http://hdl.handle.net/1893/28794 Electronic copies of Biological and Environmental Sciences letters (published in a journal). 2026-10-05T04:05:32Z http://hdl.handle.net/1893/36430 Title: The Canadian Ice Island Drift, Deterioration and Detection (CI2D3) Database Author(s): Crawford, Anna; Crocker, Gregory; Mueller, Derek; Desjardins, Luc; Saper, Ron; Carrieres, Tom Abstract: Three recent calving events from the Petermann Glacier, northwest Greenland (80°45′N, 60°45′W) generated hundreds of individual ice islands that traversed through Nares Strait, Baffin Bay and the Labrador Sea. The calving events of July 2008, August 2010 and July 2012 resulted in the reported loss of 30, 253 and 130 km2 from the Petermann Ice Tongue (Münchow and others, 2014). These large, tabular icebergs (as they are referred to in the Antarctic) were observed to drift as far south as Newfoundland, with one example being the April 2012 observation at 42°N of a 400 m-long piece that likely originated from the 2010 calving event (Capt. P. Radovan, personal communication). Sometimes smaller pieces generated through fracturing are referred to as ice island fragments (CIS, 2005). We only use the term ’ice islands’ for simplicity. The substantial masses of ice islands make them potential hazards to shipping and offshore oil and gas activities off the East Coast of Canada. They also play a role in the spatial dispersion of fresh water from the Greenland Ice Sheet (Marson and others, 2017) and can be of local importance to marine ecosystems by altering the chemical and physical composition of the water column (Stern and others, 2015) and creating special habitats for phytoplankton, diatoms, bacteria and krill (Vernet and others, 2012; Smith and others, 2013). They can also provide temporary habitat to marine mammals; hundreds of seals were observed on Petermann Ice Island (PII)-A in the southern Labrador Sea in 2011, and seven to ten polar bears were observed on PII-B-1 when it was grounded off the east coast of Baffin Island in 2012 (Halliday and others, 2012; C. Packham, personal communication). The presence of ice islands in this region tends to be inter mittent (Newell, 1993; Johannessen and others, 2011). As a result, their dynamics and physical properties are less well documented than those of the smaller icebergs that drift into Newfoundland waters every year. The recent flux of ice islands from the Petermann Glacier and other northern Greenland glaciers has corresponded with the availability of satellite imagery of suitable temporal frequency, acquisi tion capability regardless of cloud cover or light conditions (a benefit of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors), and suf ficient spatial resolution to identify and monitor ice islands. Collaborators at the Water and Ice Research Laboratory (WIRL) at Carleton University (Ottawa, Canada) and the Canadian Ice Service (CIS; Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), Ottawa, Canada) exploited a large quantity of valuable imagery from the CIS SAR data archive to generate a database of ice island observations. The infor mation contained within the Canadian Ice Island Drift, Deterioration and Detection (CI2D3) Database will be useful in a variety of scientific and engineering studies, and will ultimately lead to a better understanding of these features and the role they play in the ocean environment. Here we provide a description of the unique database’s contents and the workflow used to create it. We also demonstrate some of the numerous topics that can be investigated with the data base with example analyses. The database will be publically available in the summer of 2018 2018-06-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1893/35976 Title: Tropical field stations yield high conservation return on investment Author(s): Eppley, Timothy M.; Reuter, Kim E.; Sefczek, Timothy M.; Tinsman, Jen; Santini, Luca; Hoeks, Selwyn; Andriantsaralaza, Seheno; Shanee, Sam; Fiore, Anthony Di; Setchell, Joanna M.; Strier, Karen B.; Abanyam, Peter A.; Mutalib, Aini Hasanah Abd; Maisels, Fiona; Morgan, Bethan J. Abstract: Conservation funding is currently limited; cost-effective conservation solutions are essential. We suggest that the thousands of field stations worldwide can play key roles at the frontline of biodiversity conservation and have high intrinsic value. We assessed field stations’ conservation return on investment and explored the impact of COVID-19. We surveyed leaders of field stations across tropical regions that host primate research; 157 field stations in 56 countries responded. Respondents reported improved habitat quality and reduced hunting rates at over 80% of field stations and lower operational costs per km2 than protected areas, yet half of those surveyed have less funding now than in 2019. Spatial analyses support field station presence as reducing deforestation. These “earth observatories” provide a high return on investment; we advocate for increased support of field station programs and for governments to support their vital conservation efforts by investing accordingly. 2024-03-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1893/35230 Title: Global costs of plant invasions must not be underestimated Author(s): Novoa, Ana; Moodley, Desika; Catford, Jane A.; Golivets, Marina; Bufford, Jennifer; Essl, Franz; Lenzner, Bernd; Pattison, Zarah; Pyšek, Petr Abstract: First paragraph: The impacts of biological invasions have become a key focus of researchers in recent decades, leading to a rapid accumulation of evidence on economic losses associated with invasions. In a synthesis paper, Diagne et al. (2021) use a new database, InvaCost (Diagne et al. 2020), to quantify the global economic costs of biological invasions. They demonstrate that the global costs associated with invasive alien species are massive, at least US$ 1.3 trillion between 1970 and 2017, and increasing rapidly. Such high costs emphasize the critical importance of preventing and controlling biological invasions. Their paper thus delivers an important and much needed contribution to invasion science, which can strengthen invasive alien species management and policy globally. However, the costs of plant invasions presented by Diagne et al. (2021) are substantially underestimated compared to those of vertebrate and invertebrate invasions, and with respect to the available literature. While Diagne et al. (2021) state that the reported costs have pronounced geographic and taxonomic gaps, we believe that their significant underestimation of plant costs in comparison with other taxonomic groups needs to be clarified, to correctly demonstrate the severity of plant invasions and guide appropriate prioritization, budgeting, and allocation of limited management resources. 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1893/33951 Title: Risk and reward of the global truffle sector under predicted climate change Author(s): Cejka, Tomas; Isaac, Elizabeth L; Oliach, Daniel; Martinez-Pena, Fernando; Egli, Simon; Thomas, Paul; Trnka, Miroslav; Buntgen, Ulf Abstract: Climate change has been described as the main threat for the cultivation and growth of truffles, but hydroclimate variability and model uncertainty challenge regional projections and adaptation strategies of the emerging sector. Here, we conduct a literature review to define the main Périgord truffle growing regions around the world and use 20 global climate models to assess the impact of future trends and extremes in temperature, precipitation and soil moisture on truffle production rates and price levels in all cultivation regions in the Americas, Europe, South Africa, and Australasia. Climate model simulations project 2.3 million km2 of suitable land for truffle growth will experience 50% faster aridification than the rests of the global land surface, with significantly more heat waves between 2070 and 2099 CE. Overall, truffle production rates will decrease by ∼15%, while associated price levels will increase by ∼36%. At the same time, a predicted increase in summer precipitation and less intense warming over Australasia will likely alleviate water scarcity and support higher yields of more affordable truffles. Our findings are relevant for truffle farmers and businesses to adapt their irrigation systems and management strategies to future climate change. 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z