Abstract
Climate change scenarios predict that Arctic regions will experience the most profound changes anywhere on the globe due to global warming in the coming decades. This is of great concern from a conservation and biodiversity perspective because this biome is dominated by specialists that have through evolutionary time adapted to extreme conditions, including cold temperatures and long winters -specialists that are found nowhere else on earth. Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) and ringed seals (Phoca hispida) are two such species. Both are long-lived, sea-ice-dependent, circumpolar high Arctic marine mammals. Foraging and reproductive success of these animals is directly affected by the dynamics of see ice - which is a climate driven system. Ringed seals are the most abundant Arctic seal and are a keystone species in the Arctic marine ecosystem. Polar bears are the apex predator in this system. Both of these high trophic level animals are ideal indicators of climate- (or anthropogenic-) induced change in the Arctic system. The project will explore the impact of climate variability on the movement patterns, growth patterns and interactions of these two species, identify critical habitat features and develop a predictive model to assess the impact of future climate change on these animals and the ecosystem they occupy.
Norway