scholarly journals Exploring the diet of arctic wolves (Canis lupus arctos) at their northern range limit

2018 ◽  
Vol 96 (3) ◽  
pp. 277-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Dalerum ◽  
S. Freire ◽  
A. Angerbjörn ◽  
N. Lecomte ◽  
Å. Lindgren ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Canis Lupus ◽  
Arctic Region ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Frequency Of Occurrence ◽  
Range Limit ◽  
Arctic Ecosystems ◽  
Ovibos Moschatus ◽  
Arctic Hare

The grey wolf (Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758) is one of the most widespread large carnivores on Earth, and occurs throughout the Arctic. Although wolf diet is well studied, we have scant information from high Arctic areas. Global warming is expected to increase the importance of predation for ecosystem regulation in Arctic environments. To improve our ability to manage Arctic ecosystems under environmental change, we therefore need knowledge about Arctic predator diets. Prey remains in 54 wolf scats collected at three sites in the high Arctic region surrounding the Hall Basin (Judge Daly Promontory, Ellesmere Island, Canada, and Washington Land and Hall Land, both in northwestern Greenland) pointed to a dietary importance of arctic hare (Lepus arcticus Ross, 1819; 55% frequency of occurrence) and muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus (Zimmermann, 1780); 39% frequency of occurrence), although we observed diet variation among the sites. A literature compilation suggested that arctic wolves (Canis lupus arctos Pocock, 1935) preferentially feed on caribou (Rangifer tarandus (Linnaeus, 1758)) and muskoxen, but can sustain themselves on arctic hares and Greenland collared lemmings (Dicrostonyx groenlandicus (Traill, 1823)) in areas with limited or no ungulate populations. We suggest that climate change may alter the dynamics among wolves, arctic hare, muskoxen, and caribou, and we encourage further studies evaluating how climate change influences predator–prey interactions in high Arctic environments.

scholarly journals Snow mediates climatic impacts on Arctic herbivore populations

Polar Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca J. Duncan ◽  
Margaret E. Andrew ◽  
Mads C. Forchhammer
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Population Management ◽  
Relative Strength ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Data Series ◽  
Arctic Ecosystems ◽  
Ovibos Moschatus ◽  
North East ◽  
Musk Ox

AbstractArctic ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to impacts of climate change; however, the complex relationships between climate and ecosystems make incorporating effects of climate change into population management difficult. This study used structural equation modelling (SEM) and a 24-year multifaceted monitoring data series collected at Zackenberg, North-East Greenland, to untangle the network of climatic and local abiotic and biotic drivers, determining their direct and indirect effects on two herbivores: musk ox (Ovibos moschatus) and collared lemming (Dicrostonyx groenlandicus). Snow conditions were determined to be the central driver within the system, mediating the effects of climate on herbivore abundance. Under current climate change projections, snow is expected to decrease in the region. Snow had an indirect negative effect on musk ox, as decreased snow depth led to an earlier start to the Arctic willow growing season, shown to increase fecundity and decrease mortality. Musk ox are therefore expected to be more successful under future conditions, within a certain threshold. Snow had both positive and negative effects on lemming, with lemming expected to ultimately be less successful under climate change, as reduction in snow increases their vulnerability to predation. Through their capacity to determine effects of climatic and local drivers within a hierarchy, and the relative strength and direction of these effects, SEMs were demonstrated to have the potential to be valuable in guiding population management.

Áhrif loftlagsbreytinga á vatnsveitur og vatnsgæði á Íslandi – áhættuþættir og aðgerðir

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 5-19
Author(s):  
María J. Gunnarsdóttir ◽  
Sigurður Magnús Garðarsson ◽  
Hrund Ólöf Andradóttir ◽  
Alfreð Schiöth
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Risk Factors ◽  
Water Quality ◽  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Arctic Region ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Surveillance Area ◽  
The Arctic Region

Climate change is expected to have impact on water supply and drinking water quality in Iceland. Foremost there are three influential weather-related factors; increase in temperature; rise in sea level; and seasonal and regional change in precipitation in both quantity and intensity. In this study international and local reports and articles were analyzed for expected impact on the water resource with emphasis on the northern and the arctic region. Water quality risk factors were analyzed based on surveillance data of the water supplies from the Local Competent Authorities. Preliminary risk assessment of landslides and flooding was performed in one surveillance area in northern Iceland.

