The Key Role of Inventory and Monitoring Information in Adapting to Climate Change Effects in Arctic National Parks

Canada's arctic and sub-arctic national parks protect some of the world's most outstanding examples of wild nature, where predator-prey systems are still largely intact, ecosystem processes are acting largely without constraint, and where the role of Indigenous people continues to be an important component of park ecosystems. Although presently in an excellent state of ecological integrity, the combination of rapidly changing climate and associated increasing pressure from industrial and community development are threatening the present situation. This emerging reality represents a serious challenge for protected areas managers in the western Arctic, where climate has been warming about twice as fast as southern latitudes (ACIA 2005, Anisimov et al. 2007, ICARP II 2005), and projections for future climate change are also more significant than in the south (Callaghan et al 2005, Chapin et al. 2006).

The approach to be presented is that the key to successfully managing for projected climate change on arctic and sub-arctic biodiversity is to reduce uncertainty in two key areas: 1) uncertainty around exactly how global scale climate change will play out at the extra-local scale relevant to park management; and 2) uncertainty around the rate and manner in which park ecosystems will respond to directional climate warming. This uncertainty can be reduced through well-designed ecological integrity monitoring, supported by focused scientific research and predictive ecological models that directly support park management decisions. Terrestrial inventories that provide a starting point for measuring ecological change, and that interpret the distributions of tundra communities in terms of ecological drivers and processes are another key need. As one component of the Parks Canada IPY Program, we are developing cost effective approaches for ecotype scale terrestrial inventories to fill this requirement. Example draft products in development for Wapusk, Torngat Mountains, and Ivvavik National Parks will be presented and discussed in terms of their application to park management, and in particular, park monitoring and climate adaptation. The presentation focuses on the evolving ecological integrity monitoring system in Canada's northern parks, and discusses how well-designed and sustainable park monitoring systems are the key to reducing uncertainty to inform and support park management through this challenging period of changing climates and ecosystems.