Arctic SciencePub Date : 2024-01-08DOI: 10.1139/as-2023-0056
Anthony J. Gaston, Jennifer F. Provencher, Birgit Braune, H. G. Gilchrist, S. Gutowsky, M. Mallory
{"title":"Monitoring Canadian Arctic seabirds at the Prince Leopold Island Field Station, 1975-2023","authors":"Anthony J. Gaston, Jennifer F. Provencher, Birgit Braune, H. G. Gilchrist, S. Gutowsky, M. Mallory","doi":"10.1139/as-2023-0056","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2023-0056","url":null,"abstract":"The research station at Prince Leopold Island (PLI), initiated in 1975, was the first seabird monitoring site created in the Canadian Arctic. The island supports 150 000 breeding pairs of seabirds, principally thick-billed murres (Uria lomvia), black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) and northern fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis), along with ~70 pairs of glaucous gulls (Larus hyperboreus) and several thousand black guillemots (Cepphus grylle). Baseline observations of seabird breeding biology were made during 1975-77. Subsequent monitoring has taken place in 22 of the 47 seasons, with work during 2001-2003 replicating the original baseline studies. Population trends of breeding seabirds have shown kittiwakes (sharply) and murres (gradually) increasing, while gulls (definitely) and fulmars (likely) have declined. The most striking scientific findings from PLI were related to the effect of annual ice break-up on seabird phenology, clutch size, and reproductive success. For contaminant research, PLI has become one of the core monitoring sites in Canada and internationally, documenting dramatic changes in concentrations of various contaminants in the Arctic marine environment. Given the international impact of research and monitoring at PLI for almost five decades, the continuation of seabird research at PLI, the most important seabird colony in the Canadian Arctic, is essential.","PeriodicalId":48575,"journal":{"name":"Arctic Science","volume":"7 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2024-01-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139446653","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Arctic SciencePub Date : 2023-11-27DOI: 10.1139/as-2023-0034
Nicole J. Wilson, Elizabeth Worden, Grace O’Hanlon
{"title":"Connecting Community-Based Monitoring to environmental governance in the Arctic: A systematic scoping review of the literature","authors":"Nicole J. Wilson, Elizabeth Worden, Grace O’Hanlon","doi":"10.1139/as-2023-0034","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2023-0034","url":null,"abstract":"Arctic Community-Based Monitoring (CBM) programs occur within complex governance landscapes. Indigenous rightsholders are increasingly significant political actors and where environmental and political injustices related to climate change and resource development motivate monitoring. We draw on a systematic scoping literature review to examine the current state of the literature on Arctic CBM and environmental governance. Relevant articles (n=27) were identified through inclusion/exclusion criteria (i.e., English language, peer reviewed, published between 1991 and 2021, based on primary research) and analyzed using a data extraction questionnaire. We find that there is a growing focus on the relationship between Arctic CBM and governance at a variety of scales and in a range of environmental systems. Importantly, Indigenous peoples play a significant role within this literature in that most included articles discussed Indigenous Knowledge. However, less than half of the articles discussed Indigenous peoples as rightsholders with significant governance roles. Based on our findings we recommend future studies engage critical analysis of the influence of the, often unequal, governance and politics in the Arctic 1) on environmental decision-making, 2) the politics of knowledge, and 3) the use of digital technologies in the collection, storage, and mobilization of CBM data.","PeriodicalId":48575,"journal":{"name":"Arctic Science","volume":"30 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2023-11-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139235054","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Arctic SciencePub Date : 2023-11-02DOI: 10.1139/as-2023-0008
Véronique Dubos, André St-Hilaire, Isabelle Laurion, Normand Bergeron
