Arctic Biodiversity Trends 2010 – Selected Indicators of Change
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Arctic Biodiversity Trends 2010 Selected indicators of change ARCTIC COUNCIL This publication should be cited as: Arctic Biodiversity Trends 2010 – Selected indicators of change. CAFF International Secretariat, Akureyri, Iceland. May 2010. The report and associated materials can be downloaded for free at www.arcticbiodiversity.is ISBN: 978-9979-9778-3-4 Printed by Ásprent Stell For more information please contact: CAFF International Secretariat Borgir, Nordurslod, 600 Akureyri, Iceland Phone: +354 462-3350 Fax: +354 462-3390 Email: [email protected] Internet: www.caff.is Arctic Biodiversity Trends 2010 Selected indicators of change ARCTIC COUNCIL Arctic Athabaskan Council Acknowledgements CAFF Designated Agencies • Environment Canada, Ottawa, Canada • Faroese Museum of Natural History, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands Steering committee members (Kingdom of Denmark) • Tom Barry, CAFF Secretariat, Akureyri, Iceland • Finnish Ministry of the Environment, Helsinki, Finland • Cindy Dickson, Arctic Athabaskan Council, Whitehorse, Yukon, • The Ministry of Domestic Affairs, Nature and Environment, Canada Government of Greenland, Greenland • Janet Hohn, United States Department of the Interior, Fish and • Icelandic Institute of Natural History, Reykjavik, Iceland Wildlife Service, Anchorage, Alaska, USA • Directorate for Nature Management, Trondheim, Norway • Esko Jaakkola, Finnish Ministry of the Environment, Helsinki, • Russian Federation Ministry of Natural Resources, Moscow, Russia Finland • Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, Stockholm, Sweden • Tiina Kurvits, UNEP/GRID-Arendal, Ottawa, Canada • United States Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, • Bridgette Larocque, Gwich’in Council International, Inuvik, Anchorage, Alaska Northwest Territories, Canada • Mark Marissink, Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, CAFF Permanent Participant Organisations Stockholm, Sweden • Aleut International Association (AIA) • Aevar Petersen (CAFF Chair), Icelandic Institute of Natural History, • Arctic Athabaskan Council (AAC) Reykjavik, Iceland • Gwich’in Council International (GCI) • Risa Smith, Environment Canada, Vancouver, British Columbia, • Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC) – Greenland, Alaska and Canada Canada • Russian Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON) • Inge Thaulow, The Ministry of Domestic Affairs, Nature and • Saami Council Environment, Government of Greenland, Greenland • Christoph Zockler, UNEP/WCMC, Cambridge, UK Acknowledgement of funding and support We would like to gratefully acknowledge the financial support Lead countries provided to this project from the following sources: Canada, Finland, Finland, Greenland, Sweden and United States. Sweden, the Nordic Council of Ministers and UNEP/GRID-Arendal. Permanent Participants We would also like to thank all CAFF countries and Permanent Permanent Participants who participated in the preparation of this Participants to the Arctic Council for their support and contributions report were the Arctic Athabaskan Council and the Gwich’in Council to the successful development of this report. We would also like International. to thank the Indigenous Peoples Secretariat and all others who participated in the review for this report. Project Coordinator Tom Barry Arctic Editors Tiina Kurvits Björn Alfthan Biodiversity Elisabeth Mork Graphics Trends 2010 Hugo Ahlenius Layout Selected indicators of change UNEP/GRID-Arendal Contents Introduction Introduction 8 Key findings 12 Emerging issues and challenges 15 Indicators at a glance 17 Species INDICATOR #01 Polar bears 26 INDICATOR #02 Wild reindeer and caribou 29 INDICATOR #03 Shorebirds – red knot 32 INDICATOR #04 Seabirds – murres (guillemots) 35 INDICATOR #05 Seabirds – common eiders 38 INDICATOR #06 Arctic char 41 INDICATOR #07 Invasive species (human-induced) 45 INDICATOR #08 The Arctic Species Trend Index 49 INDICATOR #09 Arctic genetic diversity 53 Ecosystems INDICATOR #10 Arctic sea-ice ecosystem 58 INDICATOR #11 Greening of the Arctic 62 INDICATOR #12 Reproductive phenology in terrestrial ecosystems 65 INDICATOR #13 Appearing and disappearing lakes in the Arctic and their impacts on biodiversity 68 INDICATOR #14 Arctic peatlands 71 INDICATOR #15 Effects of decreased freshwater ice cover duration on biodiversity 75 INDICATOR #16 Changing distribution of marine fish 78 INDICATOR #17 Impacts of human activities on benthic habitat 81 Ecosystem services INDICATOR #18 Reindeer herding 86 INDICATOR #19 Seabird harvest 89 INDICATOR #20 Changes in harvest 92 INDICATOR #21 Changes in protected areas 96 INDICATOR #22 Linguistic diversity 99 References References 104 Abbreviations 121 Topographic map of the Arctic ds an Isl n Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky ia ut le A PACIFIC Bering OCEAN Sea Sea of Kamchatka Okhotsk Gulf of Amur Alaska Koryaks r Mts. e v Anadyr Anchorage i R e n g o ains n k ount a u lyma M Juneau a R Y Ko Alask ALASKA Bering r e yma Rive Whitehorse Fairbanks (USA) Kol