As Shrubs Expanded into a Warming Arctic, Moose Followed. Shrubs expanding northward into a warming Arctic -- and growing taller as they did -- paved the way for moose to expand their range northward too. That's the finding of a newly published study by scientists with the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the U.S. Geological Survey. The long-legged ungulates were absent from Alaska's northernmost tundra regions in the second half of the 19th century and the early 20th century, but in recent decades, populations have spread along the rivers and streams that flow into the Arctic Ocean, said the study, which was published in the journal PLOS ONE. Alaska Dispatch News
 

Nunavut Wildlife Board Ponders Fate of Threatened Shore Bird. You might not know the red-necked phalarope by name, but the small wading bird breeds in all three regions of Nunavut during the summer months. And Environment and Climate Change Canada is asking Nunavut's wildlife regulatory board for support in listing the bird as a species of "Special Concern" under the federal Species at Risk Act, according to documents found on the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board's website. The wildlife board will hold a written public consultation and accept written input until June 1, an April 1 letter from the board said. Nunatsiaq Online

Ocean Acidification Could Erode Bering Sea Crab Stocks Within the Next 20 Years. Increasingly corrosive oceans are raising more red flags for Bering Sea crab stocks. Results from a first two-year project on baby Tanner crabs show that higher ocean acidity (pH) affects both their shell production and the immune systems. Bairdi Tanner crab, the larger cousins of snow crab, are growing into one of Alaska's largest crab fisheries with a nearly 20 million pound harvest this season. "We put mom crabs from the Bering Sea in a tank, and allowed her embryos to grow and hatch in an acidified treatment," explained project leader Bob Foy, director of the NOAA Fisheries laboratory at Kodiak. Alaska Dispatch News 

Experts: Natives' Nomadic Tradition Waning, But Their Connection with the Land Persists. Tim Oakley may by now finally have caught up on sleep lost during a monthlong expedition through northern Yukon Territory and Alaska, when he retraced the route taken more than a century ago by legendary Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. He's now working on a report of his journey for the Royal Geographical Society. KUAC

This Week in the Arctic: Canada's Quest for a Deep-water Arctic Port. A  deep-water Arctic port has long been sought in the United States, either at Nome or a nearby site, but the Canadian territory of Nunavut is also seeking such a port. Earlier this year, the new Liberal government said it would continue plans for an upgrade launched under the preceding Conservative government, and that promise took on new urgency in late February when a Canadian fishing vessel took on water in Davis Strait before being rescued and eventually escorted to Nuuk, Greenland. The escort was from the Danish Navy, while a Canadian helicopter launched from almost 1,300 miles away in Nova Scotia. Alaska Dispatch News

 

Russian Navy to Continue Arctic, Antarctic Research. he Russian Navy will continue its research work in the Arctic and the Antarctic, Russian Navy Deputy Commander-in-Chief Vice-Admiral Alexander Fedotenkov said on Friday. "The Antarctic region is primarily of interest as a continent of peace, a continent without weapons. That is why, the Navy also accomplishes peaceful tasks there, in particular, the exploration of both Arctic and southern seas," Fedotenkov said during a ceremony of welcoming the vessel Admiral Vladimirsky, which had returned from the expedition to the Antarctic. TASS