Arctic articles from March 2008

Arctic archives from March 2008

Remote sensing of Arctic vegetation: relations between the NDVI, spatial resolution and vegetation cover on Boothia Peninsula, Nunavut.(normalized difference vegetation index)(Report)
March 1, 2008... INTRODUCTION Tundra vegetation covers approximately six million square kilometers of the earth's surface and is thus an important consideration within the context of global climate change (Hope et al., 1993; Stow et al., 2004; Walker et...

Unusual predation attempts of polar bears on ringed seals in the southern Beaufort Sea: possible significance of changing spring ice conditions.(Report)
March 1, 2008... INTRODUCTION Throughout their range in the Canadian Arctic, polar bears (Ursus maritimus) prey primarily on ringed seals (Phoca hispida) (Stirling and Archibald, 1977; Smith, 1980). In spring, most hunting by bears takes place along...

The annual migration cycle of emperor geese in western Alaska.(Report)
March 1, 2008... INTRODUCTION Emperor geese (Chen canagica) are unique among North American geese because most of the population spends the winter at a relatively high latitude (> 50[degrees] N) in a marine environment. While most North American geese...

Dorset Palaeoeskimo skin processing at Phillip's Garden, Port au Choix, northwestern Newfoundland.(Report)
March 1, 2008... INTRODUCTION Phillip's Garden (EeBi-1) is the largest and most intensively occupied Dorset Palaeoeskimo site identified in Newfoundland (Fig. 1). It comprises a 2 ha meadow ringed by stunted spruce and fir forest, locally called tuckamore,...

Has prey availability for arctic birds advanced with climate change? Hindcasting the abundance of tundra arthropods using weather and seasonal variation.(Report)
March 1, 2008... INTRODUCTION Global warming is causing the permanent ice cover at the North Pole to melt faster than was previously expected (McBean, 2005; Meehl et al., 2005). According to the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (McBean, 2005), seaice cover...

Bowhead whales, and not right whales, were the primary target of 16th- to 17th-century Basque whalers in the western North Atlantic.(Report)
March 1, 2008... INTRODUCTION Historical tissue samples can be useful for assessing the population biology and past demography of threatened and endangered species. For many species, historical specimens are often not available for direct comparisons of...

Approaching freshet beneath landfast ice in Kugmallit Bay on the Canadian Arctic Shelf: evidence from sensor and ground truth data.(Report)
March 1, 2008... INTRODUCTION The Mackenzie River is the only North American analog of the large Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic. Although the Siberian rivers have a greater water discharge (Burenkov et al., 1997; Kuptsov et al., 1999; Wegner et...

Bone weathering in a periglacial environment: the Tayara site (KbFk-7), Qikirtaq Island, Nunavik (Canada).(Report)
March 1, 2008... INTRODUCTION Originally defined by Efremov (1940) as the laws of embedding or burial, taphonomy is the study of the physical, biological, and cultural processes that result in the post-mortem modifications of animal remains such as bones....

A white killer whale in the central Aleutians.(Cover story)
March 1, 2008... On 7 August 2000, we observed an almost all-white male killer whale (Orcinus orca) on the north side of Adak Island (off Cape Adagdak) (52[degrees]01.1' N, 176[degrees]35.0'W), central Aleutians, Alaska. We sighted the animal from a distance of...

Arctic Hell-Ship: The Voyage of HMS Enterprise 1850-1855.(Book review)
March 1, 2008... ARCTIC HELL-SHIP: THE VOYAGE OF HMS ENTERPRISE 1850-1855. By WILLIAM BARR. Edmonton: The University of Alberta Press, 2007. ISBN: 978-0-88864-433-6. xiv + 318 p., maps, b & w and colour illus., notes, bib., index. Softbound. Cdn$34.95. In...

Kiumajut (Talking Back): Game Management and Inuit Rights 1900-1970.
March 1, 2008... KIUMAJUT (TALKING BACK): GAME MANAGEMENT AND INUIT RIGHTS 1900-1970. By PETER KULCHYSKI and FRANK JAMES TESTER. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-778-1242-9. xii + 316 p., map, notes, bib., index. Softbound. Cdn$34.95. How do Inuit...

