Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

CANADA #29:Arctic Wildlife Observatories Linking Vulnerable EcoSystems  (Arctic WOLVES)

Outline
Arctic ecosystems will be strongly affected by current global change. Several international initiatives have already been implemented to monitor and study the response to global warming of some tundra ecosystem components such as plants or permafrost. However, similar internationally-coordinated efforts for research on arctic wildlife species (i.e. birds and mammals) are absent. Although some research programs across the world are monitoring and studying the response of wildlife populations to global warming, these efforts are typically on a site by site or species by species basis. Yet, communities of arctic wildlife throughout the circumpolar world generally contain few species and are often dominated by the same groups of species, and so lend themselves well as systems suitable for comparative research. One of the most powerful ways to understand impacts of global change on arctic wildlife and to quantify their resilience to long-term environmental variations is through a network of long-term experimental sites, distributed throughout arctic regions, that use a set of standardized methods to monitor and study several species. The objective of our project, therefore, is to develop a circumpolar network of tundra wildlife observatories. The network will include existing field study sites across the circumpolar regions that already have a history of wildlife monitoring. Members of the network will be leading scientists committed to long-term studies at each of these sites. Researchers will combine available data from past monitoring to conduct preliminary meta-analyses on a number of key arctic wildlife species (e.g. foxes, caribou, lemmings, geese, shorebirds, raptors, etc.). They will also identify major gaps in current monitoring efforts and develop a set of standardized experimental or observational protocols for improved monitoring of these species in the future. For example, it is clear that phenology and patterns in species distributions are changing, likely because quantity and quality of food supplies have been affected by warming. However, no integrated view of these changes is currently available, and no better view will be available in 10 years if no integrated monitoring effort is organized immediately. As the network will build on existing programs at several arctic sites, much of the initial effort will be focussed on integration and adaptation of existing protocols and database. When appropriate, coordinated experimental manipulations could be designed and implemented at several sites. In all cases, the leading principle will be to collect data from monitoring or manipulated experiments in such a way that meta-analysis of data from several sites will be possible. Field sites will be circumpolar and could include northern Canada, Alaska, Greenland, Svalbard, northern Scandinavia and northern Russia.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
Our proposed network will provide an integrated, circumpolar view of the current status of key wildlife species. Emphasis will be placed on comparisons among similar groups across the boreal hemisphere (Theme 1). Our most significant achievement will be to document changes occurring in wildlife species on a circumpolar basis. Conducting meta-analyses on different populations of the same species or on groups of species will allow a more robust determination of population trends and to identify where these trends are strongest (Theme 2). Strong emphasis will be placed on determining causal links involved in the observed changes on arctic wildlife, again by comparing species/populations in different polar regions, and to project these trends in the future (Theme 3). Many arctic native people still depend heavily upon wildlife for their survival and our network will improve understanding of how changing wildlife populations will affect their way of life. Traditional native knowledge will also be used to achieve this goal (Theme 6).

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
The scope of this project is international by definition. Several people from many circumpolar countries have shown considerable interest in this project. Potential collaborators that have been contacted include Anders Angerbjorn (Sweden), Jesper Madsen (Denmark), Rudi Drent (Netherlands), Julia Stalh, (Germany), Konstantin Litvin (Russia), Robert Rockwell (USA), Eva Fuglei (Norway) and Theunis Piersma (Netherlands)

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
Field work will take place at a number of field stations that have a significant history of studying/monitoring wildlife populations. A preliminary list of those sites include Bylot Island (NU), Karrak Lake, (NU), La Pérouse Bay (MB), Zackenberg Valley (Greenland), Lonhyearbyen (Svalbard), Pechora River (Russia), and Vindelfjällen (Sweden). Other sites will likely be added in coming years.

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: 05/06-08/06      05/07-08/07      05/08-08/08
Antarctic: n/a

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
The project does not require major new research infrastructure as field sites that will be part of the network already have some infrastructure (e.g. permanent or semi-permanent shelters) and a history of wildlife monitoring. However, improvements to the installation of a few sites may be required because of expected increased research activity. The project will require the standard logistic support (e.g. aircraft support) required to access these remote arctic sites and conduct research there. Specialised wildlife data acquisition systems (e.g. satellite of GPS radio-tracking devices) will also be required

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
The research infrastructure already in place at each field site will continue to operate after the IPY, although some of these sites may benefit from improvements resulting from this project. However, the most important legacy of this project will be the “virtual infrastructure” of the network. Indeed, the IPY should be the stepping stone to lay down the foundation of an international network which will continue to operate and expand in the following decade.

