Much has already been said of the potentially large-scale physical and biological effects of climate change on individual ecosystems and states as a whole. Less emphasis has been placed on the study of the effect of global warming on specific species, particularly those whose role in the food chain makes their presence essential to the stability of the ecosystem.
A new project headed by Nigel Yoccoz in collaboration with Rolf Anker Ims, both from the University of Tromsø, will seek to understand the reduction in the population of several Arctic predators as a consequence of climate change. They are particularly interested in studying the arctic fox, a key predator that was recently placed on the endangered species list.
Because the fox's habitat in the Arctic tundra is particularly vulnerable to the effects of global warming, Yoccoz and Ims believe that it and other similar predators can serve as indicators of what is happening in the ecosystem as a whole. “Research on ecosystems is complex as it deals with dynamics in all living species in interaction with each other and with non-living aspects of their environment,” says Professor Ims. “One of the objectives of this project is to examine whether it’s possible to create a simplification by using the predator community as an ecosystem indicator.”
In a typical food chain, predators such as the Arctic fox sit at the very top of several levels that encompass species like the snowy owl and rough-legged buzzard. Since predators are vulnerable to even the slightest change in the prey population, they often serve as effective proxies for the health of the ecosystem as whole.
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