g Straight n e a Teslin ng R Dawson a y tains R k oun s Chukchi s Yakutsk M k Wrangel e cky o r e g Ro Mackenzie ro Sea h B Barrow Island C n Mountains a Prudhoe Bay East Verkhoyansk R cke a nzie River Inuvik k M Siberian s Sea an Beaufort oy Northwest Territories h r k e Sea er iv Great Bear V R New a Lake S Great Slave Lake Tiksi en B as Yellowknife Siberian L ai k Lake ka a l tc Lake Islands h Canada e Athabasca Basin w Banks a Laptev n Island Central R ARCTIC Sea . CANADA Victoria OCEAN Siberian Island Lake Nunavut Upland Winnipeg Ta Makarov im y Basin r Churchill ge North P Arviat id ge Land e RUSSIAN R id n Resolute a R Rankin Inlet h v in p s FEDERATION l so A o u Norilsk n l Naujat Ellesmere o a m nisey River Hudson Island o AmundsenBasin Ye Alert L e r Bay i v Franz R Foxe b d Qaanaaq Josef N O Basin n Nansen James la Land o West Is Nansen-GakkelBasin Ridge v Yam Bay a al Pe Siberian fin y nin Ungava Hudson af Baffin a su Kara la Strait B Z Plain Peninsula Bay Sea SVALBARD e Salekhard O Québec m b Iqaluit (NORWAY) l R Khanty-Mansiysk y i v e r I a Vorkuta rty Longyearbyen s h Ilulissat Fram Barents Naryan-Mar E Strait L Ural Mountains Davis Sisimiut Sea C Strait Bjørnøya IR GREENLAND C Greenland IC Nuuk (DENMARK) T Sea C K Labrador R a A Syktyvkar m Murmansk a Perm R i Ammassalik Jan Tromsø Kola Arkhangelsk v N. Dvina e Mayen Peninsula White r F Sea I Norwegian N L Lake Sea Y A V Onega o A N l g N a D W Lake R Reykjavik E i v R D Ladoga e r O E Helsinki Moscow FAROE St. Petersburg N Torshavn W ISLANDS S Baltic (DENMARK) Oslo Sea ATLANTIC Stockholm OCEAN North Sea Copenhagen DENMARK CAFF area Introduction “For us, so-called subsistence activity is far more than subsistence. Hunting is more than food on the table. It is a fundamental part of who we are.” Labrador Inuit Association. 1997. Presentation to Scoping Meeting, Nain, April 17. 8 Arctic Biodiversity Trends 2010 Janet Hohn, United States Dept. of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Anchorage, Alaska Esko Jaakkola, Finnish Ministry of the Environment, Introduction Helsinki, Finland The Arctic plays host to a vast array of biodiversity, including many globally significant populations [1]. Included among these are more than half of the world´s shorebird species [2], 80% of the global goose populations [3], several million reindeer and caribou, and many unique mammals, such as the polar bear. During the short summer breeding season, 279 species of birds arrive from as far away as South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and South America to take advantage of the long days and intense period of productivity. Several species of marine mammals, including grey and humpback whales, and harp and hooded seals, also migrate annually to the Arctic (Figure I). In 2001, the Arctic Council´s Conservation of Arctic Flora The report provided, “a clear understanding of the and Fauna (CAFF) Working Group published the report importance of the Earth´s largest ecoregion and its Arctic Flora and Fauna: Status and Conservation [7], the status in the face of a rapidly changing world”. The first truly circumpolar overview of Arctic biodiversity. report observed that while much of the Arctic was in its Major bird migration flyways/corridors Approximate paths of cetacean migration Figure I: Many species of wildlife, particularly species of birds and marine mammals, migrate annually to the Arctic from all areas of the world to breed [4–6]. Introduction Arctic Biodiversity Trends 2010 9 natural state and that the impacts of human activity were earlier break-up and freeze-up, the extent of terrestrial relatively minor, individuals, species, and ecosystems snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere has decreased throughout the Arctic faced threats from many causes, and is expected to continue to do so [9]. and that the long-term consequences of human impacts were unknown. It particularly noted that the information The magnitude of these changes will exert major influences necessary to determine status and trends of Arctic fauna on biological dynamics in the Arctic. Some of the most was fragmentary, and almost entirely non-existent rapid ecological changes associated with warming have for flora. occurred in marine and freshwater environments. Species most affected are those with limited distributions or with Since the publication of Arctic Flora and Fauna, the Arctic specialized feeding habits that depend on ice foraging. has entered into a cycle of intensive pressure and change Other predicted effects of climate change, and other involving a new set of challenges and stressors, with stressors, such as industrial development and resource climate change at the forefront (Figure II). exploitation, on Arctic biodiversity include: • changes in the distribution, geographical ranges, and In the past 100 years, average Arctic temperatures have abundances of species (including invasive alien species) increased at almost twice the average global rate [8]. Over and habitats of endemic Arctic species; and the past thirty years, seasonal minimal sea ice extent in the • changes in genetic diversity; and Arctic has decreased by 45,000 km2/year [9].