Arctic Ecozone Status And Trends Assessment

1. Introduction -- 2. Characteristics of Arctic biodiversity -- 2.1. Terrestrial ecosystems -- 2.2. Freshwater ecosystems -- 2.3. Marine ecosystems -- 2.4. Arctic species and foodwebs -- 3. Human use of wildlife through time -- 4. Status and trends in Arctic biodiversity -- 5. Stressors and their alleviation -- 5.1. Stressors originating from within the Arctic -- 5.2. Stressors originating from outside the Arctic -- 6. Knowledge gaps -- 7. Suggested conservation and research priorities -- References.

The Pacific Arctic regionis experiencing atmospheric changes, rapid seasonal sea ice retreat, seawater warming, regional ocean acidification, along with other environmental changes and biological responses in lower to upper trophic organisms. Both physical and biogeochemical modeling indicate the potential for step-function changes to the overall ecosystem, both under current and in the projected conditions. This volume of synthesis papers was coordinated within the Pacific Arctic Group (PAG), a network of international partners undertaking and facilitating collaborative research in the Pacific influenced Arctic seas and basin. It also serves as a product of activities from the 2007-2008 International Polar Year. The topics range from atmospheric and physical sciences to chemical processing and biological response to changing environmental conditions. Physical and biogeochemical modeling results highlight the need for continued data collection together with interdisciplinary modeling activities to track and forecast the changing ecosystem of the Pacific Arctic in response to climate change. The PAG definition of the Pacific Arctic region extends from the northern Bering Sea into the Chukchi Sea and adjacent Arctic seas, and extending into the deep basins of the Arctic Ocean.

Thousands of ravenous tiny shorebirds race along the water's edge of Delaware Bay, feasting on pin-sized horseshoe-crab eggs. Fueled by millions of eggs, the migrating red knots fly on. When they arrive at last in their arctic breeding grounds, they will have completed a near-miraculous 9,000-mile journey that began in Tierra del Fuego. Deborah Cramer followed these knots, whose numbers have declined by 75 percent, on their extraordinary odyssey from one end of the earth to the other—from an isolated beach at the tip of South America all the way to the icy tundra. In her firsthand account, she explores how diminishing a single stopover can compromise the birds' entire journey, and how the loss of horseshoe crabs—ancient animals that come ashore but once a year—threatens not only the survival of red knots but also human well-being: the unparalleled ability of horseshoe-crab blood to detect harmful bacteria in vaccines, medical devices, and intravenous drugs safeguards human health. Cramer offers unique insight into how, on an increasingly fragile and congested shore, the lives of red knots, horseshoe crabs, and humans are intertwined. She eloquently portrays the tenacity of small birds and the courage of many people who, bird by bird and beach by beach, keep red knots flying.

The Hudson Bay Lowlands that cover the top of Ontario form one of the largest remaining wild spaces on earth. The Lowlands are a sometimes harsh but beautiful place that has long supported the Swampy Cree people—the Mushkegowuk. The North Then and Now: Stories from the Hudson Bay Lowlands tells what is has been like to live in that vast, remote land—and experience the changes that have happened to it and its people over the last seventy-some years.

The Arctic is now experiencing some of the most rapid and severe climate change on earth. Over the next 100 years, climate change is expected to accelerate, contributing to major physical, ecological, social, and economic changes, many of which have already begun. Changes in arctic climate will also affect the rest of the world through increased global warming and rising sea levels. Arctic Climate Impact Assessment was prepared by an international team of over 300 scientists, experts, and knowledgeable members of indigenous communities. The report has been thoroughly researched, is fully referenced, and provides the first comprehensive evaluation of arctic climate change, changes in ultraviolet radiation and their impacts for the region and for the world. It is illustrated in full color throughout. The results provided the scientific foundations for the ACIA synthesis report - Impacts of a Warming Arctic - published by Cambridge University Press in 2004.

The goals of the second volume of the AHDR – Arctic Human Development Report: Regional Processes and Global Linkages – are to provide an update to the first AHDR (2004) in terms of an assessment of the state of Arctic human development; to highlight the major trends and changes unfolding related to the various issues and thematic areas of human development in the Arctic over the past decade; and, based on this assessment, to identify policy relevant conclusions and key gaps in knowledge, new and emerging Arctic success stories. The production of AHDR-II on the tenth anniversary of the first AHDR makes it possible to move beyond the baseline assessment to make valuable comparisons and contrasts across a decade of persistent and rapid change in the North. It addresses critical issues and emerging challenges in Arctic living conditions, quality of life in the North, global change impacts and adaptation, and Indigenous livelihoods. The assessment contributes to our understanding of the interplay and consequences of physical and social change processes affecting Arctic residents’ quality of life, at both the regional and global scales. It shows that the Arctic is not a homogenous region. Impacts of globalization and environmental change differ within and between regions, between Indigenous and non-Indigenous northerners, between genders and along other axes.