Arctic | Mammals DOCTORATE ORAL PRESENTATION Indigenous knowledge habitat use models: A case study of ringed seals (natchiq; Pusa hispida ) in Alaskan waters Presenter: Rowenna Gryba , r.gryba@stat.ubc.ca, University of British Columbia Andrew Von Duyke , Andrew.VonDuyke@north-slope.org, North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management Henry Huntington , henryphuntington@gmail.com, Huntington Consulting Billy Adams , billy.adams@north-slope.org, North Slope Borough Dept. of Wildlife Management
Brower Frantz , Brower.Frantz@north-slope.org Justin Gatten , justin.gatten@north-slope.org Qaiyaan Harcharek , ikpikpangmiu@gmail.com Robert Sarren , Robert.Sarren@north-slope.org Greg Henry , greg.henry@ubc.ca Marie Auger-Méthé , auger-methe@stat.ubc.ca
Indigenous Knowledge (IK) includes information on the behaviour and habitat use of species within their environments. Although IK is recognized as a valuable knowledge source it is not typically included in habitat selection models and rarely used as a sole data source. We provide a case study showing how IK of ringed seals (natchiq in Iñupiat) in Alaskan waters can be used as the sole data source (i.e., no other species observations) to identify habitat use and areas that are important to this species. We first estimated the probabilities of habitat use from IK documented on ringed seal in the waters around Utqiaġvik, Alaska. We then used beta regression to provide direct estimates of the relationships between ringed seal IK probabilities and environmental covariates. The estimates were used to predict spatial variation in habitat use near Utqiaġvik, Alaska. This work was completed in collaboration with Indigenous hunters who provided the original IK, and extensive review of intermediate and final results. The results from the model highlighted the importance of nearshore habitat and areas of low and high ice concentration. Our results show that IK can be used as a stand-alone data source to estimate habitat use coefficients and inform understanding of ringed seal habitat use in a region where satellite telemetry data can be seasonally limited. Using satellite telemetry data collected on the same species, we show the similarity between IK and telemetry data but the differences importantly show that telemetry data may not always reflect population level habitat use.
Alaska Marine Science Symposium 2023 78
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