Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
winter.roads.and.the.inevitable.pressure.to.develop.all-weather.roads.is.an.important.
example.of.an.impending.development.that.could.signiicantly.alter.the.condition.of.
matrix.lands.in.the.Canadian.North.
Finally,. international. circumpolar. cooperation. and. coordination. is. required. to.
optimize.scientiic.and.governmental.resources,.and.to.focus.international.political.
attention. on. key. issues. as. they. evolve.. If. these. resources. can. be. coordinated. and.
focused.to.identify.and.react.to.the.most.important.emerging.ecological.issues,.and.
using.management.tools.such.as.the.proactive.approach.described.here.coupled.with.
effective.land-use.frameworks,.then.potential.impacts.on.biodiversity.can.be.mini-
mized.as.the.effects.of.climate.change.evolve.at.northern.latitudes.around.the.globe.
SUMMARY
Canada's.northern.national.parks.have.been.established.to.protect.a.wide.representa-
tive.sample.of.terrestrial,.freshwater,.and.marine.ecosystems.across.the.arctic.and.
subarctic. landscapes. of. Canada.. Ongoing. and. predicted. climate. change. will. fun-
damentally. alter. the. composition,. structure,. and. function. of. park. ecosystems,. and.
some.of.these.ecological.changes.are.ongoing.and.have.already.been.recorded..This.
ecological.change.has.important.implications.for.park.ecological.integrity.as.deined.
in.the.Canada.National.Parks.Act.(2000).and.will.compromise.the.ability.of.national.
park.managers.to.meet.corporate.expectations.to.“....maintain.or.restore.the.overall.
ecological. integrity. of. all. national. parks.”. According. to. published. climate-change.
models,. important. ecological. change. will. begin. to. affect. management. objectives.
within.the.15-year.time.frame.of.management.plans.being.developed.over.the.next.5.
years,.a.period.when.Parks.Canada.is.striving.to.develop.park.management.plans.for.
all.northern.national.parks.
The.principal.idea.presented.in.this.chapter.is.that.the.most.important.factor.in.
mitigating.and.adapting.to.the.effects.of.climate.change.on.the.ecological.integrity.
of.northern.national.parks.is.the.operational.implementation.of.a.proactive.adaptive.
management.approach.that.would.reduce.uncertainty.in.two.areas:
.
1.. Reinement.of.broad-scale.climate.models.to.better.predict.potential.change.
at.a.scale.more.relevant.to.park.managers
.
2.. Monitoring. and. research. to. measure,. interpret,. and. predict. the. rate. and.
nature.of.ecological.change.within.northern.national.parks
The. development. of. scaled-down. climate. models. can. occur. through. partnerships.
with.federal.agencies.or.academic.partners,.and.could.be.coordinated.with.regional.
land. managers. with. similar. interests. in. this. scale. of. climate. change. information..
Information.on.how.park.ecosystems.are.responding.to.evolving.climate.change.can.
be.provided.through.park.monitoring.programs.linked.to.research.focused.on.identi-
fying.and.interpreting.those.issues.most.central.and.immediate.for.park.managers..A.
key.to.effective.proactive.management.is.the.modeling.forward.of.the.most.important.
ecological.changes,.through.5-year.iterations.of.these.models.with.each.State.of.the.
Park.report,.to.foster.ongoing.learning.and.model.reinement..Comanagement.agree-
ments.in.northern.national.parks.will.facilitate.inclusion.of.the.needs.and.knowledge.
