Session Announcement
Conserving Biodiversity in a Radically Changing Arctic
Biodiversity in a Rapidly Changing World
9th National Conference on Science, Policy, and the Environment
Washington, DC
8-10 December 2008
For further information, please go to:
http://ncseonline.org/Conference/Biodiversity/cms.cfm?id=2688
Organizers of the 9th National Conference on Science, Policy, and the
Environment, "Biodiversity in a Rapidly Changing World," invite you to
attend a special session: "Conserving Biodiversity in a Radically
Changing Arctic." The session will be held during the conference, being
convened 8-10 December 2008, in Washington, DC. Registration is now
available. For further information, please go to:
http://ncseonline.org/Conference/Biodiversity/cms.cfm?id=2688.
Session Goals
1. Summarize what is known about arctic biodiversity, including the role
of the Arctic in global biodiversity and current trends.
2. Identify the primary 21st century threats to native biodiversity in
the Arctic.
3. Explore potential criteria for distinguishing "invasive species" from
other species with an expanding presence in the rapidly changing Arctic.
4. Evaluate the efficacy of current biodiversity conservation efforts in
the Arctic.
5. Discuss additional needs and opportunities to conserve native
biodiversity in the Arctic, with considerations given to ecological,
economic, and political factors.
Climate change and industrial development are challenging the integrity
of arctic ecosystems like never before, with potentially drastic effects
on arctic biodiversity. Changes in habitats such as shrub and treeline
advance, permafrost degradation, and sea ice loss are driving changes in
distribution and abundance of arctic-adapted species. These changes are
also leading to invasions by species formerly restricted to lower
latitudes. At the same time, the human population of the Arctic is
growing, and there is rapidly increasing interest in arctic resource
extraction and tourism. To complicate matters further, baseline data on
plant and animal distribution and abundance is lacking or incomplete for
much of the Arctic, making detection of changes difficult. In this
session, organizers will identify data gaps, discuss threats to arctic
biodiversity, evaluate current biodiversity conservation efforts, and
propose additional needs and opportunities for arctic biodiversity
conservation.
For further information, please go to:
http://ncseonline.org/Conference/Biodiversity/cms.cfm?id=2688.