Charmain Hamilton (Biodiversity Section), 11:00-11:45, Wednesday 13th December.
The NPI seminar series aims at presentations of research and environmental issues relevant to the scope and tasks of the institute. We try to build a seminar program attractive to the larger Tromsø audience interested in the polar challenges of our times. Anyone interested is most welcome to join!
Speaker: Charmain Hamilton (Biodiversity Section)
Title: Impacts of reduced sea-ice extent on Arctic marine mammals
Time: 11:00-11:45, Wednesday 13th December
Venue: Tre-Kroner, 5th floor, Fram Centre
Abstract: Arctic sea-ice extent is declining rapidly with this region potentially becoming seasonally sea-ice free within the coming decades. Sea-ice declines pose a large threat to Arctic marine mammals as species in this group are heavily dependent on sea ice. Trophic interactions between Arctic marine mammals will also likely be altered by changing environmental conditions, as different species will be impacted at different rates. Altered trophic interactions can in turn impact multiple other species in the terrestrial and marine Arctic food webs. I will present some of our latest research on coastal polar bears (Ursus maritimus) and ringed seals (Pusa hispida) in Svalbard. Both species were instrumented with biotelemetry devices before (2002-2004) and after (2010-2013) the large decline in sea-ice conditions in Svalbard occurred in 2006. We investigated how the space use, movement patterns and spatial overlap between these two species were impacted by the environmental changes in this region. I will also present results from the bearded seals (Erignathus barbatus) and ringed seals tagged with GPS Argos CTD tags in Kongsfjorden in 2011-2012. Annual movement patterns, diving behaviour, use of various water masses and spatial overlap between these two species will be presented.
Norsk Polarinstitutts seminarserie
Polarinstituttets seminarserie tar sikte på å presentere forskning og miljøspørsmål som er relevante for instituttets funksjon og mandat. Vi bygger programmet omkring aktuelle polare utfordringer, og retter oss mot publikum i hele det polarinteresserte Tromsø. Seminarene er åpne for alle interesserte – velkommen!
NP-seminarene avholdes normalt annenhver onsdag kl 11:30 i «Tre Kroner» (5. et. i Framsenteret). Seminarer utover dette arrangeres når muligheten byr seg.
Noen ganger må tidspunktet forskyves. Se det aktuelle seminarets detaljer for nøyaktig tidspunkt.
