Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

CANADA #122: Biological responses to polar climate: exploring new technological and statistical methods in research  (Polar Bioclimate Research Workshop)

Outline
Understanding biological responses to climate is required to properly understand responses and feedbacks to global change. It is generally acknowledged that climate more strongly controls responses of organisms and ecosystems in polar environments than biological controls, such as predation or competition. However, responses of individual organisms to climate depend on a myriad of factors such as phenotype, life stage, mobility, position in species range, and biological interactions. In addition, the responses can be examined at different scales of biological integration (individual, population, community, ecosystem) and different time and space scales. These complexities can make research on responses to climate difficult to design and implement. Furthermore, the climate statistics available from most national meteorological services are based on hourly weather observations which are then compiled into daily, monthly, and annual statistics. While these statistics are widely available they may not be at the proper spatial or temporal resolution to properly understand responses climate in many polar organisms, including humans. For example, the active growing season of arctic plants extends from snow melt date to near freeze-up of the ground surface; however, snow melt date and surface temperatures are not recorded at most meteorological stations. Establishing a standard method to determine snow melt date from existing climate statistics would be useful to many northern scientists. In addition, the importance of extreme weather events to many polar organisms is acknowledged but can be difficult to quantify. In this special IPY project, we will bring together a group of biologists currently studying responses to climate in various polar organisms, populations, and ecosystems, and meteorologists and climatologists to explore new statistical and technological methods to better study biological responses to climate. The objective will be to hold two workshops and a major conference where these issues are discussed and presented. A smaller planning workshop of selected scientists will be held in early 2005 to flesh out the goals and potential participants in a major international workshop in 2006. The main workshop would be structured to: a) highlight innovative and integrated research currently underway in polar environments in the areas of biogeography, ecology and climatology; b) demonstrate new methods to acquire useful weather data and to extract meaningful statistics from existing climate data; c) to recommend new techniques and research in biological responses to polar climate; and d) provide an assessment of potential future changes. The major outcome of the main workshop would be a set of papers in a special issue of a relevant journal. We aim to have the papers published prior to the implementation of many IPY projects, in order for IPY researchers to take advantage of the ideas and recommendations. Finally, we would plan a major conference in 2010 on biological responses to climate in polar regions. It is anticipated that these workshops will be of interest to a large spectrum of biologists and other scientists interested in responses to climate variability and change.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
Themes 1 & 2 – results presented at the workshop will describe current state of the polar environment and change in the polar regions through responses of organisms to climate variability and change. Theme 3 – Linkages at hemispheric and global scales will be explored for some organisms. Theme 4 – New techniques and technologies will be used to investigate biological responses. Theme 5 – The results will be useful for studies of biological responses to climate in all other regions of the planet. Theme 6 – Behavioural and physiological responses of humans to climate are expected to be a major focus of research in IPY and the novel results and techniques will be explored in these workshops.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
This project will involve polar scientists in many countries, and involved in other IPY projects. International biological research programs such as ITEX, CARMA, etc., will be involved, as will international meteorological programs (e.g. WMO).

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
There will be no specific field work for this project. There will be travel for workshop organizers and participants.

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: 03/05 – Workshop 1      04/06 – Workshop 2      Summer 2010 – International Conference
Antarctic: n/a

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
The main workshop in 2006 and the research conference in 2010 will need to be held in a larger conference hotel or centre.

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
The products of the workshop and conference will be publications in a special issue of a relevant journal. This can be considered as knowledge infrastructure. This project will also create and foster a network of scientists where shared interests can be sustained for an extended period.

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

Logistics in this project will be travel costs for organizers and participants. We would hope to attract more participants to the major workshop and conference by covering all or a significant cost of travel and accommodation.

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
This project has been or is about to be endorsed by the steering committee of EMAN-North, and ITEX. We will seek endorsement from other national and international agencies. 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?
yes

The ideas for this project have been discussed among participants of EMAN-North and CANTTEX since 2003. The climate analyses in ACIA by scientists in Environment Canada MSC have shown there is great potential for using new approaches with the available climate data throughout the circumpolar region. New technologies (e.g. miniature sensors and data loggers) are also providing new ways of conducting research on biological responses to climate.

How will the project be organised and managed?
A planning workshop will be held in early 2005 with 15-20 participants invited to help provide the scope and ideas to be explored at a larger workshop, which will be held in 2006. An organizing committee will be struck at the first workshop, with particular people assigned to scientific and logistical organization issues, and for publication of the workshop proceedings. An overall coordinator will be in charge of ensuring the workshop and its products are successful. After the workshop, another group will be invited to begin planning the major conference in 2010. This conference may be held in conjunction with another international meeting, but will be linked to efforts by the International Arctic Science Committee.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
The international workshop will be widely advertised. Local, national and international press will be invited to the workshop, and press releases will be issued as novel results are presented. We anticipate recording all of the invited plenary speakers, and making their presentations available as a video compilation for use in university or secondary school courses. We will also have a workshop web site which will advertise, solicit participation, and provide results from presentations. Finally, we will publish the workshop proceedings as a set of papers in a refereed journal.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
We will not manage research data in the project, but will invite participants to allow links to their own research web sites for other researchers to contact those participants regarding data.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
EMAN-North has provided funding (ca. $15,000) to hire two part-time consultants to prepare a background paper on examples of novel methods and results from biological research on responses to climate variability and change, and to prepare an example from research on tundra plant responses. Total costs are estimated as: Workshop 1 (ca. 15 people, likely held in Vancouver): $35,000 Workshop 2 (50-100 participants): $100,000 – 200,000 Publication costs: $30,000 – 70,000 Coordination, communication, web site development: $10,000 The major conference in 2010 would likely involve multiple funding sources: ca. $300,000.

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
Given the emphasis in IPY on responses to climate variability and change, it is entirely appropriate to hold an international workshop on biological responses, highlighting novel research methods across the spectrum of biology and incorporating new approaches in climatology. One of the continuing research needs is the scalability of techniques from individual plots to regional and zonal scales making results transferable and comparable. It is important to hold this workshop before the majority of IPY research begins, so researchers can take advantage of the new methods and approaches presented at the workshop and published in the special journal issue. This project could have a major impact on the direction of IPY and related polar research in the coming years.

PROPOSER DETAILS

Dr  Greg Henry
University of British Columbia
Department of Geography, 1984 West Mall, Vancouver, BC
V6T 1Z2
Canada

Tel: 604-822-2985
Mobile: 604-764-5857
Fax: 604-822-6150
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation