• Energy Research
• 2021-2025close
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Aim Despite an increasing number of studies highlighting the impacts of climate change on boreal species, the main factors that will drive changes in species assemblages remain ambiguous. We study how species community composition would change following anthropogenic and natural disturbances. We determine the main drivers of assemblage dissimilarity for bird and beetle communities. Location Côte-Nord, Québec, Canada. Methods We quantify two climate-induced pathways based on direct and indirect effects on species occurrence under different harvest management scenarios. The direct climate effects illustrate the impact of climate variables while the indirect effects are reflected through habitat-based climate change. We develop empirical models to predict the distribution of more than 100 species over the next century. We analyze the regional and the latitudinal species assemblage dissimilarity by decomposing it into 'balanced variation in species occupancy and occurrence' and 'occupancy and occurrence gradient'. Results Both pathways increased dissimilarity in species assemblage. At the regional scale, both effects have an impact on decreasing the number of winning species. Yet, responses are much larger in magnitude under mixed climate effects (a mixture of direct and indirect effects). Regional assemblage dissimilarity reached 0.77 and 0.69 under mixed effects versus 0.09 and 0.10 under indirect effects for beetles and birds, respectively, between RCP8.5 and baseline climate scenarios when considering harvesting. Latitudinally, assemblage dissimilarity increased following the climate conditions pattern. Main conclusions The two pathways are complementary and alter biodiversity, mainly caused by species turnover. Yet, responses are much larger in magnitude under mixed climate effects. Therefore, the inclusion of climatic variables considers aspects other than just those related to forest landscapes, such as life cycles of animal species. Moreover, we expect differences in occupancy between the two studied taxa. This could indicate the potential range of change in boreal species concerning novel environmental conditions.

Logging is the main human disturbance impacting biodiversity in forest ecosystems. However, the impact of forest harvesting on biodiversity is modulated by abiotic conditions through complex relationships that remain poorly documented. Therefore, the interplay between forest management and climate change can no longer be ignored. Our aim was to study the expected long-term variations in the assemblage of bird and beetle communities following modifications in forest management under different climate change scenarios. We developed species distribution models to predict the occurrence of 88 species of birds and beetles in eastern Canadian boreal forests over the next century. We simulated three climate scenarios (baseline, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) under which we varied the level of harvesting. We also analyzed the regional assemblage dissimilarity by decomposing it into balanced variations in species occupancy and occupancy gradient. We predict that forest harvesting will alter the diversity by increasing assemblage dissimilarity under all the studied climate scenarios, mainly due to species turnover. Species turnover intensity was greater for ground-dwelling beetles, probably because they have lower dispersal capacity than flying beetles or birds. A good dispersal capacity allows species to travel more easily between ecosystems across the landscape when they search for suitable habitats after a disturbance. Regionally, an overall increase in the probability of occupancy is projected for bird species, whereas a decrease is predicted for beetles, a variation that could reflect differences in ecological traits between taxa. Our results further predict a decrease in the number of species that increase their occupancy after harvest under the most severe climatic scenario for both taxa. We anticipate that under severe climate change, increasing forest disturbance will be detrimental to beetles associated with old forests but also with young forests after disturbances.

Additional file 1. Histotical and projected C stocks and fluxes.

Select monthly climate data for provinces in Canada. Monthly data includes mean temperature, maximum temperatures, minimum temperature, snow, precipitation, HDD, CDD, and Trade.

Rapid, ongoing permafrost thaw of peatlands in the discontinuous permafrost zone is exposing a globally significant store of soil carbon (C) to microbial processes. Mineralisation and release of this peat C to the atmosphere as greenhouse gases is a potentially important feedback to climate change. Here we investigated the effects of permafrost thaw on peat C at a peatland complex in western Canada. We collected 15 complete peat cores (between 2.7 abd 4.5 m deep) along four chronosequences, from elevated permafrost plateaus to saturated thermokarst bogs that thawed up to 600 years ago. The peat cores were analysed for peat C storage and peat quality, as indicated by decomposition proxies (FTIR and C/N ratios) and potential decomposability using a 200-day aerobic incubation. Our results suggest net C loss following thaw, with average total peat C stocks decreasing by ~19.3 +/- 7.2 kg C m-2 over <600 years (~13% loss). Average post-thaw accumulation of new peat at the surface over the same period was ~13.1 +/- 2.5 kg C m-2. We estimate ~19% (+/- 5.8%) of deep peat (>40 cm below surface) C is lost following thaw (average 26 +/- 7.9 kg C m-2 over <600 years). Our FTIR analysis shows peat below the thaw transition in thermokarst bogs is slightly more decomposed than peat of a similar type and age in permafrost plateaus, but we found no significant changes to the quality or lability of deeper peat across the chronosequences. Our incubation results also showed no increase in C mineralisation of deep peat across the chronosequences. While these limited changes in peat quality in deeper peat following permafrost thaw highlight uncertainty in the exact mechanisms and processes for C loss, our analysis of peat C stocks shows large C losses following permafrost thaw in peatlands in western Canada.