Emperor of the North: Sir George Simpson and the Remarkable Story of the Hudson's Bay Company.(Book review)
March 1, 2008... EMPEROR OF THE NORTH: SIR GEORGE SIMPSON AND THE REMARKABLE STORY OF THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY. By JAMES RAFFAN. Toronto: HarperCollins Publishers, 2007. ISBN 9780002007832. x + 484 p., maps, b & w illus., appendices, notes, bib., index....

Alaska Trees and Shrubs.(Book review)
March 1, 2008... ALASKA TREES AND SHRUBS. By LESLIE A. VIERECK and ELBERT L. LITTLE, Jr. Fairbanks: University of Alaska Press, 2007. 2nd ed. ISBN 1-889963-86-0. x + 359 p., maps, b & w illus., colour plates. glossary, bib., index. Softbound. US$24.95. ...

The Stone Age of Qeqertarsuup Tunua (Disko Bugt): A Regional Analysis of the Saqqaq and Dorset Cultures of Central West Greenland.(Book review)
March 1, 2008... THE STONE AGE OF QEQERTARSUUP TUNUA (DISKO BUGT): A REGIONAL ANALYSIS OF THE SAQQAQ AND DORSET CULTURES OF CENTRAL WEST GREENLAND. By JENS FOG JENSEN. Copenhagen: SILA and The Commission for Scientific Research in Greenland, 2006. Meddelelser...

Books received.(Bibliography)
March 1, 2008... A BIBLIOGRAPHY ON THE IMAGINED NORTH: ARCTIC, WINTER, ANTARCTIC. By DANIEL CHARTIER. Montreal: Imaginaire Nord, 2007. ISBN 978-2-923385-09-9. (Available in Canada from Distribution de livres Univers s.e.n.c., 845, rue Marie-Victorin,...

Papers to appear in Arctic.
March 1, 2008... FRAME, P.F., CLUFF, H.D., and HIK, D.S. Wolf Reproduction in Response to Caribou Migration and Industrial Development on the Central Barrens of Mainland Canada. LYDERSEN, C., AARS, J., and KOVACS, K.M. Estimating the Number of Walruses in...

Voices from the margins: the Muskekowuck Athinuwick/Cree People of northern Ontario and the management of Wabusk/polar bear.(InfoNorth)(Report)
March 1, 2008... VARIOUS STUDIES ON POLAR BEARS (Wabusk in Cree) indicate that the health and distribution of this animal and its habitat (i.e., dens, staging areas) are being affected by climate change (Scott et al., 2002; Obbard et al., 2006, 2007). Of...

Inuit leader speaks on Arctic issues.(NORTHERN NEWS)(Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami's Mary Simon)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... The best way to assert Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic is through the residents who live there, according to Mary Simon, president of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), who spoke at the Canadian Club in Calgary in February as part of her...

New board members welcomed.(AINA NEWS)(Arctic Institute of North America)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... A changing of the guard occurred at the January 2008 meeting of the AINA board. Stepping down were Kathleen Scherf, Marion LaVigne, Ingrid Johnson, Dennis Salahub, and Louis-Jacques Dorais. AINA thanks these board members for their hard work...

New research associate.(AINA NEWS)(Dr. Marc Poulin)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... A new research associate was approved at the January meeting of the Board of Directors. Dr. Marc Poulin, an associate professor with the Faculties of Medicine and Kinesiology at the University of Calgary, currently chairs a specialized master's...

New AINA Fellows.(AINA NEWS)(Dr. Patricia Sutherland and Dr. Kathy Young of Arctic Institute of North America)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Two distinguished Arctic researchers, Dr. Patricia Sutherland and Dr. Kathy Young, were elected as Fellows of the Institute at its January board meeting. Dr. Sutherland is an archaeologist with a long and distinguished career in the Arctic. She...

ASTIS news.(AINA NEWS)(Arctic Institute of North America's Arctic Science and Technology Information System)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... The coverage of AINA's Arctic Science and Technology Information System (ASTIS) continues to improve on many fronts. Links to the following databases are available on the ASTIS page of the AINA website (arctic.ucalgary.ca, and then click on...

Conferences.(InfoNorth)(Calendar)
March 1, 2008... Russia and the Circumpolar World: Transforming Nations, Contested Frontiers Association of American Geographers 2008 Annual Meeting 15-19 April 2008, Boston, Massachusetts Website: http://www.aag.org/annualmeetings/2008/index.htm...