Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve

The rugged peaks of the Brooks Range.
The rugged peaks of the Brooks Range.

Ken Hill

Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve spans the Brooks Range of north-central Alaska covering 8.5 million acres of tundra and boreal forest wilderness. The crest of the Brooks Range divides streams that flow north across the North Slope into the Arctic Ocean from those that flow to the south and west into the Kobuk and Yukon rivers. Southerly foothills step into waves of mountains rising to elevations of 4,000 feet that culminate in limestone or granite peaks over 7,000 feet. High in these rugged mountains are bands of Dall’s sheep, an important subsistence species for local residents. As an alpine-adapted and relatively non-migratory species, they are good indicators of local environmental change. Most of the migratory birds that breed in the park are species that winter at North American mid-latitudes. Others fly from as far away as Central and South America, southeastern Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.

A heard of caribou migrate across snow-filled valley for the spring migration.
A herd of caribou make their spring migration through the Brooks Range valleys in Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve.

What We Monitor in Gates of the Arctic National Park & Preserve

What's Happening in Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve

Showing results 1-10 of 30

  • Brooks Range brown bears spend most of the year in their dens

    • Type: Article
    • Locations: Gates Of The Arctic National Park & Preserve
    • Offices: Arctic Inventory & Monitoring Network
    Snow-covered craggy mountains of the Brooks Range.

    Read a summary and get a link to a published journal article on denning duration of bears in the Brooks Range of Alaska: Deacy, W., M. S. Sorum, M. D. Cameron, G. V. Hilderbrand, D. D. Gustine, and K. Joly. 2025. Denning chronology in an Arctic brown bear population. Wildlife Biology e01420.

  • Memory influences where Western Arctic Herd caribou spend the winter

    • 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
    • Offices: Arctic Inventory & Monitoring Network
    View from a caribou collar

    Read a summary and get the link to a published paper that describes how caribou decide where to spend the winter based on previous experience. Gurarie, E., C. Beaupré, O. Couriot, M. D. Cameron, W. F. Fagan, and K. Joly. 2024. Evidence for an adaptive, large-scale range shift in a long-distance terrestrial migrant. Global Change Biology 30 (11): e17589.

  • Metals released from thawing permafrost are rusting Arctic streams

    • Type: Article
    • Locations: Gates Of The Arctic National Park & Preserve, Kobuk Valley National Park, Noatak National Preserve
    • Offices: Arctic Inventory & Monitoring Network
    An orange stream joins a blue-water stream.

    Read the abstract and get the link to a published paper on how permafrost thaw is releasing metals into streams and turning them orange: O'Donnell, J. A., M. P. Carey, J. C. Koch, C. Baughman, K. Hill, C. E. Zimmerman, P. F. Sullivan, R. Dial, T. Lyons, D. J. Cooper, and B. A. Poulin. 2024. Metal mobilization from thawing permafrost to aquatic ecosystems is driving rusting of Arctic streams. Communications Earth & Environment 5: 268.

  • Some bears ride the green wave

    • Type: Article
    • Locations: Gates Of The Arctic National Park & Preserve, Yellowstone National Park
    • Offices: Arctic Inventory & Monitoring Network
    Two Alaska brown bears in the grass.

    Read the abstract and get the link to an article that looks at whether or not brown bears (grizzly bears) follow the "green wave" of green up: Bowersock, N. R., L. M. Ciarniello, W. W. Deacy, D. C. Heard, K. Joly, C. T. Lamb, W. B. Leacock, B. N. McLellan, G. Mowat, M. S. Sorum, F. T. van Manen, and J. A. Merkle. 2023. A test of the green wave hypothesis in omnivorous brown bears across North America. Ecography :e06549.

  • Arctic and Subarctic Bears' Exposure to Toxins

    • Type: Article
    • Locations: Gates Of The Arctic National Park & Preserve, Katmai National Park & Preserve, Lake Clark National Park & Preserve
    A bear eating salmon in the river

    Read a summary of findings and get the link to an article looking at contaminants in brown bears: Fuchs, B., K. Joly, G. V. Hilderbrand, A. L. Evans, I. Rodushkin, L. S. Mangipane, B. A. Mangipane, D. D. Gustine, A. Zedrosser, L. Brown, and J. M. Arnemo. 2023.Toxic elements in arctic and sub-arctic brown bears: Blood concentrations of As, Cd, Hg and Pb in relation to diet, age, and human footprint. Environmental Research 229: 115952.

  • Parasites in Alaska Brown Bears

    • Type: Article
    • Locations: Gates Of The Arctic National Park & Preserve, Katmai National Park & Preserve, Lake Clark National Park & Preserve
    An Alaskan brown bear.

    Read a summary and link to a journal article on the parasites found in Alaska brown bears: Haynes, E., S. Coker, M. J. Yabsley, K. D. Niedrighaus, A. M. Ramey, G. G. Verocai, G. V. Hilderbrand, K. Joly, D. D. Gustine, B. Mangipane, W. B. Leacock, A. P. Crupi, and C. A. Cleveland. 2023. Survey for selected parasites in Alaska brown bears (Ursus arctos). Journal of Wildlife Diseases 59 (1): 186-191. DOI: 10.7589/JWD-D-22-00070.

  • Gates Of The Arctic National Park & Preserve

    A surprising number of bears congregate at Arctic salmon streams

    • Type: Article
    • Locations: Gates Of The Arctic National Park & Preserve
    A bear hair snare.

    Read a summary and get the link to a peer-reviewed journal article that quantifies the number of bears using an Arctic salmon stream. Surprisingly, it is as densely fished as coastal streams with moderate fish runs. Sorum, M. S., M. D. Cameron, A. Crupi, G. K. Sage, S. L. Talbot, G. V. Hilderbrand, and K. Joly. 2023. Pronounced brown bear aggregation along anadromous streams in interior Alaska. Wildlife Biology e01057.

  • Landslide Risks Along Park Roads Increase in a Warming Climate

    • Type: Article
    • Locations: Denali National Park & Preserve, Gates Of The Arctic National Park & Preserve, Wrangell - St Elias National Park & Preserve
    A grade displacement on park road.

    Read the abstract and get the link to an article on how climate change is impacting park roads in Alaska: Lader, R., P. Sousanes, U. S. Bhatt, J. E. Walsh, and P. A. Bieniek. 2023. Climate indicators of landslide risks on Alaska national park road corridors. Atmosphere 14(1): 34.

  • When are newly collared caribou representative of the herd?

    • 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 collared caribou bounds away.

    Read the abstract and get the link to a paper published in the Wildlife Bulletin about representativeness among collared animals in a population: Prichard, A. K., K. Joly, L. S. Parrett, M. D. Cameron, D. A. Hansen, and B. T. Person. 2022. Achieving a representative sample of marked animals: A spatial approach to evaluating post-capture randomization. Wildlife Society Bulletin e1398.

  • 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.

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Last updated: February 2, 2022

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