Project: GCOS Earth Heat Inventory - A study under the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) concerted international effort to update the Earth heat inventory (EHI), and presents an updated international assessment of ocean warming estimates, and new and updated estimates of heat gain in the atmosphere, cryosphere and land over the period from 1960 to present. Summary: The file “GCOS_EHI_1960-2020_Earth_Heat_Inventory_Ocean_Heat_Content_data.nc” contains a consistent long-term Earth system heat inventory over the period 1960-2020. Human-induced atmospheric composition changes cause a radiative imbalance at the top-of-atmosphere which is driving global warming. Understanding the heat gain of the Earth system from this accumulated heat – and particularly how much and where the heat is distributed in the Earth system - is fundamental to understanding how this affects warming oceans, atmosphere and land, rising temperatures and sea level, and loss of grounded and floating ice, which are fundamental concerns for society. This dataset is based on a study under the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) concerted international effort to update the Earth heat inventory published in von Schuckmann et al. (2020), and presents an updated international assessment of ocean warming estimates, and new and updated estimates of heat gain in the atmosphere, cryosphere and land over the period 1960-2020. The dataset also contains estimates for global ocean heat content over 1960-2020 for different depth layers, i.e., 0-300m, 0-700m, 700-2000m, 0-2000m, 2000-bottom, which are described in von Schuckmann et al. (2022). This version includes an update of heat storage of global ocean heat content, where one additional product (Li et al., 2022) had been included to the initial estimate. The Earth heat inventory had been updated accordingly, considering also the update for continental heat content (Cuesta-Valero et al., 2023).