{"title":"Characterization of anadromous Arctic char winter habitat and egg incubation areas in collaboration with Inuit fishers","authors":"Véronique Dubos, André St-Hilaire, Isabelle Laurion, Normand Bergeron","doi":"10.1139/as-2023-0008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2023-0008","url":null,"abstract":"In Nunavik, anadromous Arctic char spend more than six months under ice-covered habitats, mainly in lakes. Their winter habitats in this region have been scarcely studied due to the challenging logistics in the Arctic. In this study, we worked with Inuit fishers to characterize the winter habitat and incubation areas used by Arctic chars in five overwintering lakes and one lentic river reach. The collaborating fishers determined char occupancy of certain areas related to fishing sites (presence, absence, spawning) and conducted measurements to characterize the sites while performing their fishing activities. The data showed that incubation areas were associated with significantly shallower depths and warmer (albeit not statistically significant) lake bottom temperatures than sites where no spawning occurs, which is beneficial for egg maturation. The productivity of these areas is also beneficial for fry that hatch during winter. Adults and post-smolt habitats tended to be associated with cold littoral zone but their habitat did not show any other distinct characteristics. This exploratory study adds insights into the cryptic characteristics of the Arctic char winter habitat use, thanks to the Inuit fishers’ knowledge of fish habitats and movements, and the experience and expertise they have acquired working in the local environment.","PeriodicalId":48575,"journal":{"name":"Arctic Science","volume":"206 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135875999","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Arctic SciencePub Date : 2023-11-02DOI: 10.1139/as-2023-0036
Matthieu Weiss-Blais, David Bolduc, Madeleine-Zoé Corbeille-Robitaille, Frédéric Dulude-de-Broin, Thierry Grandmont, Frédérique Letourneux, Mathilde Poirier, Denis Sarrazin, Pierre Legagneux
{"title":"Worth the dip? Polar bear predation on swimming flightless greater gnow geese and estimation of energetic efficiency","authors":"Matthieu Weiss-Blais, David Bolduc, Madeleine-Zoé Corbeille-Robitaille, Frédéric Dulude-de-Broin, Thierry Grandmont, Frédérique Letourneux, Mathilde Poirier, Denis Sarrazin, Pierre Legagneux","doi":"10.1139/as-2023-0036","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2023-0036","url":null,"abstract":"As sea-ice cover is shrinking, polar bears (Ursus maritimus, Phipps 1774) face decreased access to seals, their primary prey, resulting in a greater dependance on terrestrial food sources. Whether polar bears can benefit from these terrestrial food sources however depends on their ability to find and capture prey items without expending more energy than is acquired. Here, we report one of the northernmost observations of polar bear predation on adult birds. The bear used a dive-hunting technique, which consisted of submerging itself, approaching underwater and catching flightless greater snow geese (Anser caerulescens caerulescens) from beneath the surface of a tundra pond. After evaluating energy expenditures during swimming and energy intakes from consuming geese, we estimated that this rarely documented dive-hunting technique could be energetically profitable for a certain range of pursuit duration. This observation highlights the behavioral plasticity that polar bears can deploy to punctually exploit land-based food sources.","PeriodicalId":48575,"journal":{"name":"Arctic Science","volume":"215 4","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135876182","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Arctic SciencePub Date : 2023-10-17DOI: 10.1139/as-2023-0030
Julie-Pascale Labrecque-Foy, Anna Gaspard, Martin Simard, Stephane Boudreau
{"title":"Radial growth of subarctic tree and shrub species: relationships with climate and association with the greening of the forest-tundra ecotone of subarctic Québec, Canada","authors":"Julie-Pascale Labrecque-Foy, Anna Gaspard, Martin Simard, Stephane Boudreau","doi":"10.1139/as-2023-0030","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2023-0030","url":null,"abstract":"Climate change has resulted in a widespread increase in primary productivity in northern regions. This “greening” can alter terrestrial ecosystems dynamics and trigger positive climate feedbacks, but often exhibits spatial heterogeneity. Few studies have focused on the differential responses of plant functional groups to warming as a potential driver of heterogeneity in greening rates. Our objective was to determine if climate-growth relationships are species-specific, and if they can explain the heterogeneity of the subarctic greening rates. We compared climate-growth relationships and associations to NDVI of the dominant tree (Picea mariana) and shrub (Betula glandulosa) species at two locations in the forest-tundra ecotone in Nunavik (Québec, Canada). Correlation coefficients of the climate-growth relationship varied between species and locations, being higher for P. mariana and at the northernmost location. The lower association between NDVI and P. mariana radial growth at the northernmost location appeared to be compensated by a stronger association between NDVI and B. glandulosa radial growth. Our results show that response to climate varies spatially and between species, both of which could potentially be used to explain the heterogeneity of subarctic greening rates. This improved understanding of the species-specific response to climate change will help predict forthcoming changes in primary productivity and their potential positive feedback on climate change.","PeriodicalId":48575,"journal":{"name":"Arctic Science","volume":"22 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135945043","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Arctic SciencePub Date : 2023-10-17DOI: 10.1139/as-2023-0031
