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Coordinating for Arctic Conservation: Towards Integrated Arctic Biodiversity Monitoring, Data Management, and Reporting

Coordinating for Arctic Conservation: Towards Integrated Arctic Biodiversity Monitoring, Data Management, and Reporting
Type: 
Parallel
Time: 
17 March 2010 - 11:00am - 11:20am
Michael J. Gill1
1Environment Canada, Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program, 91780 Alaska Highway, Whitehorse, YT, Y1A 5X7, Canada, mike [dot] gill [at] ec [dot] gc [dot] ca

Arctic ecosystems and the biodiversity they support are experiencing growing pressure from climate change and other stressors while established research and monitoring programs remain largely uncoordinated, lacking the ability to effectively monitor, understand and report on biodiversity trends at the circumpolar scale. The maintenance of healthy arctic ecosystems is a global imperative as the Arctic plays a critical role in the Earth's physical, chemical and biological balance. A coordinated and comprehensive effort for monitoring arctic ecosystems is needed to facilitate effective and timely conservation and adaptation actions.

The Arctic's size and complexity represents a significant challenge towards detecting and attributing important biodiversity trends. This demands a scaled, pan-arctic, ecosystem-based approach that not only identifies trends in biodiversity, but also identifies underlying causes. It is critical that this information be made available to generate effective strategies for adapting to changes now taking place in the Arctic—a process that ultimately depends on rigorous, integrated, and efficient monitoring programs that have the power to detect change within a "management" time frame.

To meet these challenges and in response to the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment's recommendation to expand and enhance arctic biodiversity monitoring, the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) Working Group of the Arctic Council launched the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program (CBMP). The CBMP is working with over 60 global partners to expand, integrate and enhance existing arctic biodiversity research and monitoring efforts to facilitate more rapid detection, communication and response to significant trends and pressures.

Towards this end, the CBMP is establishing five Expert Monitoring Groups representing major Arctic themes (Marine, Coastal, Freshwater, Terrestrial Flora & Terrestrial Fauna). Each group, representing a diversity of disciplines, is tasked with developing pan-arctic integrated biodiversity monitoring plans for the Arctic's ecosystems.

To facilitate effective reporting and data management, the CBMP is developing a suite of indices and indicators and a web-based data portal that will be used to report on the current state of arctic biodiversity at various scales and levels of detail to suit a wide range of audiences. The current and planned CBMP biodiversity monitoring underpins these indicators and indices.

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National Science Foundation | Division of Arctic Sciences
National Science Foundation
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
International Arctic Systems for Observing the Atmosphere
International Arctic Systems for Observing the Atmosphere
Study of Environmental Arctic Change
Study of Environmental Arctic Change
Arctic System Science Program
Arctic System Science Program
US Arctic Research Commission
US Arctic Research Commission
North Slope Science Initiative
North Slope Science Initiative
International Arctic Science Committee
International Arctic Science Committee
Arctic Ocean Sciences Board
Arctic Ocean Sciences Board
Alaska Ocean Observing System
Alaska Ocean Observing System
Department of Energy
Department of Energy
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
World Wildlife Fund
WWF
Association of Polar Early Career Scientists
Association of Polar Early Career Scientists
Bureau of Land Management
Bureau of Land Management
International Study of Arctic Change
International Study of Arctic Change
ArcticNet
ArcticNet
DAMOCLES
Developing Arctic Modeling and Observing Capabilities for Long-term Environmental Studies

This work is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the ARCUS Cooperative Agreement ARC-0618885. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.