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Early morning at the Tutakoke River field camp in the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Researchers from Utah State University are studying how the phenology of sub-Arctic tundra plants and the seasonal arrival of migratory Pacific black brants affects ecosystem functioning at the field site.
This photo was taken by Ryan Choi, a Ph.D. candidate of wildlife ecology and a member of a National Science Foundation (NSF)-supported Arctic research project led by Karen Beard of Utah State University. The project is studying how a warming Arctic is affecting the relationships between migratory animals -- in this case Pacific black brants (Branta bernicla nigricans), a species of wild geese -- and the annual cycle of the forage they rely on for energy, nutrition and rearing of young. The study site is located in the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.Image credit: Ryan Choi, Utah State University
