scholarly journals Contrasting changes in space use induced by climate change in two Arctic marine mammal species

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 20180834 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charmain D. Hamilton ◽  
Jade Vacquié-Garcia ◽  
Kit M. Kovacs ◽  
Rolf A. Ims ◽  
Jack Kohler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Life Cycles ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Delphinapterus Leucas ◽  
Behavioural Plasticity ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Dietary Specialization ◽  
Environmental Pressures

Global warming is inducing major environmental changes in the Arctic. These changes will differentially affect species owing to differences in climate sensitivity and behavioural plasticity. Arctic endemic marine mammals are expected to be impacted significantly by ongoing changes in their key habitats owing to their long life cycles and dependence on ice. Herein, unique biotelemetry datasets for ringed seals (RS; Pusa hispida ) and white whales (WW; Delphinapterus leucas ) from Svalbard, Norway, spanning two decades (1995–2016) are used to investigate how these species have responded to reduced sea-ice cover and increased Atlantic water influxes. Tidal glacier fronts were traditionally important foraging areas for both species. Following a period with dramatic environmental change, RS now spend significantly more time near tidal glaciers, where Arctic prey presumably still concentrate. Conversely, WW spend significantly less time near tidal glacier fronts and display spatial patterns that suggest that they are foraging on Atlantic fishes that are new to the region. Differences in levels of dietary specialization and overall behavioural plasticity are likely reasons for similar environmental pressures affecting these species differently. Climate change adjustments through behavioural plasticity will be vital for species survival in the Arctic, given the rapidity of change and limited dispersal options.

Using art to explore children’s perceptions of their Arctic community in a changing climate 

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Lipson ◽  
Kim Reasor ◽  
Kååre Sikuaq Erickson
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sea Ice ◽  
Marine Mammals ◽  
School Curriculum ◽  
Arctic Sea Ice ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Polar Bears ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Subsistence Hunting ◽  
Sea Ice Decline

<p>In this project we analyze artwork and recorded statements of 5<sup>th</sup> grade students from the community of Utqiaġvik, Alaska, who participated in a science-art outreach activity. The team consisted of a scientist (Lipson), an artist (Reasor) and an outreach specialist (Erickson) of Inupiat heritage from a village in Alaska. We worked with four 5th grade classes of about 25 students each at Fred Ipalook Elementary. The predominantly Inupiat people of Utqiaġvik are among those who will be most impacted by climate change and the loss of Arctic sea ice in the near future. Subsistence hunting of marine mammals associated with sea ice is central to the Inupiat way of life. Furthermore, their coastal homes and infrastructure are increasingly subject to damage from increased wave action on ice-free Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. While the people of this region are among the most directly vulnerable to climate change, the teachers reported that the subject is not generally covered in the elementary school curriculum.</p><p>The scientist and the local outreach specialist gave a short presentation about sea ice and climate change in the Arctic, with emphasis on local impacts to hunting and infrastructure. We then showed the students a large poster of historical and projected sea ice decline, and asked the students to help us fill in the white space beneath the lines. The artist led the children in making small paintings that represent things that are important to their lives in Utqiaġvik (they were encouraged to paint animals, but they were free to do whatever they wanted). We returned to the class later that week and had each student briefly introduce themselves and their painting, and place it on the large graph of sea ice decline, which included the dire predictions of the RCP8.5 scenario. Then we added the more hopeful RCP2.6 scenario to end on a positive note.</p><p>Common themes expressed in the students’ artwork included subsistence hunting, other aspects of traditional Inupiat culture, nature and family. Modern themes such as sports and Pokémon were also common. The students reacted to the topic of climate change with pictures of whales, polar bears and other animals, and captions such as “Save the world/ice/animals.” There were several paintings showing unsuccessful hunts for whales or seals. Some students displayed an understanding of ecosystem science in their recorded statements. For example, a student who painted the sun and another who painted a krill both succinctly described energy flow in food webs that support the production of whales (for example, “I drew krill because without krill there wouldn’t be whales”). Some of the students described the consequences of sea ice loss to local wildlife with devastating succinctness (sea ice is disappearing and polar bears will go extinct). The overall sense was that the children had a strong grasp of the potential consequences of climate change to their region and way of life.</p>

