Paul Ashley, an Ecosystem Scientist with Parks Canada will be presenting a one hour seminar on ecological monitoring in Sirmilik National Park, Nunavut, Canada. At 22,000 square kilometers, Sirmilik is one of the largest protected areas in the world, and is without a doubt a jewel of the eastern high Arctic.
The park is rich in biodiversity, a polar oasis of wildlife, and although the park boundaries provide some protection for species and ecosystems, many arctic species such as caribou, polar bears, colonial birds and marine mammals range far beyond the boundaries of the park and are not isolated from global stressors. These stressors are changing the entire Arctic, altering predictable weather patterns, food webs, glaciers and sea ice. Parks Canada's Ecological Integrity Monitoring Program provides a unique opportunity to monitor ecological changes at a landscape scale and provides a benchmark from which further changes may be assessed. Come join Paul as he discusses how the Arctic is changing the wildlife, landscape and the people who live there.