Abstract

Identifying Ecological Hotspots in the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas
Track: Education
Authors: Erika Knight, Max Goldman, Melanie Smith, Benjamin Sullender

Audubon Alaska and collaborators have identified U.S. Arctic Ocean and Bering Sea ecological hotspots, as well as key threats to these hotspots, based on marine science and ecological knowledge synthesized in the Ecological Atlas of the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas (2017). We analyzed spatial ecological data to find areas with high biodiversity, large aggregations of species, and/or places where species are especially vulnerable; we then overlaid these areas with potential human impacts.