Mark L. Mallory
{"title":"Monitoring ground-nesting seabirds in the Canadian Arctic:the Nasaruvaalik Island Field Station","authors":"Mark L. Mallory","doi":"10.1139/as-2023-0031","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2023-0031","url":null,"abstract":"The Nasaruvaalik Island field station in the high Arctic was established to facilitate research and monitoring on rare seabird species, largely to meet regulatory obligations defined in Canada’s Species At Risk Act. After building a small research facility at the site, investigations have not only shed new insights on at-risk seabirds, but have: 1) provided new insights into movements and annual habitat needs of other ground-nesting seabirds; 2) shown effects of weather on seabird breeding effort and success; 3) determined contaminant concentrations in species that have generally been overlooked in Arctic pollution monitoring; and 4) have captured trends in local breeding populations that appear to mirror region-wide trends. However, the future of monitoring at the site is unclear, as safety concerns, considerations of new approaches to Arctic research, and monitoring priorities in a time of multiple environmental stressors may be shifting.","PeriodicalId":48575,"journal":{"name":"Arctic Science","volume":"167 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135993755","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Arctic SciencePub Date : 2023-10-16DOI: 10.1139/as-2023-0028
Carlos A. Domínguez-Sánchez, Steven H. Ferguson, Tera Edkins, Brent G. Young, Joshua Kringorn
{"title":"Pilot Study: Decoding the Skin microbiome of Bowhead (Balaena mysticetus) and Killer whales (Orcinus orca) in Nunavut, Canada.","authors":"Carlos A. Domínguez-Sánchez, Steven H. Ferguson, Tera Edkins, Brent G. Young, Joshua Kringorn","doi":"10.1139/as-2023-0028","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2023-0028","url":null,"abstract":"Given the increasing challenges that Arctic cetaceans face, it is critical to investigate novel methods for assessing their health. Skin microbiomes have emerged as a promising method of detecting health issues, which can help guide conservation efforts for free-ranging cetaceans. This study characterized the skin microbiome of 17 bowhead (BW) and two killer whales (KW). Fifty-six amplicon sequence variants were identified exclusively from cetacean samples, 20 belonged to BW, 13 to KW, and 23 to BW and KW. We identified bacteria from the genera Tenacibaculum and Psychrobacter, which have been previously described as bacteria that play a role in the health of cetaceans. In addition, in the healthy bowhead whales (H-BW) samples we identified Clostridium sensu stricto 1 and 7, Carnobacterium spp., and Yersinia spp. which are of concern because these bacteria are opportunistic pathogens. Stranded BW had a less diverse microbiome than H-BW and had pathogens, including Aeromonas species and Streptococcus agalactia. Opportunistic pathogens of the genera Moritella (previously Vibrio spp.), Shewanella, Psychrilyobacter, and Legionella were discovered in KW. Due to their predator-prey relationships, the findings of this pilot study support the importance of keeping a close eye on the bowhead and killer whale populations in the Arctic.","PeriodicalId":48575,"journal":{"name":"Arctic Science","volume":"52 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136079398","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Arctic SciencePub Date : 2023-10-16DOI: 10.1139/as-2022-0016
Kimberly L. Ovitz, Kathleen G.A. Matari, Shannon O’Hara, Douglas Esagok, Inuvik Hunters and Trappers Committee (IHTC), Lisa L. Loseto
{"title":"Observations of social and environmental change on Kendall Island (Ukiivik), a traditional whaling camp in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region","authors":"Kimberly L. Ovitz, Kathleen G.A. Matari, Shannon O’Hara, Douglas Esagok, Inuvik Hunters and Trappers Committee (IHTC), Lisa L. Loseto","doi":"10.1139/as-2022-0016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2022-0016","url":null,"abstract":"As climate change intensifies, Inuvialuit in Canada’s Western Arctic are facing a rapidly changing environment and associated impacts on human health, safety, and food security. Learning to cope with these changes requires context-based and current information that can inform subsistence activities and environmental management, and no one is better positioned to acquire this information than