Acoustic detections of Arctic marine mammals near Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories, Canada

2019 ◽  
Vol 97 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
W.D. Halliday ◽  
M.K. Pine ◽  
S.J. Insley ◽  
R.N. Soares ◽  
P. Kortsalo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Northwest Territories ◽  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Bowhead Whale ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Delphinapterus Leucas ◽  
Anthropogenic Activity ◽  
Marine Animals ◽  
Vocal Activity ◽  
Beluga Whale Delphinapterus Leucas ◽  
Passive Acoustic

The Arctic marine environment is changing rapidly through a combination of sea ice loss and increased anthropogenic activity. Given these changes can affect marine animals in a variety of ways, understanding the spatial and temporal distributions of Arctic marine animals is imperative. We use passive acoustic monitoring to examine the presence of marine mammals near Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories, Canada, from October 2016 to April 2017. We documented bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus Linnaeus, 1758) and beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas (Pallas, 1776)) vocalizations later into the autumn than expected, and we recorded bowhead whales in early April. We recorded ringed seal (Pusa hispida (Schreber, 1775)) vocalizations throughout our deployment, with higher vocal activity than in other studies and with peak vocal activity in January. We recorded bearded seals (Erignathus barbatus (Erxleben, 1777)) throughout the deployment, with peak vocal activity in February. We recorded lower bearded seal vocal activity than other studies, and almost no vocal activity near the beginning of the spring breeding season. Both seal species vocalized more when ice concentration was high. These patterns in vocal activity document the presence of each species at this site over autumn and winter and are a useful comparison for future monitoring.

8. Arctic futures

2021 ◽  
pp. 137-142
Author(s):  
Klaus Dodds ◽  
Jamie Woodward
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Small Community ◽  
Arctic Amplification ◽  
Arctic Council ◽  
Svalbard Archipelago ◽  
Governance Model

‘Arctic futures’ discusses the future of the Arctic that starts in the Norwegian territory of Svalbard wherein the Global Seed Vault functions as an Arctic sanctuary for the genetic diversity of crops. The Svalbard archipelago is a hotspot of Arctic amplification as rapid warming has been keenly felt by the small community. However, the environmental changes, no matter how stark and widespread, will not dampen interest in economic development and strategic posturing. Arctic states and northern peoples remain eager to improve their social and economic conditions as well as adapt to ongoing climate change. The Arctic is a haven of international peace and cooperation as the Arctic Council is cited as a governance model that others could emulate.

scholarly journals The impacts of climate change on marine mammals: early signs of significant problems

Oryx ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark P. Simmonds ◽  
Stephen J. Isaac
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Marine Mammal ◽  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Delphinapterus Leucas ◽  
Polar Regions ◽  
Baleen Whale ◽  
Direct Observations ◽  
Management Plans ◽  
Conservation Plans ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

Climate change is now known to be affecting the oceans. It is widely anticipated that impacts on marine mammals will be mediated primarily via changes in prey distribution and abundance and that the more mobile (or otherwise adaptable) species may be able to respond to this to some extent. However, the extent of this adaptability is largely unknown. Meanwhile, within the last few years direct observations have been made of several marine mammal populations that illustrate reactions to climate change. These observations indicate that certain species and populations may be especially vulnerable, including those with a limited habitat range, such as the vaquita Phocoena sinus, or those for which sea ice provides an important part of their habitat, such as narwhals Monodon monoceros, bowhead Balaena mysticetus and beluga Delphinapterus leucas whales and polar bears Ursus maritimus. Similarly, there are concerns about those species that migrate to feeding grounds in polar regions because of rapidly changing conditions there, and this includes many baleen whale populations. This review highlights the need to take projected impacts into account in future conservation and management plans, including species assessments. How this should be done in an adequately precautionary manner offers a significant challenge to those involved in such processes, although it is possible to identify at this time at least some species and populations that may be regarded as especially vulnerable. Marine ecosystems modellers and marine mammal experts will need to work together to make such assessments and conservation plans as robust as possible.

