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===Tundra===
===Tundra===
Tundra is found from 55° to 80° N latitude in North America, Eurasia and Greenland. It can be found at lower latitudes at high elevations as well. The average temperature is {{convert|-34|°C|°F|0|abbr=on}}; during the summer it is less than {{convert|10|°C|°F|abbr=on}}. Average precipitation ranges from {{convert|20|to|30|cm|in|0|abbr=on}},<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Keuper |first1=Frida |last2=Parmentier |first2=Frans-Jan W. |last3=Blok |first3=Daan |last4=van Bodegom |first4=Peter M. |last5=Dorrepaal |first5=Ellen |last6=van Hal |first6=Jurgen R. |last7=van Logtestijn |first7=Richard S. P. |last8=Aerts |first8=Rien |date=July 2012 |title=Tundra in the Rain: Differential Vegetation Responses to Three Years of Experimentally Doubled Summer Precipitation in Siberian Shrub and Swedish Bog Tundra |journal=Ambio |volume=41 |issue=Suppl 3 |pages=269–280 |doi=10.1007/s13280-012-0305-2 |issn=0044-7447 |pmc=3535056 |pmid=22864700}}</ref> and the permafrost is {{convert|400|-|600|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}} thick. Plant species supported by tundra have small leaves, are short (74&nbsp;mm to <5 m), tend to be deciduous, and have a high ratio of roots to shoots. They are composed mainly of perennial forbs, dwarf shrubs, grasses, lichens, and mosses.<ref>Alaska Department of Fish and Game. 2006. Our Wealth Maintained: A Strategy for Conserving Alaska’s Diverse Wildlife and Fish Resources. Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Juneau, Alaska. xviii+824 p.</ref>{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}}
Tundra is found north of 70° N latitude in North America, Eurasia and Greenland. It can be found at lower latitudes at high elevations as well.<ref>{{Citation |last=Snow |first=Mary |title=Tundra Climate Location and definition |date=2005 |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3266-8_215 |work=Encyclopedia of World Climatology |pages=756–759 |editor-last=Oliver |editor-first=John E. |access-date=2023-10-31 |series=Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series |place=Dordrecht |publisher=Springer Netherlands |language=en |doi=10.1007/1-4020-3266-8_215 |isbn=978-1-4020-3266-0}}</ref> The average temperature is {{convert|-34|°C|°F|0|abbr=on}}; during the summer it is less than {{convert|10|°C|°F|abbr=on}}. Average precipitation ranges from {{convert|20|to|30|cm|in|0|abbr=on}},<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Keuper |first1=Frida |last2=Parmentier |first2=Frans-Jan W. |last3=Blok |first3=Daan |last4=van Bodegom |first4=Peter M. |last5=Dorrepaal |first5=Ellen |last6=van Hal |first6=Jurgen R. |last7=van Logtestijn |first7=Richard S. P. |last8=Aerts |first8=Rien |date=July 2012 |title=Tundra in the Rain: Differential Vegetation Responses to Three Years of Experimentally Doubled Summer Precipitation in Siberian Shrub and Swedish Bog Tundra |journal=Ambio |volume=41 |issue=Suppl 3 |pages=269–280 |doi=10.1007/s13280-012-0305-2 |issn=0044-7447 |pmc=3535056 |pmid=22864700}}</ref> and the permafrost is {{convert|400|-|600|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}} thick. Plant species supported by tundra have small leaves, are short (74&nbsp;mm to <5 m), tend to be deciduous, and have a high ratio of roots to shoots. They are composed mainly of perennial forbs, dwarf shrubs, grasses, lichens, and mosses.<ref>Alaska Department of Fish and Game. 2006. Our Wealth Maintained: A Strategy for Conserving Alaska’s Diverse Wildlife and Fish Resources. Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Juneau, Alaska. xviii+824 p.</ref>{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}}


===Boreal===
===Boreal===

Revision as of 21:09, 31 October 2023

A sunset in the arctic region.

