Climate change and permafrost impacts on High Arctic watershed fluxes: Cape Bounty, Melville Island, experimental watershed observatory

High latitude climate has experienced substantial climate warming during the last century, and global circulation models predict significant changes with respect to both temperature and precipitation. These changes will have profound impacts on Arctic hydrological regimes. These changes in hydrology will also lead to changes in soil biogeochemical processes and physical movement of elements associated with sediment, having a major impact on the quantity and quality of surface waters. These biogeochemical changes will also impact aquatic ecosystems (e.g., fisheries) and the structure and function of terrestrial ecosystems (e.g., vegetation, animals). These hydrological changes will affect the fundamental supply and quality of water in northern landscapes, and will have knock-on ecological effects with long-term consequences for northern communities and ecosystems. Additionally, as material flow of sediment, nutrients, carbon and contaminants will be altered, the impact of climate change on terrestrial hydrology will ultimately affect land-ocean material exchanges and the global climate system. Hence, while there is a critical need to understand climate change impacts on watershed hydrology and material fluxes, to date, little of this multidisciplinary research has been done. By combining these issues in an intensive integrated research framework during the International Polar Year (IPY) period, we are working to address major knowledge gaps and significantly advance Arctic watershed science by integrating this knowledge into suitable watershed models and to develop indicators of change for residents and government organizations. This work forms an innovative multidisciplinary project that will provide unprecedented insight into the interaction of different water, land and ecosystem components, and contributes to a number of diverse international IPY initiatives including international IPY projects: Arctic HYDRA, ITEX and ACCO Net. Research results will provide key baseline information and will address key uncertainties regarding the response of Arctic watersheds to climate change to improve adaptation and management strategies.