Building on a legacy of research at Kluane
A long-term perspective is the basis of good scientific monitoring, just as it is for local and traditional knowledge. What these observations all have in common is a view of the landscape that can only be achieved over time.
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Kluane researchers have pooled their expertise to create the Kluane Ecological Monitoring Program (KEMP).
(photo: Environment Canada)
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Intensive long-term ecological studies conducted near Kluane Lake since the 1970s are the foundation for ongoing monitoring and research that is unique in Canada.
"We're the only place in Canada's boreal forest with this kind of data," says Liz Hofer, one of the researchers involved in Kluane area studies. "We've seen patterns emerge, and we've recognized that we have something important to build on at a time when changes at a larger scale are having an effect, like the spruce beetle infestation and climate change."
Good baseline data allows the detection of subtle changes in the environment. The Kluane researchers can offer unique long-term baseline data for indices of change that examine values that aren't being watched carefully elsewhere, says Hofer.
"Because of our research presence here, we're among the few who can describe these natural changes."
Considerable attention has been focused on the boreal forest in recent years. With so much boreal expertise residing in the Yukon -- including last year's publication of a book on Canada's boreal forest by the Yukon's own David Henry -- the scale and depth of boreal research undertaken in the territory over the past two decades is significant.
The Kluane Boreal Forest Ecosystem Project focused on community ecology and the dynamics of the boreal forest. The project operated from 1986 to 1996, and many of the researchers still live and work in the Yukon.
Recognizing the significant time, money and energy spent on this research -- Hofer says that 151 person years were invested in the Kluane project -- several principal investigators saw the potential for building on their research and committed to ongoing monitoring. They pooled their resources and came up with a plan, and the Kluane Ecological Monitoring Program (KEMP) was launched in 1997.
The KEMP partnership is spearheaded by longtime Kluane researchers Charlie Krebs, Alice Kenney, Rudy Boonstra, Stan Boutin, Hofer as well as newer partners that have interest in their data, including Kluane National Park and the Yukon Department of Environment. Funding for the program is tight, but the list of participants is long and includes Canadian Wildlife Service, Yukon College, researchers from universities with programs in the area, and others.
"It's a very collaborative initiative," says Hofer, who works with program partners and coordinates much of the fieldwork. "We've been able to expand to meet the needs of various partners, for example by incorporating different research protocols."
The monitoring program involves annual studies that look at each trophic level of the food web. The researchers monitor the primary production of important plants, such as soapberry, ground berries, spruce cones, mushrooms and various shrubs. They census small mammals and great horned owls, and do track counts of predators for an index over time of mid-size predators in the system.
Hofer points out that traditionally most population monitoring has largely focused on species of economic interest, whereas Kluane researchers have also been interested in how things interconnect ecologically and look at vegetation and other signs of change. Now that they're working with people with management responsibilities, long-term monitoring is providing new tools for management.
"Initially, our interest was theoretical and academic, and we've promoted our approach because it's from the ground up," she says.
"If you only look at grizzlies for a long time, by the time you notice a change it may be too late. But if you look at lots of other things as well, like soapberry production and how it changes from year to year, you have a more complete picture."
Ongoing studies have resulted in new revelations and also some interesting applications of data. For example, in a study completed last year a researcher looked at the chronic effects of stress on female hares to reproduce, and his data is being applied in biomedical research on similar effects in women and their reproductive success.
The KEMP partners are also trying to standardize Kluane indices for around the territory. Hofer explains that an index is an accessible, affordable tool to obtain meaningful data through wider monitoring programs. Meanwhile, other jurisdictions are also interested in Kluane data. The Alaska national parks system recently consulted with KEMP researchers about setting up similar long-term monitoring programs.
"What we're counting, measuring or monitoring is in some ways less important than the fact we are looking at things over a long period of time," says Hofer.
"Our indices give us a baseline to build on over time. There would be no way of understanding why a particular count is of value if we didn't have the basis of long-term research at Kluane."
- For more information about the Kluane Ecological Monitoring Program, contact Liz Hofer at ehofer@yknet.yk.ca.