Arctic ecology is the scientific study of the relationships between biotic and abiotic factors in the arctic, the region north of the Arctic Circle (66° 33’N).[1] This region is characterized by two biomes: taiga (or boreal forest) and tundra.[2] While the taiga has a more moderate climate and permits a diversity of both non-vascular and vascular plants,[3] the tundra has a limited growing season and stressful growing conditions due to intense cold, low precipitation,[4] and a lack of sunlight throughout the winter.[5] Sensitive ecosystems exist throughout the Arctic region, which are being impacted dramatically by global warming.[6]

The earliest hominid inhabitants of the Arctic were the Neanderthal sub-species. Since then, many indigenous populations have inhabited the region and continue to do so to this day.[7] Furthermore, the Arctic is a valued area for ecological research.

In 1946, The Arctic Research Laboratory was established in Point Barrow, Alaska under the contract of the Office of Naval Research in the interest of exploring the Arctic and examining animal cycles, permafrost and the interactions between indigenous peoples and the Arctic ecology. During the Cold War, the Arctic became a place where the United States, Canada, and the Soviet Union performed significant research that has been essential to the study of climate change in recent years. A major reason why research in the Arctic is essential for the study of climate change is because the effects of climate change will be felt more quickly and more drastically in higher latitudes of the world as above average temperatures are predicted for Northwest Canada and Alaska. From an anthropological point of view, researchers study the native Inuit of Alaska as they have become extremely accustomed to adapting to ecological and climate variability.[8][9]

History

Early history

Many different peoples had inhabited present-day Canada and Alaska by AD 1000. Most of these people lived by hunting, gathering and fishing; agriculture was not common in the region. Most of these peoples were nomadic and their activity was largely seasonal. Early Archaic Culture influenced the Plano Culture by about 8000 BC. The Plano peoples and other cultural groups stemming from the Archaic Culture were notable for their use of spear-throwing technology, which likely made them able to maintain larger populations and expand their access to different foods. By AD 1000, the indigenous Arctic inhabitants have also developed other tools that improved their standard of living, such as fire which was set to the woodlands to be used to drive deer to be hunted.[10]

Early Arctic exploration

In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, English scientist William Scoresby explored the Arctic and wrote reports on its meteorology, zoology and geophysics. Around this time, the Arctic region was becoming a major subject of imperial science. Though permanent observatories were not yet established, traveling scientists began to gather magnetic data in the Arctic in the early nineteenth century. In June 1831, Sir James Ross and a group of Eskimos explored the Booth Peninsula in order to determine the exact location of the Magnetic North Pole. In the European Arctic, however, Scandinavian powers collected most of the scientific data as a result of early colonies established by Norsemen in Iceland and Greenland. Scientific expeditions to the Arctic started to occur more frequently by the middle of the nineteenth century. From 1838 to 1840, French La Recherche went on an expedition to the North Atlantic with a team of French, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish scientists. Between 1856 and 1914, the Swedes conducted about twenty-five expeditions to the Arctic island of Spitsbergen in Norway. As the Swedes expanded their influence in Spitsbergen, they used the area for economic as well as scientific motives through mining and resource extraction. During this time, the United States, Russia, Great Britain, Austria, Switzerland, Norway, and Germany also started to become more active in Spitsbergen.[11]

Modern history

In 1946, The Arctic Research Laboratory was established under the contract of the Office of Naval Research in Point Barrow, Alaska for the purpose of investigating the physical and biological phenomena unique to the Arctic. In 1948, Dr. Laurence Irving was appointed as the Scientific Director of the Arctic Research Laboratory and put in charge of coordinating various projects. Scientists performed fieldwork to collect data that linked new observations to prior widely accepted knowledge. Through the processes of soil sampling, surveying and photographing landscapes and distributing salmon tags, scientists demonstrated the significance of historical case studies in the study of environmental science. The ability to compare past and present data allowed scientists to understand the causes and effects of ecological changes. Around this time, geographers from McGill University were developing new methods of studying geography in the North. As laboratory research was beginning to be preferred over field research, McGill geographers implemented use of aviation in research, helping knowledge production to occur in the laboratory instead of in the field. Aviation allowed researchers to remold the way they studied the Northern landscape and indigenous people. Ease of travel by aircraft also promoted an integration of the Northern science with Southern community-based science while changing the scale of ecology being studied. The ability to photograph and observe the Arctic from an aircraft provided researchers with a perspective that allowed them to see a massive amount of space at one time while also asserting objectivity. A photograph produces evidence, similar to laboratory data, yet it can be understood, circulated and accepted by the common people due to its aesthetic value.[12]

