Air Resources Information System (ARIS)
Bering Sea National Wildlife Refuge

AQRVs

Highlights Overview AQRVs Monitoring       Additional Information Regional Air Quality Information Alaska Maritime NWR Website Bering Sea WA 300km Radius Map (PDF 655KB) AQRV Definiton

Aquatic Resources

There are several fresh and brackish water lakes on St. Matthew Island which have been formed by gravel bars built by wave action. Numerous small streams drain the valleys and empty into the lakes. The aquatic resources associated with these areas are air quality related values (AQRVs) that are sensitive to pollutants deposited from the atmosphere. The sensitivity of these resources has not been investigated. However, they may be sensitive to sulfur and nitrogen deposition; in addition, they may be affected by toxic metals and organic pollutants deposited from the atmosphere.

Fauna/Wildlife

Bering Sea Refuge is a breeding area for thousands of sea birds including cormorants, muffes, puffins, auklets, gulls and others. Common eiders and old-squaws are among the nesting waterfowl. Numerous other birds use the islands either for breeding or as a migration stopover point. The McKay’s snow bunting nests nowhere else in the United States. One of the few colonies of northern fulmars is also found at the Bering Sea Refuge. Additional inhabitants include Northern sea lions, seals, walruses, Artic foxes, gray whales, an endangered bowhead whale is sometimes sighted and polar bears are occasionally seen. Birds, fish, and other wildlife are considered sensitive air quality related values (AQRVs), that is, they may be affected by air pollution. Air pollution may indirectly affect wildlife by causing habitat degradation. In addition, wildlife may be directly affected by atmospheric deposition of pollutants such as mercury and other toxics.

Soils

On the Bering Sea islands gravelly loam overlain by shallow silt loam comprises much of the soil structure. Areas situated on steep hills or cliffs are comprised of bare rock or rubble (Michaelson 1974). The susceptibility of Bering Sea soils to atmospheric deposition has not been investigated.

Vegetation

The vegetation of St. Matthew Island is an artic tundra type that is drier than that of the Pribilof Islands . All plants are low growing and only the annual growth of a few forbs and grasses exceeds one foot in height. Willows, the only shrubs present, are dwarf forms. Published accounts record a total of 139 taxa of lichens on the Bering Sea island groups (St. Matthew and the western coast of St. Paul Island ). Lichens are an important ecosystem component in Bering Sea . Several genera of lichens found in Bering Sea are known to be sensitive to air pollutants (from studies in the Pacific Northwest ) and include Alectoria, Ramalina, Lobaria, and Nephroma. These lichens are considered sensitive AQRV’s.

• The Bryologist, Lichens from St. Matthew and St. Paul Islands, Bering Sea, Alaska
• Ozone Sensitive Plant Species on NPS and U.S. FWS Lands
• Ozone Bioindicators on NPS and U.S. FWS Lands

Visibility
Visibility is a sensitive AQRV at Bering Sea . Visibility may be affected long-range transport of haze or pollutant plumes.

The link provided below is to the Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) website for access to visibility data. The link to Natural Background Estimates from the Federal Land Managers Air Quality Related Values Work-Group (FLAG) report provides natural background estimates for visibility reference levels for each Class I area.

• IMPROVE Visibility Data
• Natural Background Estimates