Download Research Focus

Arctic
Biodiversity
Environmental Change
IYB
• Impact on biodiversity
• Research focus
• Impediments
• Public engagement
Dr. Mark Graham, Director, Research Services
[email protected]
613-566-4743
Climate
• Wide range of uncertainty in the models about the extent
of warming – half predict sea ice absence by 2080
• Sea ice and multiyear ice extent is declining
rapidly – has an impact on all aspects
of biological diversity, including ice algae
• Disappearing ice impacts ice adapted
whales (beluga, narwhal, bowhead) and allows
others to move in
• Traditional knowledge
leaders have seen new
species and have had more
accidents with thinning sea ice
Impact on Biodiversity
• Mercury is prevalent in the Arctic environment and
in food species; more open water in the ocean and
lakes increases tissue levels
• Marine biodiversity hotspots are emerging and
being studied
• The Arctic is greening – e.g. tree-lines are
marching north
• Permafrost melting and more precipitation cause
water quality issues
Impact on Biodiversity
• Maintain independent,
ongoing research in the
North
• Better understanding air
circulation – transfer of
heat and contaminants
• Refine climate models of
large-scale physical
elements – sea ice
• Inclusion of traditional
knowledge in research
• Understand the effect of
contaminants on country
foods
Research Focus
• Finding conservation management actions that include
the new invasive species
• Incorporate technological innovations into biodiversity
research – DNA barcoding, remote sensing and
biodiversity informatics
• Find effective mechanisms to share biodiversity data
freely and broadly
• Collaborative scientific approaches considering ecozones
• Get young HQPs involved in Arctic research
Research Focus
• Traditional knowledge leaders
and western scientists need
mechanisms to interact
• No organized system for data
sharing
• Information is lacking yet essential
for economic, social and
environmental awareness and
decision making – meteorological,
biodiversity, contaminants, social
Impediments
• No program of full-scale, long - term discovery and
monitoring of biodiversity
• Field stations and other infrastructure – access and
on-going field-based research in the Arctic
• Funding is always an issue for nearly everything
Impediments
• The Arctic is important and is under global influences
• Climate change is the single biggest social issue ever
• There is a human component to climate change in the
Arctic – air temperature and precipitation
• The Arctic is warming more than other parts of the
northern hemisphere – amplification from open ocean
Public Engagement
• Traditional uses of Arctic biodiversity are ongoing and
important – essential to healthy communities
• There is a Nunavut Biosciences Corporation – e.g.
products from seaweed, shrimps and medicinal plants
• Arctic developments should be based on environmental,
social, traditional, and economic knowledge –
sustainability of biodiversity resources
• The Arctic marine food web is dependent upon a rich
diversity of phytoplankton (microscopic plants)
• Traditional use of marine mammals is sustainable over
long periods and commercial whaling is not
• The last bits of sea ice will occur in Canada as well as all
ice-adapted marine mammals
Public Engagement
• Increased awareness about the Arctic – important & timely
• There are tremendous intangible value in the Arctic from the
landscape and biodiversity
• International cooperation is necessary to address climate
change issues in the Arctic – the Arctic Council as a
possible mechanism
• National parks and
reserves are good –
located in areas
predicted for the most
rapid environmental changes
• There aren’t enough parks to conserve biological resources
in the Arctic, considering the changes that are indicated
Other Observations
• Intensity of competition for Arctic resources will increase
– China has more capacity to work in the Arctic than
any other nation
• Huge infrastructure investments needed in the north to
be competitive and keep pace with global developments
• Climate warming is real, adaptation by humans in the
Arctic will be important – food, buildings, roads.
• Adaptations and mitigations need to occur in response
to climate changes with a mechanism that allows for
balance sustainability.
Other Observations
Questions ?
Dr. Mark Graham, Director, Research Services
[email protected]
613-566-4743