Recommendations

Project Type # Outcome Report Year FEC
CBMP Marine Biodiversity MonitoringAdvicePlankton• Follow standardized protocols for monitoring plankton, including sample collection and preservation, microscopic and genetic analyses with taxonomic harmonization.• Ensure that full data sharing occurs between scientists, and is deposited in publicly-accessible nationaldata centers. Continue to consolidate older data.• Train highly qualified personnel to perform plankton sampling and species-level analyses, including theuse of molecular techniques.• Establish long-term funded annual monitoring programmes of plankton from selected Arctic field stations or Arctic campaigns/cruises in Canada, the U.S. and Russia, which together with the ongoing monitoring in Greenland, Iceland and Norway will secure a pan-Arctic coverage. • Develop species indexes and if possible, identify indicator taxa for monitoring.State of the Arctic Marine Biodiversity: Key Findings and Advice for Monitoring2017
CBMP Marine Biodiversity MonitoringAdvice

Benthos

  • Develop a time- and cost-effective, long-term and standardized monitoring of megabenthic communities in all Arctic regions using regular national groundfish assessment surveys. Expanding monitoring on micro-, meio- and macrobenthic groups is encouraged.
  • Gather information from research programs in regions without regular groundfish-shellfish trawl surveys. These are usually short-term and do not guarantee spatial consistency in sampling, but provide valuable information on benthic biodiversity and community patterns.
  • Generate information on benthos from little-known regions, such as the Arctic Basin and Arctic Archipelago, on cryptic or difficult taxonomic groups, and on biological “hotspots”.
  • Systematic studies of macrobenthos (grab investigations) and megabenthos (trawl bycatch of regular fishery surveys including both annual studies, as in the Atlantic Arctic, and periodic studies as in the Northern Bering and Chukchi Seas) are the most suitable and practical approach to long-term monitoring.
  • Standardize methodology, including taxonomic identification, across regions to assist in regional comparisons.
  • Recognize and support the use of TLK as an invaluable resource for understanding of changes in Arctic benthic communities.
State of the Arctic Marine Biodiversity: Key Findings and Advice for Monitoring2017
CBMP Marine Biodiversity MonitoringAdvice

Marine fishes

  • Conduct pan-Arctic taxonomic analyses to clarify zoogeographic patterns that are important for detecting and understanding change.
  • Establish and conduct a monitoring plan that is independent of fisheries-related programs to assess changes in fish abundance and distributions. Use information from non-commercial fish species caught in groundfish surveys to provide a first step in this direction.
  • Use information from TK holders for monitoring marine fishes.
  • Connect monitoring initiatives across scales.
  • Conduct laboratory studies to examine the possible effects of abiotic and biotic changes (e.g. temperature, salinity, acidity and diseases) on fish species
  • Ensure that data on fisheries (commercial as well as artisanal) are accurate and registered in catch databases (such as the Food Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations). Information from logbooks is also relevant as it can be used to estimate the bycatch and the effects of fisheries.
State of the Arctic Marine Biodiversity: Key Findings and Advice for Monitoring2017
CBMP Marine Biodiversity MonitoringAdvice

Seabirds

  • Develop methods for assessing diet to increase our understanding of changes in the ecosystem and how they affect seabird populations.
  • When selecting sites for new monitoring, consider proximity to hotspots for marine activities, access to the sea, and inclusion of plankton monitoring.
  • Expand colony-based monitoring and strive to include a more complete array of parameters, in particular, diet and measures of survival.
  • Consider a higher frequency of monitoring as current levels make it difficult to identify mechanisms or causes of change in populations.
  • Conduct targeted surveys and individual tracking studies of seabird interactions at sea to improve our understanding of seabird interactions at sea, where seabirds spend most of their time.
  • Continue to conduct at sea surveys on an opportunistic basis.
State of the Arctic Marine Biodiversity: Key Findings and Advice for Monitoring2017
CBMP Marine Biodiversity MonitoringAdvice

