Observations and research across Alaska indicate shifting berry ripening times and unpredictable yields, with climate change as a key factor affecting these important subsistence and cultural resources.

Some biologists think the trend is related to the reduced hunting pressure from Outside hunters this year.

The Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska has a climate change adaptation plan. It wants the region to be included in the climate change discussion.

When Kodiak Island's elderberries started ripening earlier, its iconic bears changed their diet. It's another ecological shift amid climate change, scientists say.

“We really don’t know when the problem started and whether it was a long-term situation this winter, but the bottom line is that it appears that salmonberry and blueberry were affected by the amount of cold and the depth of cold that we had that killed the winter buds and killed the above-ground stems of those plants,” Pyle said.