Inuvialuit themselves. This paper presents findings from in-depth interviews conducted in 2012 with six knowledge holders and seasonal residents of Kendall Island (Ukiivik in Uummarmiutun), a traditional whaling camp situated along the Beaufort Sea coast bordering the Okeevik Tarium Niryutait Marine Protected Area (TNMPA). A transdisciplinary and Inuvialuit-led effort, this research documents observations of change at this culturally important site and explores how residents are adapting to changing conditions. Interview transcripts were analyzed using iterative rounds of qualitative coding in NVivo software. Findings reveal pervasive social and environmental change on Kendall Island and in adjacent harvesting areas and highlight the extent to which changing conditions are affecting residents’ lives. This study identifies benchmarks upon which to compare and evaluate subsequent changes at this site and documents Inuvialuit Knowledge and perspectives that can inform local-scale environmental monitoring, management, and climate change adaptation planning.","PeriodicalId":48575,"journal":{"name":"Arctic Science","volume":"20 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136078656","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Arctic SciencePub Date : 2023-10-16DOI: 10.1139/as-2023-0037
Dermot Antoniades, Yohanna Klanten, Emma Cameron, Julia Garcia-Oteyza, Marc Oliva, Warwick F. Vincent
{"title":"Evidence of summer thermal stratification in extreme northern lakes","authors":"Dermot Antoniades, Yohanna Klanten, Emma Cameron, Julia Garcia-Oteyza, Marc Oliva, Warwick F. Vincent","doi":"10.1139/as-2023-0037","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2023-0037","url":null,"abstract":"Rapid warming in the High Arctic has induced changes in terrestrial environments that have included major recent shifts in lakes and ponds. Numerous studies exist of spatial trends in water chemistry, bioindicator groups and paleoenvironmental change from high Arctic lakes, however little is known about lake thermal stratification regimes at high latitudes beyond assumptions based on generalized classification schemes. Here, we report on the presence in late July 2022 of positive thermal stratification in two lakes near Clements Markham Inlet, on northern Ellesmere Island. These lakes are situated in the polar desert at 82.6 °N, >1000 km north of the generally accepted northern limit of summer thermal stratification. Given their location approaching the northernmost land on Earth, the thermal profiles of these lakes suggest that the occurrence of summer stratification may no longer be discounted anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere.
","PeriodicalId":48575,"journal":{"name":"Arctic Science","volume":"10 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136078835","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Arctic SciencePub Date : 2023-09-27DOI: 10.1139/as-2023-0022
Erin F. Hamilton, Collin L. Juurakko, Katja Engel, Peter Van Coeverden de Groot, John M. Casselman, Charles W. Greer, Josh D. Neufeld, Virginia K. Walker
{"title":"Characterization of skin- and intestine microbial communities in migrating high Arctic lake whitefish and cisco","authors":"Erin F. Hamilton, Collin L. Juurakko, Katja Engel, Peter Van Coeverden de Groot, John M. Casselman, Charles W. Greer, Josh D. Neufeld, Virginia K. Walker","doi":"10.1139/as-2023-0022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2023-0022","url":null,"abstract":"At high latitudes, lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) and others in the closely related Coregonus species complex (CSC) including cisco (C. autumnalis and C. sardinella) can be diadromous, seasonally transitioning between freshwater lakes and the Arctic Ocean. CSC skin- and intestine microbiomes were collected, facilitated by Inuit fishers at sites on and around King William Island, Nunavut, at the northern range limits of lake whitefish. Community composition was explored using 16S rRNA gene sequencing and microbiota distinctly grouped depending on fishing site salinity. Overall, lake whitefish intestine communities were more variable than those of the two cisco with higher Shannon diversity, suggesting that lake whitefish and their microbiomes could be susceptible to environmental stress possibly leading to dysbiosis. Lake whitefish showed lower condition (K) in the ocean than in freshwater rivers, whereas cisco condition was similar among distinct seasonal habitats. Taken together, the impact of changing habitats on fish condition and microbial composition may inform approaches to CSC health in fisheries and aquaculture, in addition to being relevant for northern Indigenous peoples with subsistence and economic interests in these resources.","PeriodicalId":48575,"journal":{"name":"Arctic Science","volume":"22 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135534621","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}