Marine mammals

  • Implement existing international monitoring plans such as those for ringed seals and polar bear, with adaptive management principles to address the eleven FEC marine mammal species.
  • Expand marine mammal monitoring efforts to include parameters on health, passive acoustics, habitat changes, and telemetry tracking studies.
  • Obtain more knowledge about population sizes, densities, and distributions of marine mammal populations in order to understand the relationships between sea ice loss and climate change and to manage Arctic marine mammal populations in an appropriate manner.
  • Involve indigenous and local peoples in the design and implementation of monitoring programs so that scientific knowledge and TLK holders are working collaboratively.
  • Pursue a multidisciplinary and multi-knowledge approach and a high degree of collaboration across borders and between researchers, local communities and Arctic governments to better understand complex spatial-temporal shifts in drivers, ecological changes and animal health.
State of the Arctic Marine Biodiversity: Key Findings and Advice for Monitoring2017
CBMP Terrestrial Biodiversity MonitoringKey findingThis audit suggests that there are between 39.0 and 39.2 million wild geese in the northern hemisphere belonging to 68 populations of 15 species.A Global Audit of the Status and Trends of Arctic And Northern Hemisphere Goose Populations2018
CBMP Terrestrial Biodiversity MonitoringKey findingAll but one of the populations number between 1000 and 10 million individuals. Only the Western Palearctic population of the Lesser White-fronted Goose lies on the brink of extinction with just over 100 individuals, and only the midcontinent population of lesser snow geese in North America exceeds 10 million adults.A Global Audit of the Status and Trends of Arctic And Northern Hemisphere Goose Populations2018
CBMP Terrestrial Biodiversity MonitoringKey finding“White” geese (Chen) are most numerous (17.2 million individuals of 3 species) and all 6 populations have increased in the last 10 years.A Global Audit of the Status and Trends of Arctic And Northern Hemisphere Goose Populations2018
CBMP Terrestrial Biodiversity MonitoringKey finding“Black” geese (Branta) number c. 13.7 million individuals of 27 populations from 5 species, of which 19 populations show stable or increasing trends over the last 10 years.A Global Audit of the Status and Trends of Arctic And Northern Hemisphere Goose Populations2018
CBMP Terrestrial Biodiversity MonitoringKey finding“Grey” geese (Anser) comprise 35 populations of 8.1-8.4 million individuals, of which 15 have declined in the last 10 years, especially in East Asia.A Global Audit of the Status and Trends of Arctic And Northern Hemisphere Goose Populations2018
CBMP Terrestrial Biodiversity MonitoringKey findingMost estimates derive from total counts of all individuals, 8 populations combine some form of capture-mark-recapture approach (almost exclusively in North America) but 15 populations are based upon expert opinion, mostly in East and Central Asia. Less than half of the estimates for all populations were thought to fall within 10% of the true totals.A Global Audit of the Status and Trends of Arctic And Northern Hemisphere Goose Populations2018
CBMP Terrestrial Biodiversity MonitoringKey findingMost populations showed increasing or stable trends over the last 10 years, but our ability to truly judge these trends is highly variable among populations.A Global Audit of the Status and Trends of Arctic And Northern Hemisphere Goose Populations2018
CBMP Terrestrial Biodiversity MonitoringKey findingIn North America, population estimates are good; trends are generally of the best quality and most populations are increasing or stable.A Global Audit of the Status and Trends of Arctic And Northern Hemisphere Goose Populations2018
CBMP Terrestrial Biodiversity MonitoringKey findingMost European populations are increasing or stable, yet several populations lack effective count coordination networks to generate annual assessments of total population size and trends.A Global Audit of the Status and Trends of Arctic And Northern Hemisphere Goose Populations2018
CBMP Terrestrial Biodiversity MonitoringKey findingIn Central and Eastern Asia, where the greatest declines are suspected, good population estimates and count data series over sufficient long time horizons to offer a robust basis for generating trends are generally lacking, with the notable exception of excellent count data from Korea and Japan. However, the situation is rapidly improving in China, where count networks and coordination with flyway partners are being established.A Global Audit of the Status and Trends of Arctic And Northern Hemisphere Goose Populations2018
CBMP Terrestrial Biodiversity MonitoringKey findingMany populations with the poorest population information are those which we suspect are showing the greatest declines.A Global Audit of the Status and Trends of Arctic And Northern Hemisphere Goose Populations2018
CBMP Terrestrial Biodiversity MonitoringKey finding

The most urgent priorities for the future are to

(i) improve our knowledge of population distributions to better inform our definitions of discrete flyway populations;

(ii) implement effective mechanisms to at least periodically measure abundance for all northern hemisphere goose populations to assess trends over time;

(iii) initiate research to identify factors responsible for declining trends in populations of concern, and

(iv) evaluate potential negative effects of overabundant goose populations on habitat and sympatric species.

A Global Audit of the Status and Trends of Arctic And Northern Hemisphere Goose Populations2018
CBMP Terrestrial Biodiversity MonitoringKey findingTo interpret changes in population size, there is an increasing need to understand whether these are due to shifts in range, changes in reproductive success or changes in annual survival.A Global Audit of the Status and Trends of Arctic And Northern Hemisphere Goose Populations2018
CBMP Terrestrial Biodiversity MonitoringKey findingFor this reason we urge wider gathering of age ratio data, and marking programmes to provide annual assessments of reproductive success and survival, particularly amongst populations showing declines.A Global Audit of the Status and Trends of Arctic And Northern Hemisphere Goose Populations2018
CBMP Terrestrial Biodiversity MonitoringKey findingThere is a very clear need to establish or expand annual reporting on population size and demographic trends to make such information accessible to decision makers and stakeholders in a timely fashion.A Global Audit of the Status and Trends of Arctic And Northern Hemisphere Goose Populations2018
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