Long-term automated monitoring of year-round climatic parameters on Bylot Island, Nunavut

Climate has a strong impact on arctic wildlife species, either in the short term (e.g. due to strong annual variation in weather conditions) or in the long-term (e.g. due to global warming). In order to better understand theses impacts on wildlife and plants, we recommend the monitoring of a few basic weather variables. In many areas, climatic stations operated by Environment Canada can provide long-term data on weather but these stations are often located at some distance from our field sites. Therefore, it is recommended that some weather parameters are also monitored at the field site itself, at least during the field season, to have a record of local weather. The two most important weather variables to monitor are air temperatures and precipitations. Moreover, other climatic variables important to biological processes such as thawing degree-days, growing degree-days, and the number of frost-free days can be derived from air temperature data. In addition, snow depth and snow cover in spring should also be monitored because the timing of snow-melt in spring can have a considerable impact on the annual phenology of species.