Ice Shrinkage and Arctic Caribou

• Area of about 550,000 square miles
• Archipelago includes large islands Baffin, Ellesmere, Victoria, Banks, and Prince of Wales

Study area also extended into subarctic continental Canada and Alaska

Prospective models of ice extent showed loss of connectivity for Peary caribou over time

Sea ice has been an effective corridor for island caribou and has contributed to genetic diversity and survival.

This projected significant climate change can have a vast negative affect on island caribou and other species.

"Under the persistent increase in greenhouse gas concentrations, reduced connectivity may isolate island-dwelling caribou with potentially significant consequences for population viability." (Jenkins, 2016)

What do you think of when you hear the word wilderness?

But is humanity outside the natural?

In his article, Cronon criticizes what we naturally think wilderness to be: a place where humans are outside of.

Cronon argues that this mistaken concept of wilderness is actually harming it.

If humans are completely separate from nature, this can cause us to exhibit environmentally bad behavior

The article encourages humans to see that we are

tied to ecosystems of the natural world, even those

desolate habitats physically void of human life.

What does the Cronon article have

to do with the research on Peary Caribou?

Most of the Canadian Archipelago is what most

would consider to be "wilderness".

But even though the majority of the Arctic islands

remain devoid of human life, humans are still having

a huge environmental impact through climate change

resulting in sea ice loss.

Cronon's concept of rethinking wilderness is supported by the researchers study on the loss of connectivity of Island Peary Caribou.

Sea ice loss in the Canadian Arctic is directly related to humans being unconscious of their ties to the natural ecosystems where humans do not reside.

Takeaway: Humans are a part of nature and we are tied to remote ecosystems all over the world. In order to protect the "wilderness", humans don't have to completely remove themselves from it, but learn how to protect and conserve it.

"The tree in the garden is in reality no less other, no less worthy of our wonder and respect, than the tree in an ancient forest that has never known an ax or a saw - even though the tree in the forest reflects a more intricate web of ecological relationships. The tree in the garden could easily have sprung from the same seed as the tree in the forest, and we can claim only its location and perhaps its form as our own. Both trees stand apart from us; both share our common world. The special power of the tree in the wilderness is to remind us of this fact. It can teach us to recognize the wildness we did not see in the tree we planted in our own backyard." (Cronon, p.18-19)

We've talked a lot about humans being a part of nature!

But we haven't talked a lot about global warming

and climate change specifically, which can be a controversial topic.

The researchers who studied connectivity among island caribou hypothesize that climate change is the reason why there is so much significant sea ice loss.

But still many people think that global warming and climate change is not happening and that humans are not affecting the earth as a whole.

Discussion Questions for you:

If you think humans are the cause of climate change,

why do you think others are still in denial of our effect on the planet and our link to wilderness?

And if you don't think humans are directly linked to

climate change, then what do you think is causing it and why?

Ice Shrinkage and Arctic Caribou

Cronon Article

Introduction

"It's time to rethink wilderness"

Why?

Abundance of wildlife

Wide open spaces

Void of human life

So if I'm here...

...I can't have an effect here

• The Peary Island Caribou are an endangered species and are declining dramatically compared to mainland caribou.
• They believe it is driven my extreme weather events and a grazing system that is characterized by long distance movements to get food.
• Researchers hypothesized that frequent use of sea ice to obtain food makes them extremely vulnerable to sea-ice loss.
• Caribou are able to swim, but not as far as they can migrate by foot

Who?

The article touches on several species that are affected by the reduction of sea ice.

Discussion

How?

Arctic Fox

Wolves

Conclusions

Citations:

Loss of connectivity among island-dwelling Peary caribou following sea ice decline

Deborah A. Jenkins, Nicolas Lecomte, James A. Schaefer, Steffen M. Olsen, Didier Swingedouw, Steeve D. Côté, Loïc Pellissier, Glenn Yannic

Biol. Lett. 2016 12 20160235; DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2016.0235. Published 20 September 2016

Jenkins DA, Lecomte N, Schaefer JA, Olsen SM, Swingedouw D, Côté SD, Pellissier L, Yannic G. 2016. Loss of connectivity among Peary caribou following sea ice decline. Biology Letters 12: 20160235.

Milius, Susan. Shrinking sea ice threatens natural highways for caribou, plants. Sciencenews.org. 20 September 2016.

Wochit Entertainment. Global Warming Threatens Caribou. Video. 20 September 2016.

Cronon, William. The Trouble with Wilderness; or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature. Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature, New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1995, 69-90.

Peary Caribou”. [Online]. Natural History Notebooks. Canadian Museum of Nature.

Last updated 2016-12-01. (Web site consulted 2017-02-18).

http://nature.ca/notebooks/english/pcarib.htm

Arctic Archipelago. (online). Encyclopedia Britannica. Last updated 2009-3-10. (Website consulted 2017-02-18). https://www.britannica.com/place/Arctic-Archipelago

Wildflowers

• Article: Loss of Connectivity Among Island-Dwelling Peary Caribou Following Sea Ice Decline
• This article emphasizes the importance of ecological connectivity.
• According to the article, connectivity is, "critical for the persistence of natural living populations in dynamic landscapes. By facilitating dispersal, connectivity allows the demographic and genetic rescue of declining populations, alleviating the potential for inbreeding depression and increasing persistence time (Jenkins, 2016)"
• Increases the persistence of populations
• Supports gene flow and encourages genetic adaptation
• Increases genetic diversity
• Article: Researches the depleting sea ice in the Canadian arctic, how this is affecting multiple populations, and hypothesizes that global warming is the culprit of this ice depletion.

• First the researchers analyzed genetic data
• Did this by using the isolation-by-distance model (IBD) which determines genetic variation in a geographical location.
• Examined whether seawater is limiting connectivity among the Peary Caribou
• Used landscape genetic models to determine effect of sea ice on gene flow
• To analyze changes over time, researchers accessed monthly sea-ice extent from 1979 to 2015.
• Based on these findings, researchers made predictions from 2016 to 2086

Peary Caribou

Caribou

• light-colored subspecies of caribou
• reside on the arctic islands
• smallest caribou/reindeer species (90 cm shoulder height)
• endangered species

Where?

Canadian Arctic Archipelago