Impacts of climate change on Australian marine mammals

2013 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Schumann ◽  
Nick J. Gales ◽  
Robert G. Harcourt ◽  
John P. Y. Arnould
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Cold Water ◽  
Climatic Factors ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Coastal Species ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
Distributional Shifts ◽  
Water Species

Increasing evidence suggests that climate change is negatively affecting marine ecosystems and biota. However, little is known of how climate change will impact marine mammals. This review aims to identify the effects of climatic variations on Australian marine mammals and determine their potential responses to climate change. Shifts in distributions and reproductive success have been associated with climatic factors, while stranding events, drowning of seal pups, exposure to altered water conditions and disease in several marine mammal species have followed extreme weather events. Climate change may produce distributional shifts as the ranges of warm-water species expand or shift southwards, and those of cold-water species contract. Reductions in the extent of key habitats, changes in breeding success, a greater incidence of strandings in dugongs and cetaceans, and increased exposure of coastal species to pollutants and pathogens are likely. The capacity of Australian marine mammals to adapt to climate change is poorly understood, though there is evidence that several species may be able to modify their physiology or behaviour in response to warming temperatures. To increase the resilience of marine mammals, it is necessary to address non-climatic threats, such as ensuring that key habitats are protected in Australia.

scholarly journals Climate change negatively impacts dominant microbes in the sediments of a High Arctic lake

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham A. Colby ◽  
Matti O. Ruuskanen ◽  
Kyra A. St. Pierre ◽  
Vincent L. St. Louis ◽  
Alexandre J. Poulain ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Community Structure ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Large Lake ◽  
Spatial Gradients ◽  
Functional Potential ◽  
High Runoff ◽  
Sediment Microbes

AbstractTemperatures in the Arctic are expected to increase dramatically over the next century, yet little is known about how microbial communities and their underlying metabolic processes will be affected by these environmental changes in freshwater sedimentary systems. To address this knowledge gap, we analyzed sediments from Lake Hazen, NU Canada. Here, we exploit the spatial heterogeneity created by varying runoff regimes across the watershed of this uniquely large lake at these latitudes to test how a transition from low to high runoff, used as one proxy for climate change, affects the community structure and functional potential of dominant microbes. Based on metagenomic analyses of lake sediments along these spatial gradients, we show that increasing runoff leads to a decrease in taxonomic and functional diversity of sediment microbes. Our findings are likely to apply to other, smaller, glacierized watersheds typical of polar or high latitude / high altitudes ecosystems; we can predict that such changes will have far reaching consequences on these ecosystems by affecting nutrient biogeochemical cycling, the direction and magnitude of which are yet to be determined.

scholarly journals First abundance estimate for white whales Delphinapterus leucas in Svalbard, Norway

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
pp. 253-263
Author(s):  
J Vacquié-Garcia ◽  
C Lydersen ◽  
TA Marques ◽  
M Andersen ◽  
KM Kovacs
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Distance Sampling ◽  
Aerial Survey ◽  
Open Ocean ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Delphinapterus Leucas ◽  
Svalbard Archipelago ◽  
Stock Size ◽  
Small Areas ◽  
Abundance Estimate

The Svalbard Archipelago (Norway) is experiencing rapid declines in the seasonal duration and extent of sea-ice cover, and local tidewater glaciers are melting. These environmental changes represent a threat to ice-associated species in the region, including white whales Delphinapterus leucas. However, no estimates of stock size or trends are available for this stock. An aerial survey was conducted during the summer of 2018, covering the coastlines of all major islands in Svalbard, as well fjords and open ocean areas. A total count was attempted for the coastlines, while coverage of the fjords and open ocean areas was designed as distance-sampling line transects. In total, 265 white whales were detected in 22 groups along the 4965 km of coastline coverage. No whales were observed on fjord (1481 km) or open ocean transects (535 km). After correcting for surface availability using behavioural data from the same area (in summer) and making adjustments for small areas not flown during the survey, the stock size was estimated to be 549 individuals (95% CI: 436%%CONV_ERR%%723). This estimate is surprisingly low given that this species is one of the most frequently observed cetaceans in the area, but it confirms suspicions based on difficulties in finding animals when operating white whale tagging programmes over the past decade. This first population estimate is important in the context of the rapid environmental change taking place in the Arctic and for providing a baseline for comparison with future estimates.

