Beavers and Socio-ecological Resilience in Inuit Nunangat (BARIN)

我们的项目通过研究海狸种群变化，湖泊和溪流的变化以及鱼类种群之间的相互联系，以及Inuvialuit社区及其福祉的结果，调查了Inuvialuit定居区政权转变的驱动因素和动态。由于气候变化和人类活动的变化，物种分布正在全球范围内发生变化。生态系统工程师等关键物种的分布和密度变化可能会降低生态系统的复原力，并造成生态系统的根本性重组，称为政权转移;这些影响生态系统，生态系统服务，当地生计和福祉。在因纽特努南加特，海狸正在改变生态系统并影响福祉。最近的观察结果包括河流干涸和水文变化影响鱼类，水坝阻碍人们进入土地和水，以及陆地植被的变化。Inuvialuit组织强调，这是一个需要采取行动的紧迫问题。我们将汇集一个多元化的多学科专家团队，共同制作现场，遥感和访谈研究，既解决了基本问题，又提供了重要信息，以支持因纽特人努南加特面临环境和社会变化的决策和管理。为了推进政权变化的理论科学理解，我们将研究物种种群动态对政权转移的作用。具体来说，我们将测试海狸殖民地过去的动态是否会影响到新的生态系统状态的过渡，并调查海狸发生和永久性和短暂的海狸殖民地所产生的具体生态系统变化。这也将促进对因努维亚鲁伊特定居区海狸种群、湖泊、溪流和鱼类发生的变化及其对社区和福祉的影响的系统特定知识。我们的研究重点是应对猎人和捕兽者组织，渔业联合管理委员会和Inuvialuit游戏理事会的紧急优先事项，包括评估当前海狸分布，最近变化的幅度以及对鱼类，社区和福祉的影响。我们还将通过共同创建工具和基础设施来支持因纽特人领导的研究，如海狸和鱼类监测工具包，这些工具包将传统知识纳入研究和应用程序基础设施中并重视传统知识，以支持持续的数据收集。我们的合作由Philip Marsh（加拿大Wilfrid Laurier大学）、Helen惠勒（英国Anglia Ruskin大学）和Herb Nakimayak（Inuvialuit渔业联合管理委员会）领导。我们汇集了野生动物生态学，水文学，永久冻土，生物地球化学，水生生态系统，鱼类生物学和社区以及福祉方面的专业知识，以解决这一及时的问题。我们的团队包括几位在Inuvialuit地区进行长期研究的研究人员，那些与北极海狸研究的国际协调和环极淡水监测有关的研究人员，以及许多现有的以社区为基础的监测项目，这些项目代表了土著组织和社区与科学家之间的合作。我们的提案从一开始就与Inuvialuit联合秘书处组织进行了广泛的协商。它的目的是与社区研究人员保持这种密切的共同制作，自始至终进行协商，并提供主要的传播产品，以满足社区对更直接的决策的需要，并促进因纽维阿鲁伊特人领导的正在进行的研究。

Our project investigates the drivers and dynamics of regime shifts in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region through examining interlinkages between beaver population change, changes in lakes and streams and fish population and the outcomes for Inuvialuit communities and their wellbeing. Species distribution change is occurring globally due to changing climate and changing human activities. Changes in the distribution and density of key species such as ecosystem engineers can reduce ecosystem resilience and create a fundamental restructuring of ecosystems, known as regime shifts; these impact ecosystems, ecosystem services, local livelihoods and wellbeing. Within Inuit Nunangat, beavers are transforming ecosystems and impacting wellbeing. Recent observations include rivers running dry and changes in hydrologies impacting fish, dams creating barriers to accessing land and water and changes to on-land vegetation. Inuvialuit organisations have stressed that this is an urgent issue requiring action. We will bring together a diverse multidisciplinary team of experts to coproduce field, remote sensing and interview research that both addresses fundamental questions and provides important information to support decision-making and stewardship in Inuit Nunangat in the face of environmental and social change. To advance theoretical scientific understanding of regime changes, we will examine the role of species population dynamics on regime shifts. Specifically, we will test whether past dynamics of beaver colonies impacts the transitions to new ecosystem states and investigate what specific ecosystem changes are generated by beaver occurrence and permanent and transient beaver colonies. This will also advance system-specific knowledge of the changes occurring in beaver populations, lakes and streams and fish in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region and their impacts on communities and wellbeing. Our research is focussed on responding to urgent priorities from Hunters and Trappers organisations, the Fisheries Joint Management Committee and Inuvialuit Game Council including assessing current beaver distribution, the magnitude of recent change and impacts on fish, communities and wellbeing. We will also support the long-term needs of communities in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region and beyond by co-creating tools and infrastructure to support Inuit-led research such as beaver and fish monitoring toolkits which incorporate and value traditional knowledge in research and app infrastructure to support ongoing data collection. Our collaboration is led by Philip Marsh (Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada), Helen Wheeler (Anglia Ruskin University, UK) and Herb Nakimayak (Inuvialuit Fisheries Joint Management Committee). We bring together expertise in wildlife ecology, hydrology, permafrost, biogeochemistry, aquatic ecosystems, fish biology and communities and wellbeing to address this timely issue. Our group include several researchers with long-term research within the Inuvialuit region, those with connections to international coordination of research on beavers in the Arctic and circumpolar freshwater monitoring and many with existing community-based monitoring programs that represent a coproduction between Indigenous organisations and communities and scientists. Our proposal has been coproduced from the outset with extensive consultation across Inuvialuit Joint Secretariat organisations. It is designed to sustain this close coproduction working with community researchers with consultation throughout and key dissemination products targeted to meet community needs for both more immediate decision-making and to facilitate ongoing Inuvialuit-led research.