This is a past event.

Dr. Melissa McKinney
Canada research chair (Tier 2)
Ecological Change and Environmental Stressors
Assistant Professor
McGill University

Climate change effects on contaminants in Arctic biota

Abstract: Climate change is disproportionately impacting Arctic species, both through physical changes to the environment and through changing interactions between species. Altered predator-prey interactions are thought to be particularly important and may also have downstream impacts for exposure to other environmental stressors, such as contaminants. A series of studies will be presented that highlight climate-driven species redistributions in the Arctic, as documented by monitoring predator diets via chemical tracers, and that illustrate a range of subsequent consequences for contaminant accumulation in Arctic marine mammals. Findings underscore the need to consider multiple interacting stressors facing wildlife in a changing polar environment.