Peculiarities of land development and construction in the Arctic region, given the dynamics of climate change

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
G.I. Bykova ◽  
M.A. Grippas
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Development ◽  
Arctic Region ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Capital Investments ◽  
Arctic Seas ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Recent Trends ◽  
Effective Use ◽  
Great Danger

The article covers the specifics of land development and construction in the Arctic North. This requires the effective use of climate information to select optimal solutions for preventing unjustified overpricing of facilities, increased heat loss, low thermal resistance, and durability, affecting the overspending of capital investments. Recent trends in dynamic climate change leading to rising global sea levels, which could flood coastal areas of the Arctic seas, are considered. This can come along with the destruction of the coastal area and pose a great danger to infrastructure facilities.

scholarly journals Observed and predicted effects of climate change on Arctic caribou and reindeer

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Conor D. Mallory ◽  
Mark S. Boyce
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Arctic Ecosystems ◽  
Global Trends ◽  
Warming Climate ◽  
The Many ◽  
Rapid Environmental Change ◽  
Full Consideration ◽  
Strong Concern

The ability of many species to adapt to the shifting environmental conditions associated with climate change will be a key determinant of their persistence in the coming decades. This is a challenge already faced by species in the Arctic, where rapid environmental change is well underway. Caribou and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) play a key role in Arctic ecosystems and provide irreplaceable socioeconomic value to many northern peoples. Recent decades have seen declines in many Rangifer populations, and there is strong concern that climate change is threatening the viability of this iconic Arctic species. We examine the literature to provide a thorough and full consideration of the many environmental factors that limit caribou and reindeer populations, and how these might be affected by a warming climate. Our review suggests that the response of Rangifer populations to climate change is, and will continue to be, varied in large part to their broad circumpolar distribution. While caribou and reindeer could have some resilience to climate change, current global trends in abundance undermine all but the most precautionary outlooks. Ultimately, the conservation of Rangifer populations will require careful management that considers the local and regional manifestations of climate change.

The Frontier Research System for Global Change—The International Arctic Research Center (Frontier-IARC): its Origin and Tentative Science Plan

1999 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-84
Author(s):  
Jinro Ukila ◽  
Moloyoshi Ikeda
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Change ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Research Effort ◽  
Arctic Region ◽  
Research Center ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Research System

The Frontier Research System for Global Change—the International Arctic Research Center (Frontier-IARC) is a research program funded by the Frontier Research System for Global Change. The program is jointly run under a cooperative agreement between the Frontier Research System for Global Change and the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The aim of the program is to understand the role of the Arctic region in global climate change. The program concentrates its research effort initially on the areas of air-sea-ice interactions, bio-geochemical processes and the ecosystem. To understand the arctic climate system in the context of global climate change, we focus on mechanisms controlling arctic-subarctic interactions, and identify three key components: the freshwater balance, the energy balance, and the large-scale atmospheric processes. Knowledge of details of these components and their interactions will be gained through long-term monitoring, process studies, and modeling; our focus will be on the latter two categories.

scholarly journals International and Domestic Law Dimensions of Climate Justice for Arctic Indigenous Peoples

2014 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 113-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Ann Kronk Warner ◽  
Randall S. Abate
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Environmental Justice ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Arctic Region ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Indian Country ◽  
Indigenous Nations ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

The Arctic region is in crisis from the effects of climate change. The impacts of climate change pose a particular threat to Arctic indigenous communities. Because of the disproportionate impacts of climate change, these indigenous communities are environmental justice communities. Part I of this article discusses how indigenous nations are environmental justice communities and discusses the unique factors that may apply to environmental justice claims arising in Indian country. The article then presents two case studies to explore how, if at all, these concepts have been previously applied to environmental justice claims brought by various Arctic indigenous communities. Part II addresses the Inuit Circumpolar Conference’s petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Part III considers the Native Village of Kivalina’s lawsuit against numerous private emitters of greenhouse gases. These case studies underscore the failure of international and domestic forums’ consideration of the special situation of Arctic indigenous peoples as environmental justice communities.

