by Lewis Smith

A huge swathe of the waters off Antarctica must be protected from fishing and other industries, a report urges.

More than 40 per cent of the region needs to be given protection before, as one of the world’s last true frontier regions, it is damaged irreparably by human activity, the Antarctic Ocean Alliance (AOA) believes.

The group has identified 19 “key Antarctic marine habitats” that it believes must be protected as part of the largest network of marine protected areas ever created, and is urging the UK government to throw its weight behind the proposals.

read the full article here: 

http://www.fish2fork.com/en-GB/news-index/Save-Antarctic-life-with-protected-zones-urges-report.aspx

In October 2011, the Antarctic Ocean Alliance (AOA) proposed the creation of a network of marine protected areas (MPAs) and no-take marine reserves in 19 specific areas in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica. 

This report, Antarctic Ocean Legacy: A Vision for Circumpolar Protection, now provides the AOA’s full vision for this network with particular reference to the ecological values of the chosen areas.

After a very successful (social and scientific:) week in Montreal, let’s to keep the momentum going!  For the members not at Montreal, the RAC folks met briefly during the breakout part of the APECS council meeting April 22, 2012. In brief we talked about current and future RAC initiatives:

- Handing over RAC-chair responsibilities. I have taken on chair responsibilities as of April with Tristy Vik as co-chair. Thanks to both Julia and Inga, the outgoing chairs, for their advice and leadership

- Discipline of the Month is changing to “Research Feature” and will managed by its own working group, although still closely associated with the RAC. The major responsibilities will include: editing the VPS, filling the schedule with topics and respective volunteers to host the Research Feature each month, and keeping the archives up to date. For example, this is a good opportunity for the Frostbyte editors to help with the VPS editsJ Contact Julia Schmale or I if you are interested in helping, or have ideas for the next Research Feature!

- A couple of new research areas were proposed Coastal Research, and Traditional Knowledge. Both topics could be inaugurated as a Research Feature in the near future. Contact persons are Inga May and Jennie Knopp, respectively.

- Jose Xavier informed us about the forthcoming IPI (International Polar Initiative), and what APECS role might be. This is a good opportunity for the RAC to help identify emerging issues and build a team of members to represent the identified research areas. Allen Pope is representing APECS on the IPI steering committee.

Main themes discussed:

* Review of results from the first workshop held in Denmark during October 2011 and with the help of the ‘Background Paper of the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Programme’s Terrestrial Expert Monitoring Group’

* Finalizing the structure of monitoring focus groups (birds, mammals, vegetation, arthropods)

* Filling gaps in the suggested monitoring structure within focus groups

* Start to identify overlaps across monitoring groups

* Identify existing and missing data

* Prioritize ecosystem components and indicators

* Identify challenges

Read More

http://www.arctic-images.com

Commercial photographs collection from professional Icelandic photographer Ragnar Th. Sigurdsson frequently on the move in the Arctic areas in a quest for the light, perspectives and motives existing only in this unique territory on the top of world.

Arctic circle photography

http://www.arcticcirclephoto.com

Private collection of geographer and biologist Ken Tape on Alaskan wilderness. Tapes artistic interests are concentrated on landscape, aurora, and adventure photography. His passion for the outdoors and the beauty of the Arctic has motivated him to seek out and record the timeless moments of remote Arctic locations. Dog-mushing, boating, and hiking represent his primary subjects for adventure photography.

Arctic Photo

http://www.arcticphoto.no

Private collection of Novegian photographer Bjørn Jørgensen, mostly from the Norvegian arctic, Tromsø and Lofoten.

Fotosearch Stock Photography and Stock Footage

http://www.fotosearch.com/photos-images/arctic.html

This image search engine offers for sale Arctic stock photos and images mostly of animals and nature

Arctic Pictures from Hornsund, Spitsbergen

http://folk.ntnu.no/bjar/bjarne/hornsund

Land and icescape photos from the arctic with few polar bear and northern lights photos.

Arktiske Billeder

http://www.arktiskebilleder.dk

Arktiske Billeder er et bevarings- og formidlingsprojekt - et samarbejde mellem Arktisk Institut og Dansk Polarcenter, med støtte fra Kulturministeriets Tips- og Lotto midler. I projektets første fase skannes og registreres ca. 20.000 af de ældste billeder i samlingen fra ca. 1860-1930.

Bryan & Cherry Alexander Photography

http://www.arcticphoto.co.uk

Private collection of over 100,000 images from both Polar Regions makes up this collection. Photographs of Chukchi, Dolgan, E'ven, Evenki, Khanty, Koryak,Tuvan and Yakut, including pictures of reindeer being ridden and traditional life of these native peoples in Siberia's taiga and tundra. Also extensive coverage of the Tundra and Forest Nenet Reindeer herders of the Yamal and Gydan Peninsulas.