A Calypso Square gravity core AMD15-Casq1 (543 cm) and corresponding box core (40 cm) were collected in 2015 from the central north NOW (77°15.035’ N, 74°25.500’ W, 692 m water depth) (Figure 1) during the ArcticNet Leg 4a, onboard the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Amundsen. Core chronology: The core chronology is based on 11 accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates on mollusc shells from the Calypso core, and 210Pb and 137Cs measurements on 20 samples from the box core (see Jackson et al. (2021) for more details). Here, all radiocarbon dates were calibrated using the latest marine calibration curve (Marine20; Heaton et al., 2020; Table S1). In Jackson et al. (2021), and using the Marine13 calibration curve, a local reservoir correction of 140 ± 60 years was applied based on measurements from a live marine mollusc specimen collected from the NOW before the mid-1950’s (McNeely & Brennan, 2005). Using the Marine20 calibration curve, this specimen now yields a reservoir offset of –4 ± 60 years. In line with this reduced reservoir offset for the Marine 20 (vs. Marine13) calibration curve, and owing to the lack of a regional ΔR term for the polynya (Pieńkowski et al., 2023), no additional reservoir age correction (i.e., ΔR=0) was applied. A mixed age-depth model was constructed using the bacon-package in R (Blaauw & Christen, 2011). Accordingly, the composite core covers the last ca. 3800 cal years BP. We note that the new calibration only resulted in negligible changes compared to the age model presented in Jackson et al. (2021). Diatom analyses: Sediment samples for diatom analysis were prepared following the protocol described in Crosta et al. (2020). Approximately 0.3 g of dry sediment was treated with an oxidative solution composed of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), distilled water and tetrasodium pyrophosphate (decahydrate, Na4O7P2-10H2O) in a warm bath (~65°C) for several hours until the reaction ceased. The residue was then rinsed repeatedly with distilled water by centrifugation (7 min at 1200 rpm). Hydrochloric acid (HCl, 30%) was used to remove the carbonate content. The residue was again rinsed several times until neutral pH, and microscopy slides were mounted in Naphrax©. In each sample, ca. 300 diatom valves were identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible. Resting spores of Chaetoceros were counted, but not included in the relative abundance calculations. Census counts were done using a light microscope (Olympus BX53, UNB) with dark field, phase contrast optics and oil immersion, at 1000X magnification. We followed the counting rules presented in Crosta and Koç (2007): specimens were counted when at least half of the valve was observed, with the exception of Rhizosolenia and Thalassiothrix taxa that were only counted when the spine-like proboscis or appendix was visible, respectively. The Pikialasorsuaq (North Water polynya) is an area of local and global cultural and ecological significance. However, over the last decades, the region has been subject to rapid warming and, in some recent years, the seasonal ice arch that has historically defined the polynya’s northern boundary has failed to form. Both factors are deemed to alter the polynya’s ecosystem functioning. To understand how climate-induced changes to the Pikialasorsuaq impact the basis of the marine food web, we explored diatom community-level responses to changing conditions, from a sediment core spanning the last 3800 years. Four metrics were used: total diatom concentrations, taxonomic composition, mean size, and diversity. Generalized additive model statistics highlight significant changes at ca. 2400, 2050, 1550, 1200, and 130 cal years BP, all coeval with known transitions between colder and warmer intervals of the Late Holocene, and regime shifts in the Pikialasorsuaq. Notably, a weaker/contracted polynya during the Roman Warm Period and Medieval Climate Anomaly caused the diatom community to reorganize via shifts in species composition, with the presence of larger taxa but lower diversity, and significantly reduced export production. This study underlines the high sensitivity of primary producers to changes in the polynya dynamics and illustrates that the strong pulse of early-spring cryopelagic diatoms that makes the Pikialasorsuaq exceptionally productive may be jeopardized by rapid warming and associated Nares Strait ice arch destabilization. Future alterations to the phenology of primary producers may disproportionately impact higher trophic levels and keystone species in this region, with implications for Indigenous Peoples and global diversity.  # Marine diatoms record Late Holocene regime shifts in the Pikialasorsuaq ecosystem [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.cz8w9gj8p](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.cz8w9gj8p) This dataset includes diatom counts (relative abundances, %) from core AMD15-Casq1. Diatoms were analyzed at a 1 to 10 cm sampling interval, which corresponds to an effective age resolution ranging from ca. 3 to 64 years (mean: 31 years). Absolute abundances are reported in valves per g of dry sediment. Fluxes were calculated by combining diatom concentrations (valves and spores g-1) with mass accumulation rates (g cm-2 yr-1). ## Description of the data and file structure Diatom data are presented against depth and modelled age (years BP) in the sediment archive. ## Sharing/Access information n/a ## Code/Software n/a

The fast decay in PEM fuel cells of a highly active, high performance, but unstable Fe/N/C catalyst like our NC_Ar + NH3 follows a chemical, not an electrochemical, demetallation mechanism for its ORR active FeN4 sites in the catalyst micropores.

A key determinant and outcome of successful environmental education is ‘pro-environmental behavior’, i.e., behavior that involves conscious action to mitigate adverse environmental impacts at personal or community level, e.g., reducing resource consumption and waste generation, avoiding toxic substances, and organizing community awareness initiatives. However, some theorists have sought to move away from rationalist models of behavioral modification, towards holistic pedagogical initiatives that seek to develop action competence. In light of the global push towards achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), emerging evidence suggests that education initiatives should foster action competence so students may be equipped to contribute to sustainable development as part of their education. The UNESCO Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Roadmap 2030 has also identified key priority areas to strengthen ESD in formal curricula. This article reports two informal environmental education initiatives for promoting action competence and pro-environmental behaviors in school-aged children. The authors recommend that formal education settings (e.g., schools) should incorporate self-directed, free-choice project-based learning to augment environmental education programs and promote students’ action competence for contribution to attainment of SDGs. To this end, we propose a Free-Choice Project-based Learning for Action Competence in Sustainable Development (ACiSD) Curriculum, comprising six implementation dimensions, namely: (1) project duration and teaming arrangements, (2) topic selection, (3) student support, (4) teacher support, (5) learning environments, and (6) digital access and equity. For each implementation dimension, we recommend action steps to help educators implement this curriculum in their own educational settings, with the aid of an illustrative worked example.