Tracking Impacts of Ecosystem Changes
Polar and boreal ecosystems are experiencing unprecedented upheavals as a result of climate change and other human activities such as industrial development. The scale and speed of these changes are hampering the researchers’ abilities to understand ecosystems’ sensitivity to human-induced pressures.
Dr. Nicolas Lecomte, Canada Research Chair in Polar and Boreal Ecology, aims to unravel the key changes occurring in polar and boreal ecosystems by conducting a number of short-and long-term and broad-scale studies in field stations throughout the Arctic and Antarctic.
To measure the footprint of human-induced change in these critical areas, Lecomte is monitoring key ecosystems and such important species as penguins, arctic foxes and peregrine falcons. Lecomte is also measuring the dependence between distinct ecosystems, such as energy exchanges that link marine resources and the arctic tundra.
Lecomte’s research will provide critical answers of the impact of climate change and other human-induced changes on polar and boreal ecosystems.