News Release
NPS/Jared Hughey
News Release Date: November 6, 2020
Contact: Carol McIntyre
A team of over 150 Arctic researchers recently formed the Arctic Animal Movement Archive (AAMA), which provides a unified location where researchers from around the world can find and store animal movement datasets. So far, the AAMA houses data from over 200 studies from 1991 to present on a wide variety of species. The AAMA offers researchers an important new tool to investigate ecological relationships of many species of wildlife and how they are being influenced by changing conditions in the Arctic. As an example, in this paper researchers used the new archive for three novel analyses and found that the timing of Golden Eagle migration, timing of caribou calving, and movement rates of some species of terrestrial animals were linked to a warming climate. The AAMA also offers new opportunities for anyone to learn more about the different types of movement studies being conducted on Arctic wildlife. The AAMA is hosted on the global Movebank database (www.movebank.org).
This is an example of how data collected by the National Park Service is used to gain a more broad understanding of ecological systems and changes.
See more information on the Arctic Animal Migration Archive.
Read the paper in Science: Ecological insights from three decades of animal movement tracking across a changing Arctic.
More Media:
How is a changing Arctic affecting wildlife movement? The Wildlife Society, November 19, 2020
In the Arctic, 'everything is changing,' massive animal tracking study finds: Archive of over 200 studies since 1991 reveals climate change impacts on 86 species, CBC News, November 6, 2020
Ecological Data reveal a changing Arctic: Scientists track animal behaviour over three decades. Cosmos, November 6, 2020
Archive of animal migration in in the Arctic: A global archive with movement data collected across three decades logs changes in the behaviour of Arctic animals, EurekAlert, November 5, 2020
Arctic animals are migrating earlier in the year due to climate change, NewScientist, November 5, 2020
Massive animal database reveals troubling climate trends in Arctic, Inverse, November 5, 2020
Arctic animals showing climate adaptation, but it may be causing declines, The Star, November 5, 2020
Global-scale animal ecology reveals behavioral changes in response to climate change, Phys Org, November 5, 2020
Last updated: November 24, 2020