Cape Krusenstern National Monument

An aerial view of the ridges built up on Cape Krusenstern.
Cape Krusenstern's beach ridges formed over many years of wave action.
Cape Krusenstern National Monument covers over half a million acres of tundra and low mountains along the coast of northwestern Alaska. There are nine coastal lagoons within the monument. These dynamic lagoons are critically important ecosystems in the region because they support birds, fishes, invertebrates, and terrestrial and marine mammals. They are also the place of seasonal traditional subsistence activities for Alaska Natives and serve as navigational pathways throughout the year by local people. A series of beach ridges, accumulated over time by wave action, host numerous archeological sites ranging far into the past, left by the people who lived and hunted here.

What's Happening at Cape Krusenstern National Monument

Showing results 1-10 of 15

  • Perspectives of Indigenous harvesters and agency staff on subsistence management in Alaska national parks

    • Type: Article
    • Locations: Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, Cape Krusenstern National Monument, Noatak National Preserve
    Indigenous Alaskans meeting around a table.

    The subsistence harvest of animals and plants—that is, harvest for survival or continuation of cultural traditions—is critical to Alaska Native peoples for nutritional, cultural, social, and spiritual benefits. Interviews about subsistence resources statewide were conducted to understand the perspectives about: (1) the communication and relationships between these two groups; and (2) barriers to, and solutions for, improving subsistence management.

  • Cape Krusenstern National Monument

    How Shorebirds Adapt to a Warming Arctic

    • Type: Article
    • Locations: Cape Krusenstern National Monument
    A rock sandpiper on a nest.

    Read the abstract and link to a peer-reviewed article on Arctic shorebird adaptations: Shaftel, R., D. J. Rinella, E. Kwon, S. C. Brown, H. R. Gates, S. Kendall, D. B. Lank, J. R. Liebezeit, D. C. Payer, J. Rausch, S. T. Saalfeld, B. K. Sandercock, P. A. Smith, D. H. Ward, and R. B. Lanctot. 2021. Predictors of invertebrate biomass and rate of advancement of invertebrate phenology across eight sites in the North American Arctic. Polar Biology 44: 237-257.

  • Predicting Seasonal Distributions and Migratory Routes of Western Arctic Herd Caribou

    • Type: Article
    • Locations: Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, Cape Krusenstern National Monument, Gates Of The Arctic National Park & Preserve, Kobuk Valley National Park, Noatak National Preserve
    The western arctic caribou herd along the Kobuk River.

    Read the abstract and get the link for an article on caribou migration patterns published in Movement Ecology: Baltensperger, A. P., and K. Joly. 2019. Using seasonal landscape models to predict space use and migratory patterns of an arctic ungulate. Movement Ecology 7 (18). DOI: 10.1186/s40462-019-0162-8.

  • Mapping Arctic Alaska's Coastal Vegetation

    • Type: Article
    • Locations: Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, Cape Krusenstern National Monument
    A three-panel image showing mapping steps.

    Read the abstract and link to this published article about methods for mapping coastal vegetation in Alaska's Arctic parks: Hampton-Miller, C. J., P. N. Neitlich, and D. K. Swanson. 2022. A high-resolution map of coastal vegetation for two Arctic Alaskan parklands: An object-oriented approach with point training data. PLOS ONE 17(8): e0273893.

  • Cape Krusenstern National Monument

    Energy Condition of Subsistence-harvested Fishes in Arctic Coastal Lagoons

    • Type: Article
    • Locations: Cape Krusenstern National Monument
    A researcher collects fish using a fish trap.

    Read a summary and link to the published paper on the condition of commonly harvested fish from Arctic lagoons: Fraley, K. M., M. D. Robards, J. Vollenweider, A. Whiting, T. Jones, M. C. Rogers. 2021. Energy Condition of Subsistence-Harvested Fishes in Arctic Coastal Lagoons. Marine and Coastal Fisheries: 13, p712–719.

  • Cape Krusenstern National Monument

    Factors that Affect Habitat and Trophic Ecology of Fishes in Cape Krusenstern National Monument Coastal Lagoons

    • Type: Article
    • Locations: Cape Krusenstern National Monument
    An immature flounder

    Read a summary and get the link to an article on the connectivity between marine environments and coastal lagoons for fisheries. Fraley, K. M., M. D. Robards, M. C. Rogers, J. Vollenweider, B. Smith, A. Whiting, T. Jones. 2021. Freshwater input and ocean connectivity affect habitats and trophic ecology of fishes in Arctic coastal lagoons. Polar Biology: 44, p1401–1414.

  • Arctic Summers are Getting Longer

    • Type: Article
    • Locations: Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, Cape Krusenstern National Monument, Gates Of The Arctic National Park & Preserve, Kobuk Valley National Park, Noatak National Preserve
    A muskox naps in the tundra.

    Read a summary and get the link to an article that describes how the Arctic is getting greener: Swanson, D. K. 2021. Start of the green season and normalized difference vegetation index in Alaska's Arctic national parks. Remote Sensing 13(13): 2554.

  • Lost Arctic Lakes

    • Type: Article
    • Locations: Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, Cape Krusenstern National Monument
    A large lake nearly dry.

    Read the abstract and get the link to an article published in a peer-reviewed journal: Swanson, D. K. 2019. Thermokarst and precipitation drive changes in the area of lakes and ponds in the national parks of northwestern Alaska, 1984-2018. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research 51(1): 265-279.

  • Cape Krusenstern National Monument

    How the Arctic coast and culture intertwined

    • Type: Article
    • Locations: Cape Krusenstern National Monument
    An archaeologist documents a site.

    Read the abstract and access a peer-reviewed article on how human settlement is intertwined with ecological history of the Arctic coast: Anderson, S., J. Jordan, and A. Freeburg. 2020. Human settlement and Mid-Late Holocene coastal environmental change at Cape Krusenstern, Northwest Alaska. Quaternary International 549: 84-97.

  • Cape Krusenstern National Monument

    In search of spoon-billed sandpipers

    • Type: Article
    • Locations: Cape Krusenstern National Monument
    spoon-billed sandpiper

    Read the abstract and link to the paper about shorebirds in the Arctic: Saalfeld, S.T., L. Phillips, S.C. Brown, J.C. Slaght, E.E. Syroechkovskiy, E.G. Lappo, M. Hake & R.B. Lanctot. 2020. In search of Spoon-billed Sandpipers Calidris pygmaea and other avian taxa in northwestern Alaska. Wader Study 127(3): 219–227.

Tags: science articles cakr arctic
Back to top

Last updated: February 2, 2022

Experience More

Parks

Tools

Stay Connected