Concept information
Preferred term
ECOGREEN
Definition
- Short Title: ECOGREEN Proposal URL: http://classic.ipy.org/development/eoi/proposal-details.php?id=122 The overall focus of the ECOGREEN consortium is to establish the scientific basis for a long-term ecosystem-based management of marine resources in West Greenland. The West Greenland society relies almost entirely on marine resources for industrial as well as subsistence utilisation. Today, the West Greenland marine ecosystem is very productive and sustains fisheries which contribute 95% of Greenland's total export value. The Greenland Marine ecosystem also sustains seals and whales who feed in the area during summer, and, from the entire North Atlantic, seabirds by the million find a critical winter habitat resource in the ice-free area. Human use of the West Greenland marine ecosystem presents a complex mosaic of small- and large-scale commercial fishing, as well as subsistence and recreational fishing and hunting. The Arctic marine environment is vulnerable to impacts of human activities and is of high climatic sensitivity. In the Arctic, greenhouse warming over the next century is predicted to be 2-4 times higher than at lower latitudes. Increased human impact on marine ecosystems combined with effects of global climate change heightens the need for sustainable ecosystem-based management. Today, knowledge of the interaction between climate change, natural resources, human behaviour, and governance structure is fragmentary. Consequently, the knowledge base for ecosystem management is inadequate. There is a need for co-ordination of research efforts to overcome the fragmentation of these diverse fields of enquiry. An integrated research approach is needed to develop models for sustainable ecosystem management. The West Greenland marine ecosystem is an ideal model area for integrated studies of ecosystems, resources, and associated social factors, where general theory for ecosystem dynamics and ecosystem management can be developed and tested. Management systems must take into account the wishes and influences of diverse domestic users, science-based advice from national and international bodies, and the influence of national and international public opinion. Finally, ECOGREEN can serve as a model for integrated studies of ecosystems, resources, and associated social factors for indigenous people in other Arctic regions and form the basis for establishing a real decision support system. Specific tasks will include: Describing and improving the understanding of physical and bio-geo-chemical interactions through field observations and empirical, dynamic and predictive modelling with emphasis on 1) Climate change (atmosphere, ice, physical and bio¬logical oceano¬graphy) 2) Pelagic-benthic coupling 3) Lateral coupling (fjord, shelf and Deep Ocean) Quantifying and improving the understanding of the eco¬system structure and productivity with emphasis on 1) Biodiversity 2) Interactions and coupling between tropic levels, and 3) Spatial and temporal scales Identifying and describing the main social, economic and institutional drivers behind environmentally significant human behaviours with emphasis on 1) Fishing and hunting 2) Governance institutions and social interactions Identifying and quantifying interactions between human activities and the ecosystem with emphasis on 1) Ecosystem impacts of hunting and fishing, including by-catch, discards, fish processing offal, habitat impacts of fishing gear, habitat disturbance or loss due to other human activities 2) Ecosystem impacts of other anthropogenic disturbances Analysing the transfer of the West Greenland experiences to a generic approach for a sustainable ecosystem-based management with emphasis on 1) Reflections and operationalisation of the concept of ecosystem-based management and 2) Transfer of the West Greenland experiences to a generic approach for ecosystem management applicable into a broader Arctic context (en)
Broader concept
- D - F (en)
URI
https://gcmd.earthdata.nasa.gov/kms/concept/d3eb4423-acc4-4f30-bf92-240067ce6eec
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