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Summary of the Hudson Bay Marine Ecosystem Overview

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Summary of the Hudson Bay Marine Ecosystem Overview i SUMMARY OF THE HUDSON BAY MARINE ECOSYSTEM OVERVIEW by D.B. STEWART and W.L. LOCKHART Arctic Biological Consultants Box 68, St. Norbert P.O. Winnipeg, Manitoba CANADA R3V 1L5 for Canada Department of Fisheries and Oceans Central and Arctic Region, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 2N6 Draft March 2004 ii Preface: This report was prepared for Canada Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Central And Arctic Region, Winnipeg. MB. Don Cobb and Steve Newton were the Scientific Authorities. Correct citation: Stewart, D.B., and W.L. Lockhart. 2004. Summary of the Hudson Bay Marine Ecosystem Overview. Prepared by Arctic Biological Consultants, Winnipeg, for Canada Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Winnipeg, MB. Draft vi + 66 p. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................................1 2.0 ECOLOGICAL OVERVIEW.........................................................................................................3 2.1 GEOLOGY .....................................................................................................................4 2.2 CLIMATE........................................................................................................................6 2.3 OCEANOGRAPHY .........................................................................................................8 2.4 PLANTS .......................................................................................................................13 2.5 INVERTEBRATES AND UROCHORDATES.................................................................14 2.6 FISH .............................................................................................................................16 2.7 MAMMALS ...................................................................................................................17 2.8 BIRDS ..........................................................................................................................22 2.9 HUMAN OCCUPATION................................................................................................26 3.0 ECOSYSTEM STRESSORS.....................................................................................................28 3.1 HARVESTING ..............................................................................................................28 3.1.1 Plants and Invertebrates...................................................................................30 3.1.2 Fish..................................................................................................................31 3.1.3 Marine mammals..............................................................................................32 3.2 DEVELOPMENT...........................................................................................................34 3.3 CONTAMINANTS .........................................................................................................37 3.3.1 Synthetic ..........................................................................................................38 3.3.2 Naturally occurring ...........................................................................................40 3.4 CLIMATE CHANGE......................................................................................................43 4.0 CONCLUDING REMARKS........................................................................................................47 5.0 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS............................................................................................................48 6.0 SELECTED REFERENCES ......................................................................................................48 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Marine ecoregions in Arctic Canada identified and under discussion by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans from an arctic science planning workshop in 2000........................... 1 Figure 2. Map of Hudson Bay and James Bay......................................................................................... 2 Figure 3. Hudson Bay watershed ............................................................................................................ 3 Figure 4. Geological Provinces and lithology .......................................................................................... 4 Figure 5. Permafrost .............................................................................................................................. 5 Figure 6. Coastal types bordering Hudson Bay and James Bay .............................................................. 5 Figure 7. Relief . ..................................................................................................................................... 6 Figure 8. Bathymetry of Hudson Bay ...................................................................................................... 6 Figure 9. Mean daily air temperature (ºC) . ............................................................................................. 7 Figure 10. Freshwater addtion by ice cover, runoff (A), precipitation (P), and evaporation (E) for Hudson Bay, using a 1.6 m maximum ice-cover thickness..................................................... 7 Figure 11. Terrestrial ecozones and ecoregions bordering Hudson Bay and James Bay.......................... 8 Figure 12. General surface circulation pattern for the summer condition of Hudson Bay and James Bay (Left) (from Prinsenberg 1986a; numbers are observed velocity values in cm •s-1) compared with surface circulation determined from model results (Right) ................. 9 Figure 13. Patterns of sea ice freeze-up (top left) and breakup (bottom left) and frequency and type of late winter (top right) and late summer (bottom right) sea ice, based on 30 years of data.........................................................................................................................10 Figure 14. Representative vertical profiles of temperature and salinity in southeastern Hudson Bay at various times of the year (different years); April 15, 1982 (dashed line), May 16, 1982 (dashed-dotted line), August 15, 1976 (solid line) ..................................................11 Figure 15. Sea ice concentration in the Hudson Bay marine ecosystem during the week of 28 April –2 May 2003.................................................................................................................11 Figure 16. Surface salinity and temperature distribution of Hudson Bay in August-September 1975 .....................................................................................................................................12 Figure 17. Surface salinities in summer (A) and winter (B) in James Bay ...............................................12 Figure 18. Surface chlorophyll a (mg•m-3) distribution in Hudosn Bay, August-September 1975. Station location is base of bar...............................................................................................13 Figure 19. Seasonal variations of diatom counts, primary productivity rates, and ciliate counts at selected depths near the Belcher Islands. .............................................................................13 Figure 21. Distribution or marsh and coast types (A) and fall concentrations of shorebirds and waterfowl (B) on the west coast of James Bay. .....................................................................14 Figure 20. Distribution of eelgrass beds in the James Bay marine region ...............................................14 Figure 22. The life cycles of anadromous: A) lake cisco (Coregonus artedi), and B) lake whitefish (C. clupeaformis) in coastal James Bay..................................................................16 Figure 23. Proportion of fish prey types delivered to thick-billed murre chicks in 1984-87 and 1999-2002 (benthic = sculpins and zoarcids).........................................................................17 Figure 24. Spread of rainbow smelt in the Hudson Bay drainage............................................................17 Figure 25. Information on the spring and fall movements of belugas and areas where they are first seen in the spring, concentrate in summer, and spend the winter compiled from traditional and scientific sources ...........................................................................................18 Figure 26. Map showing the seasonal movements of 5 belugas that were radio-tagged at the Nelson Estuary between 30 July and 5 August 2003 and followed until 27 November 2003 .....................................................................................................................................19 Figure 27. Movements of 41 adult female polar bears through a total of 46 bear years, between 1991 and 1998......................................................................................................................19 Figure 28. Denning habitats, summer retreats, and winter concentration areas of polar bears in the Hudson Bay and James Bay areas..................................................................................20 Figure 29. Use of habitats of the northeast coast of James Bay by ducks...............................................23 Figure 30. Map of Hudson Bay and James Bay showing locations of protected areas. The Cape v Churchill and Cape Tatnam Wildife Management areas in Manitoba are not shown..............25 Figure 31. Sites occupied
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