Susceptibility to Environmental Impact in the Queen Elizabeth Islands
Exploration for oil and gas is proceeding on a rapidly increasing scale in the Queen Elizabeth Islands, and the region needs therefore to be assessed comprehensively in terms of susceptibility of habitat to physical disturbance. . The evaluation is however necessarily provisional, since only a small...
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The Arctic Institute of North America
1974
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Online Access: | https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/65929 |
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ftunivcalgaryojs:oai:journalhosting.ucalgary.ca:article/65929 2023-05-15T14:19:19+02:00 Susceptibility to Environmental Impact in the Queen Elizabeth Islands Babb, T.A. Bliss, L.C. 1974-01-01 application/pdf https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/65929 eng eng The Arctic Institute of North America https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/65929/49843 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/65929 ARCTIC; Vol. 27 No. 3 (1974): September: 165–248; 234-237 1923-1245 0004-0843 Beach erosion Beaches Intertidal zones Lagoons Sea ice Shore ice Berms Alaskan Beaufort Sea Chukchi Sea Lay Point region Alaska Pingok Island info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion research-article 1974 ftunivcalgaryojs 2022-03-22T21:22:54Z Exploration for oil and gas is proceeding on a rapidly increasing scale in the Queen Elizabeth Islands, and the region needs therefore to be assessed comprehensively in terms of susceptibility of habitat to physical disturbance. . The evaluation is however necessarily provisional, since only a small part of the total land area has so far been the subject of detailed biological description. Areas likely to be ecologically critical are delimited with the object of assisting governmental and industrial planning. . Land areas were subdivided into four broad categories based largely on observations made by the present authors. . The categories are as follows: 1) Polar Desert (31% of land area): susceptibility low . 2) Polar Semi-desert (25% of land area): susceptibility moderate . 3) Diverse terrain (22% of land area): susceptibility high in many sites. . 4) Large meadows (<2% of land area): susceptibility high . While biological diversity and plant cover are far less in the High Arctic than in the warmer mainland Arctic, there are numerous areas where the land is susceptible to disturbance. The most common forms of degradation are sheet and gully erosion in areas of sparse plant cover, and the softening in summer of slightly disturbed surfaces on moist, fine-grained substrates. This situation contrasts with that in the Low Arctic where removal of vegetation and potential thermokarst are of great concern. In relatively small areas of high plant cover, surfaces have a susceptibility similar to the extensive tundra areas farther south. The biological consequences of disturbance can be much greater, however, not because of deleterious effects on the landscape alone, but because these isolated rich sites comprise the bulk of the energy base for the remainder of the terrestrial food web. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Beaufort Sea Chukchi Chukchi Sea polar desert Queen Elizabeth Islands Sea ice Thermokarst Tundra Alaska University of Calgary Journal Hosting Arctic Chukchi Sea ARCTIC 27 3 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Calgary Journal Hosting |
op_collection_id |
ftunivcalgaryojs |
language |
English |
topic |
Beach erosion Beaches Intertidal zones Lagoons Sea ice Shore ice Berms Alaskan Beaufort Sea Chukchi Sea Lay Point region Alaska Pingok Island |
spellingShingle |
Beach erosion Beaches Intertidal zones Lagoons Sea ice Shore ice Berms Alaskan Beaufort Sea Chukchi Sea Lay Point region Alaska Pingok Island Babb, T.A. Bliss, L.C. Susceptibility to Environmental Impact in the Queen Elizabeth Islands |
topic_facet |
Beach erosion Beaches Intertidal zones Lagoons Sea ice Shore ice Berms Alaskan Beaufort Sea Chukchi Sea Lay Point region Alaska Pingok Island |
description |
Exploration for oil and gas is proceeding on a rapidly increasing scale in the Queen Elizabeth Islands, and the region needs therefore to be assessed comprehensively in terms of susceptibility of habitat to physical disturbance. . The evaluation is however necessarily provisional, since only a small part of the total land area has so far been the subject of detailed biological description. Areas likely to be ecologically critical are delimited with the object of assisting governmental and industrial planning. . Land areas were subdivided into four broad categories based largely on observations made by the present authors. . The categories are as follows: 1) Polar Desert (31% of land area): susceptibility low . 2) Polar Semi-desert (25% of land area): susceptibility moderate . 3) Diverse terrain (22% of land area): susceptibility high in many sites. . 4) Large meadows (<2% of land area): susceptibility high . While biological diversity and plant cover are far less in the High Arctic than in the warmer mainland Arctic, there are numerous areas where the land is susceptible to disturbance. The most common forms of degradation are sheet and gully erosion in areas of sparse plant cover, and the softening in summer of slightly disturbed surfaces on moist, fine-grained substrates. This situation contrasts with that in the Low Arctic where removal of vegetation and potential thermokarst are of great concern. In relatively small areas of high plant cover, surfaces have a susceptibility similar to the extensive tundra areas farther south. The biological consequences of disturbance can be much greater, however, not because of deleterious effects on the landscape alone, but because these isolated rich sites comprise the bulk of the energy base for the remainder of the terrestrial food web. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Babb, T.A. Bliss, L.C. |
author_facet |
Babb, T.A. Bliss, L.C. |
author_sort |
Babb, T.A. |
title |
Susceptibility to Environmental Impact in the Queen Elizabeth Islands |
title_short |
Susceptibility to Environmental Impact in the Queen Elizabeth Islands |
title_full |
Susceptibility to Environmental Impact in the Queen Elizabeth Islands |
title_fullStr |
Susceptibility to Environmental Impact in the Queen Elizabeth Islands |
title_full_unstemmed |
Susceptibility to Environmental Impact in the Queen Elizabeth Islands |
title_sort |
susceptibility to environmental impact in the queen elizabeth islands |
publisher |
The Arctic Institute of North America |
publishDate |
1974 |
url |
https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/65929 |
geographic |
Arctic Chukchi Sea |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Chukchi Sea |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Beaufort Sea Chukchi Chukchi Sea polar desert Queen Elizabeth Islands Sea ice Thermokarst Tundra Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Beaufort Sea Chukchi Chukchi Sea polar desert Queen Elizabeth Islands Sea ice Thermokarst Tundra Alaska |
op_source |
ARCTIC; Vol. 27 No. 3 (1974): September: 165–248; 234-237 1923-1245 0004-0843 |
op_relation |
https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/65929/49843 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/65929 |
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ARCTIC |
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27 |
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1766290994932744192 |