Responses of Arctic Marine Ecosystems to Climate Change
28th Lowell Wakefield Fisheries Symposium
Hotel Captain Cook
Anchorage, Alaska
March 26–29, 2013
Contact: Franz Mueter, fmueter@alaska.edu
The Arctic Ocean and its adjacent seas are undergoing rapid environmental changes, most notably in the extent and duration of sea ice cover. The biological consequences of these changes and their impacts on humans are complicated and therefore difficult to predict. For example, larger areas and a longer season of open water are likely to increase primary production, while low nutrient availability and more storm events may limit any such increases. Changes in the abundance and spatial distribution of some fish, birds, and mammals have been documented, but whether subarctic species will expand into the Arctic and how arctic species will respond to an extended ice-free season is highly uncertain.
This symposium seeks to advance our understanding of present and future responses of arctic marine ecosystems to climate change at all trophic levels from plankton to marine mammals to humans by documenting and forecasting likely changes in environmental processes and the responses of species to those changes. We encourage contributions that focus on collaborative approaches to understanding and managing living marine resources in a changing Arctic and to managing human responses—locally, regionally, and globally—to changing arctic marine ecosystems. We believe that important insight and innovation will come from residents of the affected arctic communities.
