Background Articles

New research finds that mountain goat populations require 11 years – or 1.5 generations – to recover from more extreme avalanche years.

Representatives from several Indigenous-led organizations discussed co-management strategies at the Alaska Federation of Natives convention panel.

Remnants of Typhoon Halong drove record storm surge and hurricane-force winds into Western Alaska, devastating Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta villages like Kipnuk and Kwigillingok. Officials report dozens of homes destroyed, mass rescues, widespread outages, and at least one death, with many residents sheltering and recovery efforts underway.

The gray-headed chickadee was last heard in Alaska in 2018 and encroaching beavers may diminish what was the birds’ natural habitat.

An H5N1 avian influenza outbreak is affecting gulls across Northern Norway, with detections in multiple Troms and Nordland municipalities. Authorities warn mortality may be undercounted and urge reporting of sick or dead birds and strict biosecurity for poultry.

Mike Shouldice of Rankin Inlet reports this summer’s caribou migration patterns have shifted, with far fewer animals passing through traditional routes and fewer visible signs such as hanging skins.

Researchers are finding the poisonous toxin throughout the year, and in animals away from the ocean.

Wrangel Island is an Arctic ark, home to two unique species of endemic lemmings. The success of the season for many other inhabitants of the harsh region depends on the lemmings. In years of high numbers, they eat up to 80% of the plant biomass, radically changing the appearance of the landscape.

A young wolverine found in a shed in downtown Turku in January was still exceptional. “Wolverines occasionally wander around southwestern Finland. However, the population is concentrated in the east, where conditions are more peaceful,” said Pinja-Emilia Lämsä, a doctoral researcher at Aalto University.

Mongolian President Khurelsukh Ukhnaa and the Prague Zoo director agreed on a project to reintroduce Przewalski’s horses to the Numrug Strictly Protected Area in Dornod aimag, building on three decades of conservation cooperation.

An expert warns that early snowmelt and increasing ski tourism in vulnerable high‑altitude calving areas on Hardangervidda and Nordfjella are disturbing Norway’s wild reindeer during their critical breeding season.

We have a lot of phenological events, but how much snow and when it falls are not part of that scheme. If you did not mulch last fall, you are going to lose some and maybe many of your perennials.