How is it envisaged that the required logistic support will be secured?

Depending of the country, field logistics is provided by national agencies (e.g. Danish Polar Center) or standard research funding bodies. In Canada, the Polar Continental Shelf Project (PCSP) is a key agency for logistic support in the High Arctic

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
The project has been endorsed by project leaders of Theme 2 of ArcticNet during a steering committee meeting (5 December 2004). This pre-proposal has been reviewed and is being submitted by the Canadian Steering Committee (CSC). Ongoing discussions will integrate this pre-proposal into a larger network of related national and international initiatives. The CSC has initially sorted this pre-proposal into: Ecosystems Terrestrial Processes

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURE

Is the project a short-term expansion (over the IPY 2007-2008 timeframe) of an existing plan, programme or initiative or is it a new autonomous proposal?
NEW

Although we are building on existing field research stations, the proposed network is a new initiative within the IPY framework.

How will the project be organised and managed?
The network will be co-chaired by Gilles Gauthier (Univ. Laval, bird component) and Dominique Berteaux (UQAR, mammal component). A managing board composed of one representative for each field site in the network will also be established to coordinate activities. Administration of the network will be localized at the Centre d’études nordiques, Université Laval. Network funds will be administered there, with a redistribution of some research funds to participating universities or agencies. A research professional will be responsible to oversee the operation of the network and deal with data management issues. One of the most important activities of the network will be to organize an annual meeting and workshop where all network researchers and their students will be invited to attend.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
The network will contribute to the training of graduate students by fostering international exchanges between research groups. Whenever possible, participation of native people to network activities will be encouraged. We will also publish a handbook of standardized monitoring methods for terrestrial wildlife that will be freely available, as well as the proceedings of annual meetings. We will develop a web site to disseminate information on the network activities, results and publications.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
Data management will be a critical component of our network because a major goal is to conduct meta-analyses of existing data across field sites, and to adapt monitoring protocols to improve future meta-analyses. Therefore, we will have to work on defining standard formats to archive existing and future wildlife monitoring data.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
To develop the proposed international network, we estimate that $1.2 M will be required from IPY/ICSU funds ($400K/yr for 3 years, 2006-2008). Anticipated expenditures include a research professional ($50K/yr), student’s scholarships ($40K/yr), travel cost for annual network meeting ($20K/yr), travel cost for national/international student exchange ($25K/yr), travel cost to the Arctic ($50K/yr), material and publication costs ($10K/yr), equipment for automated data acquisition ($125K/yr) and administrative fees ($80K/yr). As the network will continue beyond the IPY, additional funds will be sought to maintain it after 2008. Researchers working at individual research sites already benefit from a secure funding base for their ongoing field research (mostly from national funding agencies such as NSERC, FQRNT, PCSP, Canadian Wildlife Service or ArcticNet). For instance, the Bylot Island research project alone receives at least $300K/year to operate; this funding comes from grants and contracts secured by individual researchers (~50%) and the Polar Continental Shelf Project (~50%). Therefore, matching funds to run the Canadian field component of the network should be about $900K/yr ($2.7M for 3 yrs).

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
Funds requested to the Canadian IPY committee will be managed and spent by Canadian participants to the network at field sites in Canada. However, Canadian funds may serve as leverage for researchers in other polar countries to seek funds from their national IPY committee for their participation in the network. Our network will place a strong emphasis on the participation of graduate students, and on the exchange of students between foreign laboratories. This will also enable students to conduct research at other field sites than the one of their home institution. Such exchange should contribute highly to the training of young polar scientists. Some Canadian funds may also be used to support travel of foreign students coming from needy polar countries. Finally, collaboration and exchanges with other projects such as CANTEX (CANadian Tundra EXperiment) and GWAMM (Global Warming and Arctic Marine Mammals) may be possible.

PROPOSER DETAILS

Dr  Gilles Gauthier
Centre d’études nordiques, Université Laval
Department of Biology and Centre d’études nordiques, Pavillon Vachon, Université Laval,
Québec, Qc
G1K 7P4
Canada

Tel: 418-656-5507
Mobile: no
Fax: 418-656-2043
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Other project members and their affiliation