During the Cold War, the Canadian government began taking initiatives to secure the continent, and to assert territorial authority over northern Canada, including the Arctic, which at the time had a dominant American presence. The Canadian government required permission from other nations to utilize their land for military initiatives; furthermore, they supported and implemented civilian initiatives including resource development and wildlife conservation.[13]

In 1950’s, ecologist Charles Elton was drawn to the Arctic to study the existence, causes and effects of cycles in animal populations, while ecologists Frank Banfield and John Kelsal studied the factors, especially human impacts, influencing hunting and game populations on animals such as caribou.[14] The 1960s and 1970s brought a decrease in the desire to protect the Arctic as it was seen to lack a significant amount of biodiversity, and scientists extended further research into the area without the limitations that such protection may have entailed. In June 1960, the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) was constructed, headed by General Duncan Hallock and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The two predecessor organizations that made up the CRREL were the Arctic Construction and Frost Effects Laboratory (ACFEL) and the Snow, Ice and Permafrost Research Establishment (SIPRE). The goal of the CREEL laboratory was to bring together the ACFEL and SIPRE to expand the size and scientific reputation of these organizations, solve problems in cold regions and explore the basic environmental characteristics of cold regions.[15] As a result, study and management of the Arctic was taken over by consulting firms hired and controlled by the government.

Indigenous peoples and research

As research in the Arctic region of northern North America became more frequent, conflicts between researchers and the indigenous peoples started to occur. Recently, the indigenous communities of the North American Arctic have played a direct role in setting ethical standards for research in the region. Indigenous communities voiced their concern that this research could lead to undesirable changes to the region’s landscape and economy, and Canadian officials responded to their concerns by addressing the responsibility of scientists to consult with indigenous communities before conducting research. In 1977, the Association of Canadian Universities for Northern Studies (ACUNS) was founded at Churchill, Manitoba to improve scientific activity in the region. ACUNS published a document aimed at promoting cooperation between the northern indigenous people and researchers called Ethical Principles for the Conduct of Research in the North (1982). The document was published in English, French, and Inuktitut so that it could be understood by the involved parties.[16]

Arctic environment

To understand Arctic ecology, it is important to consider both the terrestrial and oceanic aspects of the region. A few important parts of this environment are sea ice and permafrost.[editorializing]

Sea ice is frozen seawater that moves with oceanic currents. It provides important habitat and a resting place for animals, particularly during the winter months. Over time, small pockets of seawater get trapped in the ice, and the salt is squeezed out. This causes the ice to become progressively less salty. Sea ice persists throughout the year, but there is less ice available during summer months.

Large portions of the land are also frozen during the year. Permafrost is substrate that has been frozen for a minimum of 2 years.[17] There are two types of permafrost: discontinuous and continuous. Discontinuous permafrost is found in areas where the mean annual air temperature is only slightly below freezing (0 °C or 32 °F); this forms in sheltered locations. In areas where the mean annual soil surface temperature is below −5 °C (23 °F), continuous permafrost forms. This is not limited to sheltered areas and ranges from a few inches below the surface to over 300 m (1,000 ft) deep. The top layer is called the active layer. It thaws in the summer and is critical to plant life.

Biomes

Moisture and temperature are major physical drivers of natural ecosystems. The more arid and colder conditions found at higher northern latitudes (and high elevations elsewhere) support tundra and boreal forests. The water in this region is generally frozen and evaporation rates are very low. Species diversity, nutrient availability, precipitation, and average temperatures increase as the landscape progresses from the tundra to boreal forests and then to deciduous temperate ecosystems, which are found south of the Arctic biomes.[citation needed]