scholarly journals Circumpolar biodiversity monitoring program’s state of the Arctic marine biodiversity

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kit M. Kovacs ◽  
Rosa Meehan ◽  
Stas Belikov ◽  
Genevieve Desportes ◽  
Steve Ferguson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Marine Mammal ◽  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Mineral Exploration ◽  
Population Monitoring ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
Biodiversity Monitoring ◽  
Cultural Significance ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Status And Trends

Marine mammals are top predators in Arctic marine ecosystems and are key to ecosystem functioning. Many Arctic marine mammal species are important resources and hold special cultural significance in Arctic communities. The CBMP (Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Programme) Marine Mammal Expert Network aggregated and reviewed data on the population status and trends of all 11 ice-associated marine mammal Focal Ecosystem Components (FECs) across eight Arctic Marine Areas as well as the state of current monitoring (and research) efforts for these species. Changes taking place in the physical environment in the Arctic due to global warming are affecting marine mammal behaviour, abundance, growth rates, body condition and reproduction, and impacting the resilience of marine mammal populations with concomitant effects on the people who rely on them for subsistence, economic and cultural purposes. Effective marine mammal population monitoring will need improved techniques and application at appropriate geographic scales to measure trends that can be evaluated relative to changes in climate (e.g., sea-ice cover) and human activities (e.g., hunting, shipping, mineral exploration). This presentation will summarize current marine mammal monitoring across the Arctic, the status and trends of FECs, drivers of observed trends, and knowledge and monitoring gaps.

scholarly journals Climate change and Indigenous mental health in the Circumpolar North: A systematic review to inform clinical practice

2022 ◽  
pp. 136346152110666
Author(s):  
Laurence Lebel ◽  
Vincent Paquin ◽  
Tiff-Annie Kenny ◽  
Christopher Fletcher ◽  
Lucie Nadeau ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Indigenous Populations ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Circumpolar North ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

Climate change is disproportionally impacting the Circumpolar North, with particular impacts among Indigenous populations. Environmental changes are felt in many aspects of daily life of Northern communities, including both physical and mental health. Thus, health institutions from around the Arctic must meet emerging needs, while the phenomenon remains marginal to their southern counterparts. In this systematic review, we aimed to review current scientific knowledge on the mental health impacts of climate change in Indigenous Peoples across the Circumpolar North. Seven databases were searched. Original peer-reviewed research articles were included if they addressed links between climate change and mental health in Arctic or Subarctic Indigenous Populations. After extraction, data were synthesized using thematic analysis. Of the 26 articles that met inclusion criteria, 16 focused on Canadian Inuit communities and 21 were exclusively qualitative. Being on the land was identified as a central determinant of wellbeing. Immediate impacts of climate change on mental health were felt through restricted mobility and disrupted livelihoods. Effects on mental health were further felt through changes in culture and identity, food insecurity, interpersonal stress and conflicts, and housing problems. Various ways in how communities and individuals are coping with these effects were reported. Understanding climate-related pathways of mental health risks in the Arctic is crucial to better identify vulnerable groups and to foster resilience. Clinicians can play a role in recognizing and providing support for patients affected by these disruptions. Policies sensitive to the climate–mental health relationship must be advocated for.

scholarly journals Evolutionary traps and range shifts in a rapidly changing world

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 20160003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Hale ◽  
John R. Morrongiello ◽  
Stephen E. Swearer
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Population Persistence ◽  
Range Shifts ◽  
Developmental Pathways ◽  
Behavioural Plasticity ◽  
Fitness Consequences ◽  
Changing World

Humans are altering the environment at an unprecedented rate. Although behavioural plasticity has allowed many species to respond by shifting their ranges to more favourable conditions, these rapid environmental changes may cause ‘evolutionary traps’, whereby animals mistakenly prefer resources that reduce their fitness. The role of evolutionary traps in influencing the fitness consequences of range shifts remains largely unexplored. Here, we review these interactions by considering how climate change may trigger maladaptive developmental pathways or increase the probability of animals encountering traps. We highlight how traps could selectively remove some phenotypes and compromise population persistence. We conclude by highlighting emerging areas of research that would improve our understanding of when interactions between evolutionary traps and range shifts are likely to be most detrimental to animals.

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