Biodiversity crisis in the Arctic due to climate change

The sharp drop in reindeer and seabird populations is reflecting the dramatic changes taking place in the Arctic tundra, according to a new report from the Arctic Council (AC).

Musk cows in Greenland. Photo: Caff The habitat of animals in the Arctic has an area of ​​​​about 7 million square kilometers with an extremely cold, dry climate, strong winds in each season. The species living in this environment have adapted to survive and thrive in the harsh environment. But the climate crisis has taken a toll on their survival, according to the report on Arctic Terrestrial Biodiversity, published by the Arctic Flora Conservation Working Group (Caff. ) belongs to AC. “Climate change is a major driver of change in terrestrial ecosystems in the Arctic and is likely to increase the magnitude of the impact, multidimensional, and unpredictable,” the report said. above said. The temperature in the Arctic is increasing at twice the rate of the rest of the world. This situation leads to extreme weather events that cause southern species to move north and spread pathogens among species inhabiting the area. During the AC ministerial meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland on Thursday, a report assessing the status and development trends of Arctic species was released for the first time, following a five-year assessment. Caff’s 2017 on Marine Biodiversity. This report draws on decades of biodiversity monitoring in the area to provide an overview of the changes that have occurred here. In some parts of the Arctic, the number of important pollinating flies has decreased by 80% between 1996 and 2014. Photo: Caff At the Zackenberg research station in northeastern Greenland, scientists have found that important species such as pollinators have reduced their populations by 80% between 1996–2014. This data reflects the disparity between the timing of flowering of plants and pollinator activity caused by climate. The researchers also found that more than 50% of the 88 species of seabirds surveyed had declined in number, and up to 20% of the species were severely reduced. “On the Arctic tundra, seabirds are the most diverse group of birds,” said Paul Allen Smith, biologist and avian expert who contributed to the report. It is also estimated based on different climate scenarios that 80% of seabird species living in the high Arctic could also lose most of their habitat and breeding grounds in the next 50 years. Photo: Caff With reindeer herds migrating from Russia to Alaska, Ms. Christine Cuyler, an expert and consultant of the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, said: “The number of reindeer individuals is always fluctuating, changing irregularly and there is a change in the number of reindeer individuals. abundance cycle”. “But in some cases, the amplitude of the fluctuation is tending to increase. Now, we are seeing fluctuations in the number of these species falling beyond historical records,” Ms. Cuyler pointed out. The majority of forest reindeer populations and species migrating to the Arctic tundra have declined in recent years. The Bathurst reindeer herd alone, which stretches from Canada’s Northwest Territories to Nunavut, has declined by 98% between 1986 and 2018. Ms. Cuyler said a number of factors that make this animal unable to survive the winter could be responsible for this decline, including the depletion of the main food source, snowfall, insects. pest infestation,… Rising temperatures in the Arctic also cause new pathogens to emerge that adversely affect the health of some species. In 2012, an outbreak of erysipelas, a bacterial infection that affects the skin, killed about 150 musk cows on Banks Island. “Bacteria are present all over the world, but when it comes to the Arctic, it’s completely unusual,” Cuyler said. “It usually won’t work in areas with low temperatures, cold climates. Things are changing as the Arctic is warming.” Furthermore, due to global warming climate change, mammal species are moving north. It is likely that the condition will become a source of parasites and new diseases, directly affecting species living in the area. The report also shows some facts about species that migrate to the Arctic, such as: red foxes compete with and even kill arctic foxes for lairs. In Alaska, brown bears are also competing for muskox habitat. “What’s happening is completely different from before and it’s devastating,” Cuyler said. As species move north, terrestrial ecosystems in the Arctic will increasingly shrink. “Extreme weather events – wildfires or devastating insects – will have systemic consequences for many years in the Arctic,” said Niels Martin Schmidt, a researcher at Aarhus University and also a researcher at Aarhus University. participants reported, emphasized. Sapphire According to The Guardian