Tundra

Tundra is found north of 70° N latitude in North America, Eurasia and Greenland. It can be found at lower latitudes at high elevations as well.[18] The average temperature is −34 °C (−29 °F); during the summer it is less than 10 °C (50 °F). Average precipitation ranges from 20 to 30 cm (8 to 12 in),[19] and the permafrost is 400–600 m (1,300–2,000 ft) thick. Plant species supported by tundra have small leaves, are short (74 mm to <5 m), tend to be deciduous, and have a high ratio of roots to shoots. They are composed mainly of perennial forbs, dwarf shrubs, grasses, lichens, and mosses.[20][citation needed]

Boreal

Compared to the tundra, boreal forest has a longer and warmer growing season and supports increased species diversity, canopy height, vegetation density, and biomass. Boreal conditions can be found across northern North America and Eurasia. The boreal forests in the interior of the continents grow on top of permafrost due to very cold winters (see drunken trees), while much of the boreal forest biome has patchy permafrost or lacks permafrost completely. The short (3–4 month) growing season in boreal forests is sustained by greater levels of rainfall than the tundra receives (between 30 and 85 cm or 12 and 33 in per year). This biome is dominated by closed canopy forests of evergreen conifers, especially spruces, fir, pine and tamarack with some diffuse-porous hardwoods. Shrubs, herbs, ferns, mosses, and lichens are also important species. Stand-replacing crown fires are very important to this biome, occurring as frequently as every 50–100 years in some parts.[citation needed]

Adaptations to conditions

Humans

Humans living in the Arctic region rely on acclimatization along with physical, metabolic, and behavioral adaptations to tolerate the extreme cold in the Arctic.[21] There is evidence that modern Inuit populations have a high prevalence of specific genes that code for fat to aid in thermal regulation[22][23] and that Arctic indigenous populations have significantly higher basal metabolic rates (BMRs) than non-indigenous populations.[24] BMR is defined as "the rate of oxygen uptake at rest in the fasting and thermo-neutral state" by W.P.T. James,[25] meaning that this adaptation increases "oxygen uptake"[25] and metabolic rates.[24] Research has also suggested a link between adaptations to cold climates and mitochondrial responses to thyroid hormones which "enhance" "metabolic heat production".[26]

Other animals

Animals that are active in the winter have adaptations for surviving the intense cold. A common example is the presence of strikingly large feet in proportion to body weight. These act like snowshoes, and can be found on animals like the snowshoe hare and caribou. Many of the animals in the Arctic are larger than their temperate counterparts (Bergmann’s rule), taking advantage of the smaller ratio of surface area to volume that comes with increasing size. This increases the ability to conserve heat. Layers of fat, plumage, and fur also act as insulators to help retain warmth and are common in Arctic animals including polar bears and marine mammals. Some animals also have digestive adaptations to improve their ability to digest woody plants either with or without the aid of microbial organisms. This is highly advantageous during the winter months when most soft vegetation is beneath the snow pack.

Not all Arctic animals directly face the rigors of winter. Many migrate to warmer climates at lower latitudes, while others avoid the difficulties of winter by hibernating until spring; both of these solutions increase energy expenditure and risk of predation.

Plants

One of the most serious problems that plants face is ice crystal formation in the cells, which results in tissue death. Plants have two ways to resist freezing: avoid it or tolerate it. Plants have several avoidance mechanisms to prevent freezing. They can build up insulation, have their stems close to the ground, use the insulation from snow cover, and supercool. When supercooling, water is able to remain in its liquid state down to −38 °C or −36 °F (compared to its usual 0 °C or 32 °F freezing point). After water reaches −38 °C (−36 °F), it spontaneously freezes and plant tissue is destroyed. This is called the nucleation point. The nucleation point can be lowered if dissolved solutes are present.

Alternatively, plants have several different ways to tolerate freezing instead of avoiding it. Some plants allow freezing by allowing extracellular, but not intracellular freezing. Plants let water freeze in extracellular spaces, which creates a high vapor deficit that pulls water vapor out of the cell. This process dehydrates the cell and allows it to survive temperatures well below −38 °C (−36 °F).

Another problem associated with extreme cold is cavitation. Ring-porous wood is susceptible to cavitation because the large pores that are used for water transport easily freeze. Cavitation is much less of problem in trees with ring-diffuse wood. In ring-diffuse wood, there is a reduced risk of cavitation, as transport pores are smaller. The trade-off is that these species are not able to transport water as efficiently.

