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

我们的项目通过研究海狸种群变化、湖泊和溪流变化和鱼类种群变化以及因纽维亚卢特社区及其福祉的结果之间的相互联系，调查因纽维亚卢特定居地区制度变化的驱动因素和动态。由于气候变化和人类活动的变化，物种分布在全球范围内正在发生变化。生态系统工程师等关键物种分布和密度的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，即所谓的制度转变；这些影响生态系统、生态系统服务、当地生计和福祉。在因纽特人努南加特，海狸正在改变生态系统，影响人们的福祉。最近的观察包括河流干涸，影响鱼类的水文变化，堤坝造成获取土地和水的障碍，以及陆地植被的变化。因努维亚卢特组织强调，这是一个紧急问题，需要采取行动。我们将汇集一个多元化的多学科专家团队，共同进行实地、遥感和访谈研究，这些研究既能解决根本问题，又能提供重要信息，支持因纽特人在面临环境和社会变化时的决策和管理。为了推进对制度变迁的理论科学理解，我们将研究物种种群动态在制度变迁中的作用。具体地说，我们将测试海狸群体过去的动态是否会影响到向新生态系统状态的转变，并调查海狸发生以及永久和瞬时海狸群体所产生的特定生态系统变化。这还将促进对因努维亚卢伊特定居点地区海狸种群、湖泊和溪流以及鱼类发生的变化及其对社区和福祉的影响的具体系统知识。我们的研究集中于应对猎人和捕鱼者组织、渔业联合管理委员会和因努维亚卢特猎物委员会的紧急优先事项，包括评估当前海狸的分布、最近变化的规模以及对鱼类、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，在研究和应用程序基础设施中纳入并重视传统知识，以支持持续的数据收集，从而支持因纽特人定居地区和其他地区社区的长期需求。我们的合作由菲利普·马什(加拿大威尔弗里德·劳里埃大学)、海伦·惠勒(英国安格利亚·拉斯金大学)和Herb Nakimayak(因纽维亚卢特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、永冻土、生物地球化学、水生生态系统、鱼类生物学以及群落和福祉方面的专业知识，以解决这一及时的问题。我们的小组包括几名在因努维亚卢伊特地区从事长期研究的研究人员，那些与北极和环极地区海狸研究的国际协调有联系的研究人员，以及许多与现有的基于社区的监测项目有联系的人，这些监测项目代表着土著组织、社区和科学家之间的共同成果。我们的提案从一开始就与因努维亚卢伊特联合秘书处组织进行了广泛的协商。它的目的是保持这一密切的合作成果，与社区研究人员在整个过程中进行协商，并推出主要传播产品，以满足社区对更直接的决策的需求，并促进正在进行的因纽瓦卢特领导的研究。

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.