Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
of.rapidly.changing.climate.and.associated.increasing.pressure.from.industrial.and.
community.developments.is.threatening.this.integrity..This.emerging.reality.repre-
sents.a.serious.challenge.for.protected.areas.managers.in.the.north,.where.climate.
has.been.warming.about.twice.as.fast.as.in.southern.latitudes.(ACIA.2005;.ICARP.
II.2005;.Anisimov.et.al..2007),.and.where.projections.for.future.climate.change.are.
predicted.to.be.more.immediate.as.well.(Callaghan.et.al..2005;.Chapin.et.al..2006).
The.potential.impacts.of.a.changing.climate.on.Canada's.national.parks.were.irst.
described.20.years.ago.by.Lopoukhine.(1990,.1991).and.Rowe.(1989)..In.1997,.nine.
of.39.parks.identiied.climate.change.as.a.major.stressor.to.park.ecosystems.(PCA.
1997a)..Observations,.analyses,.and.recommendations.in.Scott.and.Sufling.(2000),.
Scott.and.Lemieux.(2003),.Jones.et.al..(2003),.Lemieux.and.Scott.(2005),.and.Scott.
and.Lemieux.(2007),.and.an.increasing.awareness.by.park.managers,.have.instigated.
the.development.of.a.Parks.Canada.climate-change.strategy.that.is.presently.being.
developed.
This. chapter. builds. on. previous. work. at. Parks. Canada—especially. the. recom-
mendations. for. adopting. an. adaptive-management. approach. and. linking. monitor-
ing.more.directly.to.park.decision.making..Although.recommended.for.many.years.
(Lemieux.and.Scott.2005;.Welch.2005,.2008;.Heller.and.Zavaleta.2009;.Lawler.et.
al..2009b),.the.application.of.adaptive.management.strategies.in.protected.areas.has.
seldom.been.implemented.
This.chapter.summarizes.the.potential.for.ongoing.and.future.climate.change.to.
impact.the.ecological.integrity.(EI).of.northern.national.parks.in.Canada,.and.pres-
ents.an.approach.for.navigating.this.inevitable.change.through.adaptation.strategies.
aimed.at.minimizing.impacts.on.park.biodiversity..The.development.and.implemen-
tation.of.proactive.adaptive.management.is.put.forward.here.as.a.required.park.infor-
mation.system.that.includes.two.key.elements:.inventory.and.monitoring.to.measure.
and.understand.ecological.change.as.it.occurs,.and.research.and.modeling.to.attempt.
to.predict.the.nature.and.rate.of.future.change..The.system.should.be.designed.to.pro-
vide.park.managers.with.key.information.aimed.at.reducing.uncertainty.to.inform.
and.support.park.management.through.this.challenging.period.of.changing.climates.
and.ecosystems.
CANADA'S NORTHERN NATIONAL PARKS
Canada's. arctic. and. subarctic. national. parks. (Figure 10.1). protect. some. of. the.
world's.most.outstanding.examples.of.wild.nature,.where.predator-prey.systems.are.
still.largely.intact,.ecosystem.processes.are.acting.without.constraint,.and.the.role.
of.indigenous.people.continues.to.be.an.important.component.of.park.ecosystems..
These.parks.are.large.and.remote,.with.an.average.area.of.about.15,000.km
2
,.and.
covering.a.total.area.of.166,000.km
2
.
National.parks.in.northern.Canada.represent.a.wide.ecological.sample.of.arctic.
and.subarctic.environments.that.provide.ecological.representation.in.most.northern.
ecozones.(Figure 10.1)..Torngat.Mountains,.Auyuittuq,.Sirmilik,.and.Quttinirpaaq.
National. Parks. (NPs). are. situated. along. a. latitudinal. and. climatic. gradient. from.
tree.line.to.the.high.arctic.in.the.eastern.arctic,.and.Vuntut,.Ivvavik,.Aulavik,.and.
Quttinirpaaq. NPs. make. up. a. similar.gradient. in. the. west.. Wapusk,. Ukkusiksalik,.