Human ecology in the Arctic

Evidence has been found of early humans in the early Würm-Weichsel period hunting large Arctic mammals in the Ice Age steppes of northern Europe. However, it is still unclear whether these humans were just temporary migrants or inhabitants of Arctic colonies at the time.

Inuit are among the indigenous inhabitants of the Arctic.
Inuit are among the indigenous inhabitants of the Arctic.

The earliest hominid inhabitants of the polar regions were the Neanderthals, or Homo neanderthalensis, who are considered to be an intermediate stage between Homo erectus and Homo sapiens sapiens. The Neanderthals made advances in the basic production of stone, bone antler and flint tools, which archaeologists call a Mousterian industry. About 40,000 years ago, the Neanderthals quickly disappeared and were replaced by modern humans, Homo sapiens sapiens.[27] Just a few thousand years after the sudden disappearance of the Neanderthals, modern humans occupied all the land that their predecessors had occupied. Some scientists believe that the Neanderthals were overcome by the incoming modern race, commonly called Cro-Magnon people, while others believe the race disappeared by integrating itself within the new population.

The rapid cooling the earliest inhabitants felt signaled an early onset of the Little Ice Age of the 1300s. This caused the sea ice to expand, making traveling through Greenland and Iceland impossible to manage, trapping the people in their homes and settlements, and causing trade come to a stop.[28]

The Aurignacoid (upper Paleolithic tool-making) tradition of the modern people is most associated with a feature called blade-and-core technology. According to Quaternary scientist C.V. Haynes, Arctic cave art also dates back to the Aurignacoid phase and climaxes during the end of the Pleistocene, which encompasses subjects such as hunting and spirituality. People stemming from the Clovis culture populated northern regions of Canada and formed what led to the Northern Archaic and Maritime Archaic traditions at the end of the Late Glacial period. Recently, small flint tools and artifacts from about 5,000 years ago were discovered that belonged to a culture now generally called the Arctic Small Tool tradition (ASTt). The ASTt people are believed to be the genetic and cultural ancestors of modern arctic Inuit.[29]

In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, as European trade interests among the Northwest Company and the Hudson's Bay Company expanded into northern Canada, arctic indigenous peoples began to become more involved in the trade process. Increasing numbers of European goods, including kettles, iron tools, tobacco, alcohol, and guns, were bought and traded by the indigenous peoples within their communities. Indigenous societies in the early eighteenth century also began to buy guns from European traders; these guns increased hunting efficiency and led to a scarcity of resources in the region, a version of what American human ecologist Garrett Hardin called "the tragedy of the commons."[30]

The lifestyles of indigenous Arctic populations reflect simultaneously spiritual and scientific understandings of their environments.[31]

Effects of climate change on the Arctic

Suspected worldwide anthropogenic climate change has drastically altered many parts of the planet, especially at the poles, and has been particularly evident in the Arctic. This is evident in warmer temperatures, melting glaciers, shorter durations of sea ice and changing weather and storm patterns. Five aspects of concern about the continued projected warming of the Arctic are: thermohaline circulation, the melting of glaciers and sea ice, the melting of permafrost, the release of carbon from permafrost, and the introduction of non-indigenous species.

Thermohaline circulation is a series of underwater oceanic currents fueled by the salinity and temperature of seawater. Melting ice sheets would introduce vast amounts of fresh water into the North Atlantic, causing a change in density which could disrupt the currents. If this circulation slowed or stopped, the climates of northern Europe and North America would be strongly impacted.

The melting of glaciers and sea ice is disrupting the lifestyles of a wide range of species. Polar bears live on the sea ice for much of the year and find their food in the surrounding ocean waters. Recent projections suggest that global warming will lead to the disappearance of most summer sea ice within 40 years.

Degradation of the permafrost is leading to major ground surface subsidence and pounding. As the ground is melting away in many regions of the Arctic, the locations of towns and communities that have been inhabited for centuries are now in jeopardy. A condition known as drunken tree syndrome is being caused by this melting. Groundwater and river runoffs are being negatively impacted as well.

