Paleoclimates and ecosystem dynamics in the Hudson Bay lowlands

气候变化在北方地区被放大。海冰的减少以及地表空气和水温的升高表明，哈德逊湾地区已经受到了影响。哈德逊湾低地面积超过325,000平方公里，是加拿大最大的湿地。这种广泛的泥炭积累系统构成了全球重要的碳储存库。考虑到碳对气候系统的重要性，了解大型湿地如何储存或释放碳对于预测未来的情景是必要的。该提案包括在哈德逊湾低地的北部和南部进行实地工作，收集湖泊和湿地沉积物岩心。对这些沉积物岩心的分析可以重建过去几千年的气候和水文变化。这些重建是通过研究保存在岩心中的微观生物指标来完成的。这些数据可以用来确定过去气候或水文变化的幅度，以及湿地生态系统和碳积累对这些变化的敏感性。

Climate changes are amplified in northern regions. Declines in sea-ice and increases in surface air and water temperatures indicate that the Hudson Bay region is already experiencing the effects. The Hudson Bay Lowlands extend over 325,000 km2 and are the largest wetland in Canada. This extensive peat-accumulating system constitutes a globally significant repository of carbon. Given the importance of carbon to the climate system, understanding how large wetlands store or release carbon is necessary for predicting future scenarios. This proposal involves field work in the northern and southern parts of the Hudson Bay Lowlands to collect lake and wetland sediment cores. Analyses of these sediment cores will permit reconstructions of climatic and hydrological changes during the past several thousand years. These reconstructions are done through study of microscopic biological indicators that are preserved in the cores. These data can then be used to determine the magnitudes of past climatic or hydrological changes, and the sensitivity of wetland ecosystems and carbon accumulation to these changes.