Yukon research critical to circumpolar network

Bird biologist, Dave Mossop has put another feather in his cap. His research on Arctic birds over the past 40 years has become a valuable asset to a newly established circumpolar monitoring network, the Tundra Conservation Network.

The Network was created in response to research that suggests a perceived decline in Arctic bird populations in the circumpolar North. Mossop represents Canada in a network that includes all eight nations in the Arctic region.

Mossop has collected data on the Gyrfalcon (jer-fol-ken) and ptarmigan (tar-mi-gen) for nearly four decades. In the late 1990’s he began to see stresses in their populations and upon reaching out to the circumpolar research community he discovered there were similar results around the globe.

“We know the decline of these bird populations is a sign of something bad, and we are hoping a circumpolar network will help us to figure out what that is”, said Dave Mossop, Professor Emeritus, Yukon Research Centre.

In Mossop’s 2013 gyrfalcon survey, not one nest in his sample produced any young; the lowest level of productivity in 30 years of data collection. These results are important to the Network, but equally as important is having the capacity to process the data in a meaningful way. The Network is not only made up of experts on birds and vegetation, but modelers who can interpret and anticipate what is happening.

“Dave Mossop has one of the longest-term datasets on Gyrfalcons ever, and this is an invaluable resource that will help us to reconstruct past trends to predict future events”, said David Anderson, Director, Gyrfalcon Conservation Project, Peregrine Fund. “The success of the Network largely depends on a range of partners at different career levels and Mossop’s leadership and expertise benefits the Network immensely”, said Anderson.

The Gyrfalcon and ptarmigan are considered ideal species to determine the health of the Arctic ecosystem. The predatory Gyrfalcon sits at the top of the food chain and the ptarmigan is a food source that many Arctic animals depend upon. Monitoring these two species and using climate modeling techniques, scientists can forecast the future for the Arctic ecosystem and its inhabitants.

Mossop and a summer student, in partnership with Yukon Government, will continue yearly Gyrfalcon and ptarmigan surveys in Yukon in order to keep a finger on the pulse of Arctic health. He hopes the 2014 survey produces more hopeful results.

The Tundra Conservation Network just completed its first annual general meeting in Boise, Idaho, with representatives from Russia, Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Greenland, United States, and Canada.  This meeting set directions for circumpolar science, and created clear objectives for the Network. The Network is funded by the Peregrine Fund and coordinated by the World Centre for Birds of Prey, and is based in the United States of America.