Although warming conditions might increase CO
2 uptake for photosynthetic organisms in some places, scientists are concerned that melting permafrost will also release large amounts of carbon locked in permafrost. Higher temperatures increase soil decomposition and if soil decomposition becomes higher than net primary production, global atmospheric carbon dioxide will in turn increase. Atmospheric sinks in the water table are also being reduced as the permafrost melts and decreases the height of the water table in the Arctic.[32]

The impacts of the release of carbon from the permafrost could be amplified by high levels of deforestation in the Boreal forests in Eurasia and Canada. This biome currently serves as a large carbon sink, sequestering large amounts of carbon dioxide. However, over half of the original forest has been or in danger of harvesting, largely for export.

Due to the shifts in temperature and other ecological conditions, new species introduced to the ecosystem have also been able to survive and disrupt previous ecological relationships.[33]

Climate change has led to an increase in the number of non-indigenous species (NIS) introduced to the Arctic. Between 1960 and 2015, there have been between 0-4 NIS discovered each year. But parts of the Arctic, such as the Iceland Shelf have had a greater number of introductions and discoveries per year at around 14 NIS.[33] The aquatic species introduced accounted for 39% of the NIS species introduced to the Arctic region. This migration of NIS species has been attributed to climate change inducing human activities such as shipping, aquaculture, stocking, and building canals.[33] These NIS introductions have been labeled a major threat to global biodiversity.[34] Climate change has directly and indirectly decreased the general productivity of native species like the Eskimo curlew while increasing the number of noninvasive species introduced further altering ecosystem dynamics.[33]

Climate change has also been responsible for rising sea levels, changes in ocean currents, variations in temperature, and the amount of existing sea-ice.[35] These habitat and condition alterations in the Arctic and also in areas outside of it have threatened many different species, especially migratory birds along the East Asian flyway, which is a route frequently used by many bird species and is protected by various countries.[36] The Eskimo curlew, which is a kind of bird, has gone nearly extinct due to overharvesting outside of the Arctic. With the sea levels also on the rise and an increased rate of coastal development, coastal and intertidal habitats have been on a decline, reducing the density of the species that rely on these conditions to survive.[36]

Arctic marine ecosystems are critical for global biodiversity with habitats consisting of species, over 2000 algal species, and tens of thousands of microbial species.[37] This diverse array of species have utilized the various Arctic conditions including ice shelves, ice covers, cold seeps, and hot vents to survive. The major and rapid changes to these ecosystems due to climate change have resulted in increased river runoff, rain, permafrost and glacier melt. These rapid changes paired with land development have pressured the Arctic ecosystems, leading to massive losses in biodiversity.[37] This has a direct and deleterious impact on marine ecosystems.

The Arctic has historically been deemed a low risk region for NIS invasion due to its harsh conditions, limited food sources, and limited access, which in turn resulted in low chances of survival and growth for the NIS.[33] Due to the recent increases in the amount of human development paired with the melting of the ice due to climate change, the Arctic has been experiencing a more temperate climate. This has led to a higher survival rate for Southern species or NIS since the conditions have become more survivable for these species. This might seem to be a positive outcome since there is an increase in short-term biodiversity, but in the long-term, the natural ecosystem and food webs are devastated since there are new causes of resource and land depletion.[38]

Long-term mitigation strategies need to be implemented to help monitor the species richness in areas such as the Arctic to understand the trends in biodiversity and how different local strategies that have been implemented either benefit or harm the ecosystem.[39] A mitigation strategy that can be beneficial in the protection of local biodiversity and reducing the introduction of NIS is making activities such as transportation that bring the NIS to the Arctic  more efficient.[40] Antifouling technologies involve specialized paints being applied to a ship’s hull to slow marine growth on the underwater area.[41] This technology has become more popular in recent years. These paints incorporate different biocides such as lead and copper and can help prevent settlement of different NIS on vehicles that transport goods to Arctic regions.[40] This process indirectly lowers the amount of NIS transferred to the Arctic by humans. This, however, does introduce chemicals into the marine environment causing various issues, which is why the use, quantity, and location of the biocides must be thoroughly considered and mitigated.

