POLAR KNOWLEDGE Aqhaliat Table of Contents ECOSYSTEM SCIENCE .....................................................................................................1 Lichens in High Arctic ecosystems: Recommended research directions for assessing diversity and function near the Canadian High Arctic Research Station, Cambridge Bay, Nunavut ........................................................................................................................................ 1 Vascular synphenology of plant communities around Cambridge Bay, Victoria Island, Nunavut, during the growing season of 2015 .............................................................................. 9 The distribution and abundance of parasites in harvested wildlife from the Canadian North: A review .......................................................................................................................... 20 Fire in the Arctic: The effect of wildfire across diverse aquatic ecosystems of the Northwest Territories ................................................................................................................. 31 Arctic marine ecology benchmarking program: Monitoring biodiversity using scuba ............... 39 For more information about Polar Knowledge Canada, or for additional copies of this report, contact: Stratification in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago’s Kitikmeot Sea: Biological and geochemical consequences ........................................................................................................ 46 Polar Knowledge Canada 170 Laurier Avenue West Pushing remote sensing capacity for climate change research in Canada’s North: 2nd floor, Suite 200 POLAR’s contributions to NASA’s Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment .................................. 53 Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5V5 e-mail: [email protected] The Canadian Arctic Monitoring and Prediction System (CAMPS): A proposal for tel.: 1-877-221-6213 a coordinated knowledge system to understand and anticipate change in Canada’s fax: 613-947-2410 northern ecosystems .................................................................................................................. 62 Twitter: INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE AND COMMUNITY-BASED MONITORING ...................... 69 @POLARCanada The One Voice method: Connecting Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit with western science Instagram: to monitor Northern Canada’s freshwater aquatic environment ............................................... 69 polar.knowledge Establishing baseline limnological conditions in Baker Lake, Nunavut ....................................... 76 Facebook: Polar Knowledge Canada Learning together: Science and Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit join forces to better understand iqalukpiit / Arctic char in the Kitikmeot region ........................................................................... 82 Website: https://www.canada.ca/en/polar-knowledge/aqhaliat.html) Cet ouvrage est publié en français sous le titre : Introduction to traditional knowledge studies in support of geoscience tools for Le rapport savoir polaire : Aqhaliat assessment of metal mining in northern Canada ....................................................................... 90 © Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, 2018 Continual change and gradual warming: A summary of the North Slave Métis Alliance’s recorded cultural knowledge on climate and environmental change ........................................ 96 Polar Knowledge: Aqhaliat Report A profile of the eNuk Environment and Health Monitoring Program ....................................... 114 ISSN 2562-6078 i POLAR KNOWLEDGE Aqhaliat POLAR KNOWLEDGE Aqhaliat Table of Contents LICHENS IN HIGH ARCTIC ECOSYSTEMS: Recommended research directions for assessing diversity and function CLEAN TECHNOLOGY AND RENEWABLE RESOURCES FOR REMOTE COMMUNITIES ........................................................................................................... 126 near the Canadian High Arctic Research Station, Cambridge Bay, Nunavut Renewable Energy Atlas and Microgrid Field Testing in the Arctic ........................................... 126 Achieving benefits through greywater treatment and reuse in northern buildings and communities ...................................................................................................................... 131 Ian D. Hogg1 *, Leo G. Sancho2, Roman Türk3, Don A. Cowan4, and T. G. Allan Green2,5 1 Canadian High Arctic Research Station, Polar Knowledge Canada, Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canada 2 Unidad de Botánica, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain 3 University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria 4 Centre for Microbiology, Ecology and Genomics, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa 5 School of Science, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand * [email protected] Abstract Lichens are an important component of Arctic terrestrial contact determination of the length of active period, ecosystems. An assessment by lichen researchers with and timing of activity during the year. This, together polar and alpine experience has confirmed the dominant with studies on photosynthesis, will allow performance presence of lichens in and around Ikaluktutiak (Cambridge of key species to be made, the influences of major Bay). Three main lichen communities were found: environmental factors to be determined, and the carbon (1) lichens growing among higher plants in wetter areas, contribution to the communities to be calculated. (2) lichens growing on rocks and stones in drier sites, Collectively, these data will assist in predicting the and (3) lichens forming soil crusts. To further enhance effects of climate change for High Arctic ecosystems. knowledge of lichens near Cambridge Bay, efforts should The location and excellent facilities of CHARS are ideal to be directed towards identifying lichen species in the underpin these studies and fill a major knowledge gap vicinity of the Canadian High Arctic Research Station about tundra ecosystems in Arctic Canada. (CHARS) and developing methods to assist non-experts with identification. Setting up a Herbarium at the Introduction CHARS campus and building a DNA barcode library will facilitate the use of molecular identification techniques. Lichens are an important component of High Arctic Determining growth rates of lichens will allow surface terrestrial ecosystems and provide a valuable food source dating (e.g., age determination of archaeological sites) as for caribou, muskox and Arctic hare (Edwards et al. 1960, well as the monitoring of environmental changes. Local Thomas et al. 1994). Lichens are a unique complex of lichen communities should be described and factors two types of organisms, an alga and a fungus, growing controlling their position on the landscape determined. together in a symbiotic relationship; they require liquid Chlorophyll fluorescence techniques will allow non- water (rain, meltwater) to grow. Lichens are very common Suggested citation: Hogg, I.D., Sancho, L.G., Türk, R., Cowan, D.A., and Green, T.G.A. 2018. Lichens in High Arctic ecosystems: Recommended research directions for assessing diversity and function near the Canadian High Arctic Research Station, Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. Polar Knowledge: Aqhaliat 2018, Polar Knowledge Canada, p. 1–8. DOI: 10.35298/pkc.2018.01 ii REPORT 2018 1 POLAR KNOWLEDGE Aqhaliat POLAR KNOWLEDGE Aqhaliat around the hamlet of Ikaluktutiak (Cambridge Bay) and bryophytes (Persson and Holmen, 1961), which lists are often the dominant vegetation type. They also have 56 species (7 Hepaticae liverworts, 0 Sphagnales and a potentially high diversity in the vicinity of Cambridge 49 Bryales, true mosses). The low number of Hepaticae Bay owing to low precipitation levels (< 140 mm and absence of Sphagnales provide an indication of with 50% as summer rain) and limited competition the extreme conditions (low temperatures and low with other vegetation types such as trees and shrubs. rainfall) of the Cambridge Bay climate. However, However, very little is known of their diversity in the species identification for both taxonomic groups can be High Arctic owing to difficulties in identification as well problematic for researchers who have not specialized as access to study sites. in these groups. Research into bryophytes is currently underway (J. Doubt, Canadian Museum of Nature; C. La Recognized international lichen researchers were Farge, University of Alberta). When it is considered that invited by Polar Knowledge Canada to provide an initial the two published studies were the result of brief (less- assessment of lichen communities near Cambridge Bay. than-two-day) visits to Cambridge Bay, it is reasonable The invitees all had extensive experience in Antarctic, to assume that future in-depth collecting will greatly alpine, and Arctic environments and have previously increase the number of species of both bryophytes and conducted research on the taxonomy, ecophysiology, lichens. growth, and ecology of lichens. As part of this present report, the researchers were tasked with providing The objective of this current work is to visit a range of recommendations to improve knowledge of lichen sites in the vicinity of CHARS to collect lichen samples diversity and function in the Canadian Arctic. for identification, make an initial (non-quantitative) assessment of the main lichen communities and suggest Present situation: The Canadian High Arctic Research possibilities for future research. Ongoing work will involve Figure 1: Study area and sampling