Harmonizing circumpolar monitoring of Arctic fox: benefits, opportunities, challenges and recommendations

Abstract

The biodiversity working group of the Arctic Council has developed pan-Arctic biodiversity monitoring plans to improve our ability to detect, understand and report on long-term change in Arctic biodiversity. The Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) was identified as a target of future monitoring because of its circumpolar distribution, ecological importance and reliance on Arctic ecosystems. We provide the first exhaustive survey of contemporary Arctic fox monitoring programmes, describing 34 projects located in eight countries. Monitored populations covered equally the four climate zones of the species' distribution, and there were large differences between populations in long-term trends, multi-annual fluctuations, diet composition, degree of competition with red fox and human interferences. Den density, number of active dens, number of breeding dens and litter size were assessed in almost all populations, while projects varied greatly with respect to monitoring of other variables indicative of population status, ecosystem state or ecosystem function. We review the benefits, opportunities and challenges to increased integration of monitoring projects. We argue that better harmonizing protocols of data collection and data management would allow new questions to be addressed while adding tremendous value to individual projects. However, despite many opportunities, challenges remain. We offer six recommendations that represent decisive progress toward a better integration of Arctic fox monitoring projects. Further, our work serves as a template that can be used to integrate monitoring efforts of other species, thereby providing a key step for future assessments of global biodiversity.

Predators attract prey through ecosystem engineering in the Arctic

“…Our study was conducted on the tundra adjacent to western Hudson Bay, in and around Wapusk National Park in Manitoba, Canada, in conjunction with our long‐term monitoring of Arctic fox and lemming populations in this area (Berteaux et al. , McDonald et al. ).…”

Evidence of effects of herbivory on Arctic vegetation: a systematic map protocol

“…data extracted from a data layer based on the spatial coordinates given in the publication), and C classified by the reviewers based on information available in the publication. Additional information on (i) references for digital data layers and categories, (ii) possible values for each variable, (iii) more detailed variable description, and (iv) examples and specifications of the possible values are given in the extended table in Additional file 1 [32]). • A contingency plot (studied plant types vs studied herbivore types) where evidence points are colored/ symbolled based on ecological context.…”

Evolution, ecology and conservation—revisiting three decades of Arctic fox population genetic research

“…The considerable intra-specific variation in abundance, demography and ecology makes the Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) an ideal model system addressing a broad range of scientific and applied questions using population genetics tools (Berteaux et al 2017). Pioneering biologists used the Arctic fox to illustrate the process of selection and adaptation to extreme environments (Wallace 1885;Elton 1924).…”