The biodiversity loss and ways to mitigate it can not be overly generalized, however, because each region of the Arctic and the species in those regions interact with various regional physicochemical conditions that strongly impact how they react to climate change.[37] The loss of biodiversity, however, is evident and does greatly impact the overall Arctic aquatic ecosystems and the Arctic food web.

Further exploration

In a meta analysis of the published work in aquatic ecosystems since the term biodiversity appeared in the bibliography, the Arctic and Antarctic Polar regions were found to be still unexplored. In addition, the North Pacific Ocean (Pacific Northeast and Pacific Northwest), still has few citations in comparison to its large size. This limits our perception of the world’s aquatic biodiversity. Consequently, we do not have sufficient information about biodiversity in most places on earth. Even though biodiversity declines from the equator to the poles in terrestrial ecosystems, this is still a hypothesis to be tested in aquatic and especially marine ecosystems where causes of this phenomenon are unclear. In addition, particularly in marine ecosystems, there are several well stated cases where diversity in higher latitudes actually increases.[42] Therefore, the lack of information on biodiversity of Arctic Regions prevents scientific conclusions on the distribution of the world’s aquatic biodiversity.

See also

References

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  2. ^ "Arctic Ecosystems (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
  3. ^ "Taiga - Climate, Biodiversity, Coniferous | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
  4. ^ "The tundra biome". ucmp.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
  5. ^ Terasmae, J.; Reeves, Andrew (20 April 2009). "Tundra". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
  6. ^ Hirawake, Toru; Uchida, Masaki; Abe, Hiroto; Alabia, Irene D.; Hoshino, Tamotsu; Masumoto, Shota; Mori, Akira S.; Nishioka, Jun; Nishizawa, Bungo; Ooki, Atsushi; Takahashi, Akinori; Tanabe, Yukiko; Tojo, Motoaki; Tsuji, Masaharu; Ueno, Hiromichi (2021-03-01). "Response of Arctic biodiversity and ecosystem to environmental changes: Findings from the ArCS project". Polar Science. Arctic Challenge for Sustainability Project (ArCS). 27: 100533. doi:10.1016/j.polar.2020.100533. ISSN 1873-9652.
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  11. ^ Sörlin, Sverker(2006)'Science, Empire, and Enlightenment: Geographies of Northern Field Science', European Review of History,13:3,455 — 472
  12. ^ Bocking, Stephen. "A Disciplined Geography Aviation, Science, and the Cold War in Northern Canada, 1945-1960." Technology and Culture 50, no. 2 (2009): 265-290.
  13. ^ Bocking, Stephen. "A Disciplined Geography Aviation, Science, and the Cold War in Northern Canada, 1945-1960." Technology and Culture 50, no. 2 (2009): 265-290.
  14. ^ Bocking, Stephen. “Science and Spaces in the Northern Environment.” Environmental History 12 (2007): 867-94. Accessed on February 23, 2014.
  15. ^ Wright, Edmund. CRREL's First 25 Years 1961-1986. Arctic: Technical Publications Writer- Editor, 1986.
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  17. ^ Osterkamp, T. E.; Burn, C. R. (2003-01-01), "PERMAFROST", in Holton, James R. (ed.), Encyclopedia of Atmospheric Sciences, Oxford: Academic Press, pp. 1717–1729, ISBN 978-0-12-227090-1, retrieved 2023-10-19
  18. ^ Snow, Mary (2005), Oliver, John E. (ed.), "Tundra Climate Location and definition", Encyclopedia of World Climatology, Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series, Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, pp. 756–759, doi:10.1007/1-4020-3266-8_215, ISBN 978-1-4020-3266-0, retrieved 2023-10-31
  19. ^ Keuper, Frida; Parmentier, Frans-Jan W.; Blok, Daan; van Bodegom, Peter M.; Dorrepaal, Ellen; van Hal, Jurgen R.; van Logtestijn, Richard S. P.; Aerts, Rien (July 2012). "Tundra in the Rain: Differential Vegetation Responses to Three Years of Experimentally Doubled Summer Precipitation in Siberian Shrub and Swedish Bog Tundra". Ambio. 41 (Suppl 3): 269–280. doi:10.1007/s13280-012-0305-2. ISSN 0044-7447. PMC 3535056. PMID 22864700.
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External links

Life in the Cold
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