likely see the greatest impacts from these changes. Subsistence living has been a cornerstone of native culture and identity since time immemorial. As information continues to expand about the region’s natural history and indigenous culture, the preserve offers visitors an exciting opportunity to explore and learn more about this significant place of human and geologic history.