Developing a circumpolar programme for the monitoring of Arctic terrestrial biodiversity

Abstract

The Arctic is undergoing biological and environmental changes, and a coordinated effort to monitor is critical to detect these changes. The Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Programme (CBMP) of the Arctic Council biodiversity working group, Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF), has developed pan-Arctic biodiversity monitoring plans that aims to improve the ability to detect and report on long-term changes. Whilst introducing this special issue, this paper also presents the making of the terrestrial monitoring plan and discusses how the plan follows the steps required for an adaptive and ecosystem-based monitoring programme. In this article, we discuss how data on key findings can be used to inform circumpolar and global assessments, including the State of the Arctic Terrestrial Biodiversity Report, which will be the first terrestrial assessment made by the CBMP. Key findings, advice for future monitoring and lessons learned will be used in planning next steps of pan-Arctic coordinated monitoring.

High Arctic ecosystem states: Conceptual models of vegetation change to guide long-term monitoring and research

“…Indeed, a review of experimental warming studies and long-term monitoring in the Arctic showed that no change in plant abundance was the most common response (Bjorkman et al 2020). High Arctic, sensu Christensen et al (2020), vegetation abundance is characterized by no or weak trends in relation to experimental warming and ambient rising temperatures (Hudson and Henry 2010;Prach et al 2010;Elmendorf et al 2012a). This heterogeneity in vegetation responses to warming challenges monitoring to strike a balance between ecosystem-specific understanding and general understanding of tundra vegetation changes that can be applied more universally.…”

Vascular plant communities in the polar desert of Alert (Ellesmere Island, Canada): Establishment of a baseline reference for the 21st century

“…Two FEC attributes identified as essential by the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Programme (Christensen et al 2020) were quantified in this study, namely diversity (alpha diversity, rare species, community composition) and abundance (percent cover). Along with voucher specimens representative of plot vegetation species and deposited at the Louis-Marie Herbarium (Quebec City, Quebec, Canada) and at the Canadian Museum of Nature Herbarium (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) (Desjardins et al 2021a), we archived in Nordicana D (Desjardins et al 2021b) the complete floristic database of 264 georeferenced and photographed vegetation plots, including 50 plots with permanently marked quadrats.…”

“…In addition, experiments were short term and conducted at few sites (Elmendorf et al 2012). In this context, establishing baselines and implementing monitoring schemes to track the responses of Arctic plant communities to climate change are critical (Mihoub et al 2017;Christensen et al 2020).…”

“…More long-term monitoring programs have been implemented in the Low Arctic than in the High Arctic (Bjorkman et al 2020), and additional vegetation monitoring in the High Arctic is thus greatly promoted (Christensen et al 2020;Ravolainen et al 2020). The High Arctic tundra biome corresponds to subzones A, B, and C of the Circumpolar Arctic Vegetation Map (CAVM Team 2003) and includes the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, the northern margins of Russia, the northern half of coastal Greenland, and Svalbard (Halliday 2002).…”

“…In order to fill geographic gaps in data coverage in Canada (Bjorkman et al 2020) while improving harmonization of data collection and monitoring (Christensen et al 2020), a systematic, plot-based survey of vascular plants was conducted at Alert (Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada) in 2018-2019 by Desjardins et al (2021a). This survey estimated the total number of vascular species at 77 in the Alert region and recorded no introduced species.…”