All subgroups identified monitoring climate conditions as fundamental variables of interest. This highlights a widely shared need for improved downscaled climate projection products, informed by a network of observation stations sufficient to capture the spatial variation in regional temperature, precipitation, and wind fields. Water-related topics appeared most frequently in the reports of the sub-groups. Often, the topics incorporated aspects of hydrology and other disciplines (e.g., surface storage and active layer thaw, stream discharge and sediment transport/deposition). Hydrologic-related topics identified by the fish and bird sub-groups were most similar, reflecting overlap in the habitat requirements of fish and the large proportion of arctic-breeding bird species dependent on aquatic systems. In contrast, the hydrologic topics most relevant to terrestrial mammals were related to snow conditions and indirect effects of water on vegetation phenology and plant community composition. Unlike most bird species, mammals and many fish live year-round in arctic environments where the snow season prevails for most of the year. and fish sub-groups also identified coastal processes and aquatic invertebrate phenology and abundance as being important, whereas the mammal group did not. Changing seasonality (phenology) was identified as a separate category because the general was of interest to all sub-groups, even though the specific indicators varied. With the exception of insect emergence, the identified indicators can be monitored via remote sensing, and the required activities are mostly in the realm of image processing, image interpretation, and trend analysis. Correlating changing phenology with changing climate, however, requires an adequate weather monitoring network and availability of reliable interpolated gridded climate data products. In summary, despite the complexity with which climate interacts with all components and processes of the arctic terrestrial ecosystem, the working group was able to identify a limited list of cross-cutting themes. Recommendations regarding field measurements and modeled data products most needed by biologists to address those themes are contained in the individual summaries for each sub-group. These are contained in the tables and accompanying narratives that follow.
All subgroups identified monitoring climate conditions as fundamental variables of interest. This highlights a widely shared need for improved downscaled climate projection products, informed by a network of observation stations sufficient to capture the spatial variation in regional temperature, precipitation, and wind fields. Water-related topics appeared most frequently in the reports of the sub-groups. Often, the topics incorporated aspects of hydrology and other disciplines (e.g., surface storage and active layer thaw, stream discharge and sediment transport/deposition). Hydrologic-related topics identified by the fish and bird sub-groups were most similar, reflecting overlap in the habitat requirements of fish and the large proportion of arctic-breeding bird species dependent on aquatic systems. In contrast, the hydrologic topics most relevant to terrestrial mammals were related to snow conditions and indirect effects of water on vegetation phenology and plant community composition. Unlike most bird species, mammals and many fish live year-round in arctic environments where the snow season prevails for most of the year. and fish sub-groups also identified coastal processes and aquatic invertebrate phenology and abundance as being important, whereas the mammal group did not. Changing seasonality (phenology) was identified as a separate category because the general was of interest to all sub-groups, even though the specific indicators varied. With the exception of insect emergence, the identified indicators can be monitored via remote sensing, and the required activities are mostly in the realm of image processing, image interpretation, and trend analysis. Correlating changing phenology with changing climate, however, requires an adequate weather monitoring network and availability of reliable interpolated gridded climate data products. In summary, despite the complexity with which climate interacts with all components and processes of the arctic terrestrial ecosystem, the working group was able to identify a limited list of cross-cutting themes. Recommendations regarding field measurements and modeled data products most needed by biologists to address those themes are contained in the individual summaries for each sub-group. These are contained in the tables and accompanying narratives that follow.
Species%20and%20Habitats%20Work%20Group%20Report_July_2012_Review.docx