Dave Brosha photography

http://www.arctic-photo.com

Private collection of northern photographer Dave Brosha holding commercial, personal and landscape photography from Nunavut, Northwest Territories, Yukon and Alaska.

Edward S. Curtis photos from The North American Indian

http://memory.loc.gov/award/iencurt/ct20/ct20toc.html

The North American Indian by Edward S. Curtis is one of the most significant and controversial representations of traditional American Indian culture ever produced. Issued in a limited edition from 1907-1930, the publication continues to exert a major influence on the image of Indians in popular culture. Curtis said he wanted to document "the old time Indian, his dress, his ceremonies, his life and manners." In over 2000 photogravure plates and narrative, Curtis portrayed the traditional customs and lifeways of eighty Indian tribes. The twenty volumes, each with an accompanying portfolio, are organized by tribes and culture areas encompassing the Great Plains, Great Basin, Plateau Region, Southwest, California, Pacific Northwest, and Alaska. Featured here are all of the published photogravure images including over 1500 illustrations bound in the text volumes, along with over 700 portfolio plates.

Freeze Frame

http://www.freezeframe.ac.uk/home/home

Historic Polar Images, 1845-1982 from the Scott Polar Research Institute

Gallery of polar and marine photos 1

http://www.aari.nw.ru/main.htm?http://www.aari.nw.ru/info/gallery_02.html

Russian Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute photographs taken amongst other, during change of annual staff at Vostok station in 2001, of Russian atomic icebreaker or of the installation of meteostation at Bennett island.

Gallery of polar and marine photos 2

http://www.aari.nw.ru/main.htm?http://www.aari.nw.ru/info/gallery_02_0.html

AARI photographic collection of arctic sampling such as hummock measuring or solar radiation observation.

Gallery of polar and marine photos /Antarctic

http://www.aari.nw.ru/main.htm?http://www.aari.nw.ru/info/gallery_02_1.html

Russian Antarctic expedition photos from cargo upload on drift ice and penguins see also photo collection of Antarctic icebergs at Antarctic icebergs.

Photo Archives & Research Project (PARP)

http://contentdm.ucalgary.ca/cdm4/search.php?CISOROOT=/aina3

The Arctic Institution of North America photographic collection consists of over 4000 photographs dating from the late 1800s through the 1900s. The collection came to the University of Calgary from Montréal when AINA moved here in the 1970s. Consisting mostly of black and white prints, but also some negatives and slides, the bulk of the collection dates to the first half of the 20th century. The photos were taken on a variety of expeditions and patrols by scientists, mountaineers, police and military patrols, and other Arctic explorers.

The collection is particularly valued for its insights into history, culture, and science. Much of the content includes an emphasis on Inuit cultural life and various scientific themes such as geology, glaciology, archaeology, and oil and gas exploration. Some of AINA’s larger collections include those from D.A. Nichols, Patrick D. Baird, M.H.W. Ritchie, Colonel Walter A. Wood, Henry Larsen, and Margaret Oldenburg. The collection has been professionally archived and is now available online.

The First International Polar Year

http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/aro/ipy-1/index.htm

The Arctic Environment in Historical Perspective. The records of the first International Polar Year (IPY) 1881-1884 offer a unique opportunity to study the Arctic as it existed prior to the present era of environmental change.

Meteorological data from IPY stations have been collected and are presented here for the first time in digital format. An extensive documentary image collection may also be viewed.

Winter Arctic Field Party photos

http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/index.html

More than 10,000 images from The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Photo Library, amongst them some polar regions exploration photographs.

www.photos.is

http://www.photos.is/main.php?g2_itemId=3505

This Web Page contains thousands of Icelandic stock photos along with a smaller section of photographs from other countries. The photo gallery is separated in different categories suitable for all kind of purposes e.g. for private or corporate use. Some of the categories include pictures of Icelandic landscape; ice, glaciers, northern lights, volcanoes, mountains, black sand, Blue Lagoon and people exploring the nature in general. Other categories in the image bank relate to the advertising industry and contain photos of people exploring and enjoying the nature by hiking, kayaking, skiing, riding, socializing etc.

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Read more...

The goals of the survey are to determine:

1. How many APECS members were introduced to polar research because of the IPY?
2. How many plan to stay in polar research?
3. How many want to help shape the next International Polar Initiative?
4. How many engaged in research and/or education during IPY?

Read the whole article here.

What we are developing for APECS Traditional Knowledge web resource:

* Ideas and methods for northern community consultation and research involvement

* Ideas and methods for use of Traditional Knowledge in research

* Map of Inuit regions across the Circumpolar Arctic

* Resources for documented Traditional Knowledge

* Northern community contacts for initiating community-driven and community-based research and the incorporation of Traditional Knowledge into research projects

* An online meeting place where northern communities and EPCS can post profiles, research ideas and research needs and where EPCS and northern communities can “meet” with each other.

