Linkages between climate, hydrology and ecology of lakes in northern thermokarst landscapes: past, present and future

北部热岩溶景观湖泊气候、水文和生态之间的联系：过去、现在和未来

• 批准号: 227145-2010
• 负责人: Hall, Roland
• 金额: $ 3.13万
• 依托单位: University of Waterloo
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2012-01-01 至 2013-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=514247
• 关键词: Linkages; between; climate; hydrology; ecology

The impact of climate warming on water resources in northern Canada is a pressing concern, because water plays a key role in maintaining the ecological integrity of landscapes, economic development and traditional use by First Nations communities. The proposed research will improve understanding of how lakes in thermokarst landscapes of the Old Crow Flats (N. Yukon) and Hudson Bay Lowlands (N. Manitoba) respond to climatic changes. Both landscapes are recognized internationally as ecologically and culturally significant, but changes in lake and river hydrology challenge the ability of agencies to maintain integrity of their natural resources because existing data are insufficient to develop effective policies and practices. The proposed program will integrate 3 research components to provide information over a sufficient range of spatial and temporal (years to centuries) scales to quantify the roles of influential hydrological processes on ecological conditions of lakes in thermokarst landscapes; including: 1) use of spatial lake surveys of water, biota and stable isotopes to understand how hydrological processes regulate contemporary lake conditions; 2) use of spatial surveys of aquatic biota (algae) preserved in surficial lake sediments and which grow on experimental substrate stations to develop a scientifically robust ability to interpret eco-hydrological changes from analysis of biota preserved in sediment cores; and 3) analyses of sediment cores from selected lakes spanning the past millennium to quantify ecological responses to past hydrological changes. These thermokarst landscapes have been identified as very vulnerable to global warming, but their freshwater ecosystems remain the least studied and most poorly understood in North America. Thus, the proposed program will provide basic research on these systems and promote development of methodologies for long-term monitoring by agencies in the north. It will increase capacity of government agencies (Parks Canada, Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation) to fulfill their mandates to steward the landscapes effectively, and it will train 4 PhD, 2 MSc and 10 undergraduate research students in highly-sought fields of environmental assessment.

气候变暖对加拿大北部水资源的影响是一个紧迫的问题，因为水在维持景观的生态完整性、经济发展和原住民社区的传统使用方面发挥着关键作用。拟议的研究将增进对老克罗平原（育空北部）和哈德逊湾低地（马尼托巴北部）热岩溶景观中的湖泊如何响应气候变化的了解。这两种景观在国际上都被认为具有重要的生态和文化意义，但湖泊和河流水文的变化挑战了各机构维护其自然资源完整性的能力，因为现有数据不足以制定有效的政策和实践。拟议的计划将整合 3 个研究组成部分，以提供足够范围的空间和时间（数年到数百年）尺度的信息，以量化有影响力的水文过程对热喀斯特景观湖泊生态条件的作用；包括：1）利用水、生物群和稳定同位素的空间湖泊调查来了解水文过程如何调节当代湖泊状况； 2) 利用对表层湖泊沉积物中保存的水生生物群（藻类）进行空间调查，并在实验基质站上生长，以开发科学可靠的能力，通过分析沉积物岩心中保存的生物群来解释生态水文变化； 3）对过去千年中选定湖泊的沉积物岩心进行分析，以量化对过去水文变化的生态反应。这些热岩溶景观被认为非常容易受到全球变暖的影响，但它们的淡水生态系统在北美仍然是研究最少、了解最少的。因此，拟议的计划将为这些系统提供基础研究，并促进北方机构长期监测方法的开发。它将提高政府机构（加拿大公园管理局、Vuntut Gwitchin 原住民）履行有效管理景观职责的能力，并将在备受追捧的环境评估领域培训 4 名博士生、2 名硕士生和 10 名本科生。