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The book is based on data collected during the past ten years by
Zackenberg Ecological Research Operations (ZERO) at Zackenberg
Research Station in Northeast Greenland. This volume covers the
function of Arctic ecosystems based on the most comprehensive
long-term data set in the world from a well-defined Arctic
ecosystem. Editors offer a comprehensive and authoritative analysis
of how climate variability is influencing an Arctic ecosystem and
how the Arctic ecosystems have inherent feedback mechanisms
interacting with climate variability or change.
* The latest research on the functioning of Arctic ecosystems
* Supplement current books on arctic climate impact assessment as a
case study for ecological specialists
* Discusses the complex perpetuating effects on Earth
* Vital information on modelling ecosystem responses to understand
future climates
About 50 species of shorebirds breed in the Arctic, where they
constitute the most characteristic component of the tundra
avifauna. Here, we review the impact of weather and climate on the
breeding cycle of shorebirds based on extensive studies conducted
across the Arctic. Conditions for breeding shorebirds are highly
variable among species, sites and regions, both within and between
continents. Weather effects on breeding are most moderate in the
Low Arctic of northern Europe and most extreme in the Siberian High
Arctic. The decision of whether or not to breed upon arrival on the
breeding grounds, the timing of egg-laying and the chick-growth
period are most affected by annual variation in weather. In large
parts of the Arctic, clutch initiation dates are highly correlated
with snowmelt dates and in regions and years where extensive
snowmelt occurs before or soon after the arrival of shorebirds, the
decision to breed and on the breeding ecology of clutch initiation
dates appear to be a function of food availability for laying
females. Once incubation is initiated, adult shorebirds appear
fairly resilient to variations in temperature with nest abandonment
primarily occurring in case of severe weather with new snow
covering the ground. Feeding conditions for chicks, a factor highly
influenced by weather, affects juvenile production in most regions.
Predation has a very strong impact on breeding productivity
throughout the Arctic and subarctic, with lemming Dicrostonyx spp.
and Lemmus spp. fluctuations strongly influencing predation rates,
particularly in the Siberian Arctic. The fate of Arctic shorebirds
under projected future climate scenarios is uncertain, but High
Arctic species and populations appear particularly at risk.
Climatic amelioration may benefit Arctic shorebirds in the short
term by increasing both survival and productivity, whereas in the
long term habitat changes both on the breeding grounds and on the
temperate and tropical non-breeding areas may put them under
considerable pressure and may bring some of them near to
extinction. Their relatively low genetic diversity, which is
thought to be a consequence of survival through past
climatically-driven population bottlenecks, may also put them more
at risk to anthropogenic-induced climate variation than other avian
taxa.
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