The population biology and ecology of the world's northernmost harbour seals in a changing Arctic
Informations
- Funding country
Norway- Acronym
- -
- URL
- -
- Start date
- 1/1/2008
- End date
- 12/31/2012
- Budget
- 1,115,062 EUR
Organisations
| Name | Role | Start | End |
|---|---|---|---|
| Norsk Polarinstitutt | Lead Partner | - | - |
Abstract
Several harbour seal populations in northern parts of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans have recently declined precipitously. The collapses of these populations have been attributed to climate-change-induced regime shifts, concomitant shifts in predator-induced mortality on harbour seals, altered competitive stresses and unknown causes. Little is known about the status or the ecological needs of the harbour seal population on Svalbard (or several other harbour seal 'populations' within the Nordic Arctic). This research programme will determine the current abundance and most probable population trend of this vulnerable, Red-listed, harbour seal population, which is the world's northernmost population of this species - breeding on the West Coast of Spitsbergen. It will assess possible community changes taking place in the region due to climate change via determining what harbour seals are eating, and what is eating them. It will facilitate sample collections for several international programmes dealing with threats to Arctic biodiversity as well as providing a vast, year-round oceanographic data set for a region of key importance to climate modelling for the Barents Region. In collaboration with a Nordic Arctic programme, stock identities will be determined and an adaptive management plan with be created for this species, within the Atlantic Arctic. Svalbard's harbour seals are a vital reference population, because they are the only arctic population of this species that is protected from human harvesting.