Visualizing climate change in the Arctic and beyond: Participatory media and the United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP), and interactive Indigenous Arctic media

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott MacKenzie ◽  
Anna Westerstahl Stenport
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Climate Science ◽  
Arctic Region ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Moving Images ◽  
Big Data Visualization ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Vexing Problem ◽  
The Arctic Region

Impactful communication remains a vexing problem for climate science researchers and public outreach. This article identifies a range of moving images and screen-based media used to visualize climate change, focusing especially on the Arctic region and the efforts of the United Nations. The authors examine the aesthetics of big data visualization of melting sea ice and glaciers made by NASA and similar entities; eye-witness, expert accounts and youth-produced documentaries designed for United Nations delegates to the annual COP events such as the Youth Climate Report; Please Help the World, the dystopian cli-fi narrative produced for the UN’s COP 15; and Isuma TV’s streaming of works by Indigenous practitioners in Nunavut.

Assessment of the Level of Environmental Risk in River Ecosystems of the Arctic Zone of Russia

2020 ◽  
pp. 69-78
Author(s):  
O.S. Reshetnyak
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Risk ◽  
Anthropogenic Impact ◽  
Arctic Region ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Risk Level ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Arctic Ecosystems ◽  
River Ecosystems ◽  
Arctic Rivers ◽  
The Arctic Region

The methodological approaches and the results of assessing the environmental risk level in river ecosystems of the Arctic region of Russia was presented. Assessing of the environmental risk level in ecosystem includes identifying possible negative consequences of anthropogenic impact, which are appeared in a violation of the structural organization of biocenoses. An intensification of the ecological devolution of individual communities of aquatic organisms is observed in modern conditions of anthropogenic impact and climatic variations in the Arctic ecosystems of rivers. The tendency to increase the ecological devolution level as the anthropogenic impact intensifies during the transition from less polluted Arctic rivers to more polluted ones (dirty) has been revealed. The ecological devolution level varies from absence (anthropogenic stress) to its appearance in the form of elements of ecological devolution. The results of the final assessment of the environmental risk level in the ecosystems of the Arctic region of Russia according to the ecological devolution level showed that the studied sections of the rivers are characterized by a low and medium level of risk. Further enhancement of anthropogenic impact on the catchments of Arctic rivers can lead to disruption of the ecological state of aquatic ecosystems and intensification of ecological devolutions processes which may increase the level of environmental risk.

A Rule Follower, a Challenger, or a Learner? Recasting China’s Engagement in the Arctic

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 201-242
Author(s):  
Yuanyuan Ren ◽  
Dan Liu
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
International Law ◽  
Technological Innovation ◽  
Arctic Region ◽  
Economic Globalization ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Full Account ◽  
Commercial Activities ◽  
Participant Role ◽  
The Arctic Region

In an era of climate change, economic globalization, and technological innovation, the Arctic region has been increasingly open to competing jurisdictional claims, commercial activities, and outside players. In the meantime, China’s engagement in the Arctic has drawn great attention. While some Arctic commentators are concerned about China as a threat to the region, many Chinese officials and scholars tend to portray China as a “rule-follower” in the Arctic. However, this “rule-follower” image fails to take full account of the evolving nature of Arctic governance and Arctic international law. This paper recasts China’s role in the Arctic. It argues that, to fulfill a “constructive participant” role in Arctic development, China can participate as a rule follower, a constructive challenger, and a keen learner concurrently, depending on the different issue-areas involved.

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