Environmental Change and Traditional Use of the Old Crow Flats in Northern Canada: An IPY Opportunity to Meet the Challenges of the New Northern Research Paradigm

Wolfe, Brent B.; Humphries, Murray M.; Pisaric, Michael F. J.; Balasubramaniam, Ann M.; Burn, C. R.; Chan, Laurie; Cooley, Dorothy; Froese, Duane G.; Graupe, Shel; Hall, Roland I.; Lantz, Trevor C.; Porter, Trevor J.; Roy-Léveillée, Pascale; Turner, Kevin W.; Wesche, Sonia; Williams, Megan A.

doi:10.14430/arctic4092

Cited by 39 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…The use of community events where food was provided alongside displays of maps, historical aerial photos, and graphs showing environmental changes over time (such as temperature, precipitation etc.) fostered such participation (Wolfe et al, 2011). An introductory workshop was held in August 2014 at the Band office in the community.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change, community capitals, and food security: Building a more sustainable food system in a northern Canadian boreal community

Spring

Carter²,

Blay-Palmer

2018

CanFoodStudies

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Canada’s North offers unique food systems perspectives. Built on close cultural and spiritual ties to the land, the food systems within many northern communities still rely on the harvesting and gathering of traditional food and function through the sharing of food throughout the community. However, social, economic and environmental pressures have meant that some communities rely more on food purchased from the stores, which can be unhealthy and expensive, leading to high rates of food insecurity and chronic health problems in many communities in the North. Northern communities are now dealing with the impacts of climate change that are increasing pressure on the food system by limiting both access to the land and the availability of traditional food sources. This research presents a case study from the Northern Canadian boreal community of Kakisa, Northwest Territories. Using a Participatory Action Research (PAR) methodology, community members play an active role in identifying threats to the community food system, as well as developing community-based solutions to foster adaptation and transformation of their food systems to become more resilient to the impacts of climate change. By using the Community Capitals Framework to identify multiple stressors on the food system this research illustrates how a community can allocate available capitals to adapt to the impacts of climate change as well as identify which capitals are required to build a more sustainable food system.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change, community capitals, and food security: Building a more sustainable food system in a northern Canadian boreal community

Spring

Carter²,

Blay-Palmer

2018

CanFoodStudies

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“…Fifty-six lakes were selected from across the OCF landscape to capture the large spatial gradients in basin hydrology and limnological characteristics (e.g., colour, aquatic vegetation, and morphometry) in consultation with local community members who attended a mapping workshop and based on observations made during helicopter flights, as described in Wolfe et al (2011). From the floats of a helicopter, water samples were collected at a central location (or at least 200-300 m from shore) at all 56 lakes three times (June, July, and September) during the ice-free season of 2007, as described in Balasubramaniam et al (2015).…”

Section: Field Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biotic responses to multiple aquatic and terrestrial gradients in shallow subarctic lakes (Old Crow Flats, Yukon, Canada)

et al. 2017

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Biotic communities in shallow northern lakes are frequently used to assess environmental change; however, complex interactions among multiple factors remain understudied. Here, we present analyses of a comprehensive data set that evaluates the influence input waters, catchment characteristics, limnology, and sediment properties on diatom and chironomid assemblages in surface sediments of~49 shallow mainly thermokarst lakes in Old Crow Flats, Yukon. Multivariate analyses and ANOSIM tests identified that composition of diatom (119 taxa) and chironomid (68 taxa) assemblages differs significantly (p < 0.05) between lakes with snowmelt-versus rainfall-dominated input water. Redundancy analyses revealed strong correlation of limnological, sediment, and catchment variables with input waters. Variation partitioning analyses showed that unique effects of limnological variables account for the largest proportion of variation in diatom and chironomid assemblages (17.2% and 12.6%, respectively). Important independent roles of sediment properties (8.5% and 9.5%) and catchment characteristics (4.9% and 5.1%) were also identified. We suggest that the substantial variation shared among these classes (6.1% and 7.9%) is largely attributable to hydrological processes. Our study demonstrates the utility of multi-factor analysis in northern aquatic research and draws attention to the limitations of one-dimensional comparisons and their interpretations when modelling biotic responses to environmental change.Key words: thermokarst lakes, limnology, variation partitioning analysis, diatoms, chironomids.Résumé : Les communautés biotiques des lacs peu profonds du nord sont fréquemment utilisées pour évaluer le changement environnemental; cependant, les interactions complexes parmi des facteurs multiples demeurent peu étudiées. Ici, nous présentons les analyses d'un ensemble de données complet qui évaluent l'effet des apports d'eau, des caractéristiques de bassins versants, de la limnologie et des propriétés de sédiments sur les assemblages de diatomées et de chironomidés dans les sédiments de surface d'environ 49 lacs principalement thermokartiques peu profonds de la plaine Old Crow au Yukon. Des analyses multivariées et des tests d'ANOSIM ont déterminé que la composition d'assemblages de diatomées (119 taxons) et de chironomidés (68 taxons) diffère significativement (p , 0,05) entre les lacs dont l'apport d'eau provient principalement de la fonte de neige par rapport aux lacs alimentés surtout par les averses. Les analyses de redondance ont révélé

