HR: 17:45h
AN: GC44A-08    [Abstracts]
TI: Projected Impacts of Climate and UV Change on Arctic Freshwater Ecosystems
AU: * Prowse, T D
EM: terry.prowse@ec.gc.ca
AF: National Water Research Institute/W-CIRC, University of Victoria P.O. Box 1700 STN CSC, Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2 Canada
AU: Wrona, F J
EM: fred.wrona@ec.gc.ca
AF: National Water Research Institute/W-CIRC, University of Victoria P.O. Box 1700 STN CSC, Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2 Canada
AU: Reist, J D
EM: reistj@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
AF: Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Freshwater Institute 501 University Crescent, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N6 Canada
AU: Levesque, L
EM: lucie.levesque@ec.gc.ca
AF: National Water Research Institute, National Hydrology Research Centre 11 Innovation Blvd., Saskatoon, SK S7N 3H5 Canada
AB: The Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA - http://www.acia.uaf.edu/), which will be released in winter 2004, is an international project of the Arctic Council and the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC), which evaluates and synthesizes knowledge on climate variability and change, increased ultraviolet radiation, and their impacts on northern landscapes, ecosystems and communities. Future changes in climate and UV in the Arctic are predicted to have far-reaching impacts on, and in some cases fundamentally alter, the hydrology and ecology of freshwater ecosystems. Key effects include alteration and loss of habitat for northern species as river flows change, lake and river ice conditions shift, and water levels respond to changes in temperature and precipitation, threatening the abundance and diversity of arctic species. Productivity and trophic interactions within these systems will change in response to increased nutrient, sediment and carbon loadings from increasingly vegetated, permafrost-degraded catchments. Shift of the geographic range of southerly species northward as new and altered freshwater habitats develop will be detrimental to arctic species and the northern populations that depend on them. These effects of climate change will be compounded by climate interactions with contaminants, and the potential for enhanced UV exposure. Climate interactions with arctic freshwater ecosystems will be complex and may be propagated through ecosystems in ways that are difficult to predict. As such, our understanding of the structure and function of arctic freshwater systems and their interrelationships with climate and other environmental variables must advance such that the accuracy of predictions and the effectiveness of adaptation and mitigation strategies increases. Steps towards this end include establishment of an integrated network of international, long-term freshwater monitoring and hydro-ecological research sites in the Arctic.
DE: 3349 Polar meteorology
DE: 3309 Climatology (1620)
DE: 1699 General or miscellaneous
DE: 1863 Snow and ice (1827)
SC: Global Climate Change [GC]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting