Low vulnerability of Arctic fox dens to climate change-related geohazards on Bylot Island, Nunavut, Canada
Climate change increases the risk of severe alterations to essential wildlife habitats. The Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus (Linnaeus, 1758)) uses dens as shelters against cold temperatures and predators. These dens, needed for successful reproduction, are generally dug into the active layer on top of pe...
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Canadian Science Publishing
2021
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2019-0007 https://doaj.org/article/4b0494f00df142f9a3c7bfc7003cab71 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:4b0494f00df142f9a3c7bfc7003cab71 2023-05-15T14:23:41+02:00 Low vulnerability of Arctic fox dens to climate change-related geohazards on Bylot Island, Nunavut, Canada Florence Lapierre Poulin Daniel Fortier Dominique Berteaux 2021-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2019-0007 https://doaj.org/article/4b0494f00df142f9a3c7bfc7003cab71 EN FR eng fre Canadian Science Publishing https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2019-0007 https://doaj.org/toc/2368-7460 doi:10.1139/as-2019-0007 2368-7460 https://doaj.org/article/4b0494f00df142f9a3c7bfc7003cab71 Arctic Science, Vol 7, Iss 3, Pp 1-16 (2021) vulpes lagopus vulnerability geohazards climate change permafrost Environmental sciences GE1-350 Environmental engineering TA170-171 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2019-0007 2022-12-31T10:34:44Z Climate change increases the risk of severe alterations to essential wildlife habitats. The Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus (Linnaeus, 1758)) uses dens as shelters against cold temperatures and predators. These dens, needed for successful reproduction, are generally dug into the active layer on top of permafrost and reused across multiple generations. We assessed the vulnerability of Arctic fox dens to the increasing frequency of geohazards (thaw settlement, mass movements, and thermal erosion) that is arising from climate change. On Bylot Island (Nunavut, Canada) we developed, and calculated from field observations, a qualitative vulnerability index to geohazards for Arctic fox dens. Of the 106 dens studied, 14% were classified as highly vulnerable, whereas 17% and 69% had a moderate and low vulnerability, respectively. Vulnerability was not related to the probability of use for reproduction. Although climate change will likely impact Arctic fox reproductive dens, such impact is not a major threat to foxes of Bylot Island. Our research provides the first insights into the climate-related geohazards potentially affecting Arctic fox ecology in the next decades. The developed method is flexible and could be applied to other locations or other species that complete their life cycle in permafrost regions. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Fox Arctic Bylot Island Climate change Nunavut permafrost Vulpes lagopus Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Nunavut Bylot Island Canada Arctic Science 1 16 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English French |
topic |
vulpes lagopus vulnerability geohazards climate change permafrost Environmental sciences GE1-350 Environmental engineering TA170-171 |
spellingShingle |
vulpes lagopus vulnerability geohazards climate change permafrost Environmental sciences GE1-350 Environmental engineering TA170-171 Florence Lapierre Poulin Daniel Fortier Dominique Berteaux Low vulnerability of Arctic fox dens to climate change-related geohazards on Bylot Island, Nunavut, Canada |
topic_facet |
vulpes lagopus vulnerability geohazards climate change permafrost Environmental sciences GE1-350 Environmental engineering TA170-171 |
description |
Climate change increases the risk of severe alterations to essential wildlife habitats. The Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus (Linnaeus, 1758)) uses dens as shelters against cold temperatures and predators. These dens, needed for successful reproduction, are generally dug into the active layer on top of permafrost and reused across multiple generations. We assessed the vulnerability of Arctic fox dens to the increasing frequency of geohazards (thaw settlement, mass movements, and thermal erosion) that is arising from climate change. On Bylot Island (Nunavut, Canada) we developed, and calculated from field observations, a qualitative vulnerability index to geohazards for Arctic fox dens. Of the 106 dens studied, 14% were classified as highly vulnerable, whereas 17% and 69% had a moderate and low vulnerability, respectively. Vulnerability was not related to the probability of use for reproduction. Although climate change will likely impact Arctic fox reproductive dens, such impact is not a major threat to foxes of Bylot Island. Our research provides the first insights into the climate-related geohazards potentially affecting Arctic fox ecology in the next decades. The developed method is flexible and could be applied to other locations or other species that complete their life cycle in permafrost regions. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Florence Lapierre Poulin Daniel Fortier Dominique Berteaux |
author_facet |
Florence Lapierre Poulin Daniel Fortier Dominique Berteaux |
author_sort |
Florence Lapierre Poulin |
title |
Low vulnerability of Arctic fox dens to climate change-related geohazards on Bylot Island, Nunavut, Canada |
title_short |
Low vulnerability of Arctic fox dens to climate change-related geohazards on Bylot Island, Nunavut, Canada |
title_full |
Low vulnerability of Arctic fox dens to climate change-related geohazards on Bylot Island, Nunavut, Canada |
title_fullStr |
Low vulnerability of Arctic fox dens to climate change-related geohazards on Bylot Island, Nunavut, Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
Low vulnerability of Arctic fox dens to climate change-related geohazards on Bylot Island, Nunavut, Canada |
title_sort |
low vulnerability of arctic fox dens to climate change-related geohazards on bylot island, nunavut, canada |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2019-0007 https://doaj.org/article/4b0494f00df142f9a3c7bfc7003cab71 |
geographic |
Arctic Nunavut Bylot Island Canada |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Nunavut Bylot Island Canada |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Fox Arctic Bylot Island Climate change Nunavut permafrost Vulpes lagopus |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Fox Arctic Bylot Island Climate change Nunavut permafrost Vulpes lagopus |
op_source |
Arctic Science, Vol 7, Iss 3, Pp 1-16 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2019-0007 https://doaj.org/toc/2368-7460 doi:10.1139/as-2019-0007 2368-7460 https://doaj.org/article/4b0494f00df142f9a3c7bfc7003cab71 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2019-0007 |
container_title |
Arctic Science |
container_start_page |
1 |
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16 |
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1766296177210294272 |