RAD Case Study: Kenai Peninsula, Alaska

Spanning 24,300-km² and encompassing boreal and coastal rainforest biomes, three icefields, and an elevation range from sea level to >1,600 m, the Kenai Peninsula—home to the celebrated Kenai River, Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, Kenai Fjords National park, and Chugach National Forest—is undergoing marked ecosystem transformation due to climate change. Most changes have been accepted by practitioners, either because they are infeasible to manage (e.g., changes in bird migration, glacial ablation) or are not impactful enough to warrant a management response (e.g., afforestation, American marten establishment). Some changes have been resisted, for example by reforesting areas affected by beetle-induced  tree mortality, protecting riparian parcels that harbor cold-water refugia for salmon, and eradicating invasive plants. Elsewhere, change is being directed, for example by planting exotic tree species for landscaping and fruit production as the growing season increases. Change could also be directed by introducing a nonnative grazer, like bison, to steward the system towards a richer grassland.