For further information please contact Jennie Knopp

The Muse Prize is awarded to an individual in the fields of Antarctic science or policy who has demonstrated potential for sustained and significant contributions that will enhance the understanding and/or preservation of Antarctica.

Dr Rintoul's research has made a profound contribution to our scientific understanding of the Southern Ocean and of Antarctica’s role in the global system. His work has provided new understanding of the structure, dynamics and variability of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, the largest ocean current on Earth. He has also shown how the Southern Ocean circulation links the shallow and deep layers of the ocean to form a global network of ocean currents that strongly influences climate patterns.  His research has provided new insights into the nature, causes and consequences of Southern Ocean change.  Dr Rintoul’s leadership has been critical to advancing coordinated international investigation of the Southern Ocean and to promoting long term Southern Ocean observing systems.

Dr Rintoul will be awarded the Prize and will deliver the Muse Prize Lecture at the SCAR Open Science Conference in Portland, Oregon in July 2012

Helen Anderson*, Tom Godfrey**, Sarah Woodin**, Christiaane Hübner***, René van der Wal*

*Aberdeen Centre for Environmental Sustainability, School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, UK
**Institute of Biological & Environmental Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, UK
***The Norwegian Polar Institute, Svalbard, Norway

Conference Where Poster was Originally Presented: 

British Ornithologists' Union Conference - Migratory Birds: their Ecology and Conservation, Leicester, UK, 5-7 April 2011

Abstract/Summary:

Pink-footed geese (Anser brachyrhynchus) are one of the main herbivores of the Svalbard tundra, with 50,000 – 70,000 individuals migrating from wintering grounds in Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark to Svalbard to breed. Birds arrive in mid-May when habitat availability is restricted by extensive snow cover. Access to suitable forage at this time is critical to allow geese to replenish fat reserves used during their long migration and to build resources prior to nesting and egg laying. To determine how snow cover restricts access to preferred forage habitats we completed field surveys of snow cover, habitat types and locations of feeding geese in Adventdalen, one of the main spring foraging areas in Svalbard. Aerial photographic images were used as a basis for field mapping, with photographic images and survey maps imported into ARC GIS, where they were georeferenced and digitised. Snow cover was initially extensive with patchy, limited available habitat for foraging opportunities, with geese generally restricted to feeding in dry habitats. With progressive snow melt, geese spread out across the landscape. However, overall they preferred to feed in wetter habitats, which were generally last to experience snow melt. Arctic regions are predicted to undergo greater rates of climatic warming, and changes to the timing of snow melt and snow cover patterns are likely to be particularly dramatic. For long distance migratory terrestrial Arctic herbivores, such as pink-footed geese, these changes may be especially beneficial as early snow melt may improve access to favoured forage habitat on first arrival in Svalbard.

Contact the Author:

Download the poster:

{pdf=images/stories/posters/helenanderson2012a.pdf|700|500}

Kim A Jochum*&**, Andrew Kliskey*, Lilian Alessa*,
Kris Hundertmark**, Dmitry Lisitsyn***, Susan Todd****

*RAM Group, Biological Sciences, University of Alaska Anchorage
**Biology and Wildlife Department, University of Alaska Fairbanks
***Sakhalin Environment Watch, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russian Far-East
****School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Conference Where Poster was Originally Presented: 

4th International Human-Bear Conflicts Workshop, March 20-22, 2012 in Missoula, Montana

Abstract/Summary:

In rapidly urbanizing Northern regions, human population growth places increasing pressures on wildlife populations. Currently, the incorporation of perceptions of local people is recognized as a critical missing link to build resilient adaptive management strategies. This research examines the beliefs and values of two comparable Northern urbanizing regions on human-bear encounters and bear management: Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far-East and the city of Anchorage in South-central Alaska. Forty-six semi-structured interviews were collected across study regions during 2010 and 2011. Analyses were carried out through classification of interview content via emergent coding. Our results show that, across the study regions, it is broadly perceived that people, themselves, are a significant contributor to human-bear encounters. Whereas for Alaska’s participants ‘being in bear country’ is strongly linked to recreational activities, on Sakhalin people connect ‘being in bear country’ to ‘competition over resources’ with bears. Therefore economic and social values of human-bear encounters vary but play a role in both regions. The perception of what bear management really is and what it should be differs strongly. For Sakhalin’s participants the implementation of hunting permits is thought of as bear management, whereas in Alaska the discontent about the level of public involvement in policy decision making comes to mind for many participants, something not even considered on Sakhalin. These data provide key insights to potential improvements in bear management strategies in these Northern settlements and the information is transferable to other region where increased human activity encroaches on wild bear populations.

Contact the Author:

Download the poster:

{pdf=images/stories/posters/kimjochum2012a.pdf|700|500}