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“…Of particular concern to the community of Old Crow are observations of lake level decline such as the drainage of Zelma Lake in 2007, formerly one of the largest lakes in OCF (Wolfe and Turner 2008;Turner et al 2010). As part of a suite of multidisciplinary investigations into the natural history of OCF, supported by the Government of Canada International Polar Year Program (Wolfe et al 2011a), paleolimnological studies were conducted to generate insight into hydrological variability and its causes. Although there was widespread evidence of recent lake level decline at many locations, it was unknown whether this was a result of drainage events and (or) evaporation.…”

Section: Old Crow Flats Northern Yukon Territorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Paleolimnology of thermokarst lakes: a window into permafrost landscape evolution

et al. 2017

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Widespread across northern permafrost landscapes, thermokarst ponds and lakes provide vital wildlife habitat and play a key role in biogeochemical processes. Stored in the sediments of these typically shallow and dynamic waterbodies are rich sources of paleoenvironmental information whose potential has not yet been fully exploited, likely because of concerns over stratigraphic preservation and challenges to develop reliable sediment core chronologies. Here, we present an overview of recently derived informative paleolimnological reconstructions based on multiparameter analysis of sediment archives from permafrost aquatic basins. We include examples from across the Canadian North, Alaska, and Siberia that illustrate their value for providing insights into temporal patterns of lake inception, catchment erosion, aquatic productivity, hydrological evolution, and landscape disturbances. Although not captured in our survey, emerging research directions focused on carbon accumulation, storage, and balance hold much promise for contributing to global climate change science.Key words: thermokarst lakes, permafrost, paleolimnology, lake sediments.Résumé : Répandus d'un paysage de pergélisol septentrional à l'autre, les étangs et les lacs thermokarstiques fournissent un habitat essentiel à la faune et jouent un rôle clé dans les processus biogéochimiques. Accumulées dans les sédiments de ces plans d'eau typiquement peu profonds et dynamiques se trouvent des sources riches en informations paléoenvironne-mentales dont le potentiel n'a pas encore été entièrement exploité, probablement à cause des préoccupations concernant la conservation stratigraphique et les défis de développer des chronologies fiables à partir des carottes sédimentaires. Ici, nous présentons une vue d'ensemble des reconstitutions paléolimnologiques informatives récemment dérivées d'après l'analyse multi paramétrée d'archives de sédiments des bassins aquatiques du pergé-lisol. Nous incluons des exemples provenant du Nord canadien, de l'Alaska et de la Sibérie qui For personal use only.illustrent que ceux-ci peuvent offrir des perspectives sur les tendances temporelles de création de lacs, de l'érosion de bassins versants, de la productivité aquatique, de l'évolution hydrologique et des perturbations du paysage. Bien que non mises en lumière dans notre enquête, les directions de recherche émergentes centrées sur l'accumulation, le stockage et le bilan carbone s'annoncent bien quant à leur contribution à la science du changement climatique mondial.

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Environmental Change and Traditional Use of the Old Crow Flats in Northern Canada: An IPY Opportunity to Meet the Challenges of the New Northern Research Paradigm

Cited by 39 publications

References 4 publications

Climate change, community capitals, and food security: Building a more sustainable food system in a northern Canadian boreal community

Climate change, community capitals, and food security: Building a more sustainable food system in a northern Canadian boreal community

Biotic responses to multiple aquatic and terrestrial gradients in shallow subarctic lakes (Old Crow Flats, Yukon, Canada)

Paleolimnology of thermokarst lakes: a window into permafrost landscape evolution

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