Abstract: Mining development in the Canadian Arctic is commonly portrayed as a source of jobs and development for Northern communities. Yet its broader impacts on community well-being, especially after mine closure, remain understudied. This article presents post-mining scenarios as envisioned by the Inuit community of Qamini'tuaq (Baker Lake), 3 years before the Meadowbank gold mine's anticipated closure. Study participants rated mine closure impacts on the “Well-Being Wheel”, an evaluation tool co-designed with the authors and featuring five axes: Family Life, Jobs, Food Independence, Health and Learning (all closely tied to caribou-based subsistence lifestyles). Participants also explored best-case and worst-case outcomes. All scenarios highlighted far-reaching impacts on diverse aspects of Inuit well-being. A pessimistic scenario signified a sudden surge in unemployment, with stresses on mental health, family life and food security. An optimistic scenario promised new business development, social service support, and the resurgence of caribou herds. We conclude that in Qamini’tuaq, mining has failed to produce lasting “social and economic development” when we consider its holistic impacts on well-being and subsistence lifestyles. Yet participatory scenario construction may foster effective cross-sector collaboration in anticipation of mine closure. We recommend the strengthening of essential social services and local caribou livelihoods as a strategy to improve post-mining outcomes.

Abstract: Glacier limits are usually mapped according to a spatial discrimination based on color of remote sensing images or aerial photography. What appears like ice (white or light colored areas) at the end of the ablation period (end of summer) corresponds to the glacier, while what appears as rock (dark areas) is identified as the slope. This kind of visual discretization seems to be insufficient in the case of small arctic glaciers. Indeed, the slopes have been described as very unstable parts of glacial basins. Debris are generated by the inclination of the slopes, and reach the glacier surface. Thus, the visible limit does not correspond to the ice extension: a significant amount of ice is potentially covered by rock debris, enlarging the actual glacier surface with respect to the observed area. Hence, we apply Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) measurements for mapping, beyond the central parts of the glacier, the steep slopes of the Austre Lovénbreen (Spitsbergen, 79° N). The aim is to assess the discrepancy between the limits extracted from remote sensing methods – aerial photography, satellite images and derived digital elevation models – and the GPR data which exhibit significant ice thickness at locations considered outside the glacier itself. The ice is observed to extend typically from 25 to 30m, and up to 100m, under the slopes. These measurements allow for a new determination of the rock/ice interface location following criteria beyond the visual and morphological characteristics seen from the surface, as obtained by remote sensing techniques or in-situ observations.

Abstract: In some previous studies, the ratio between a di-unsaturated highly branched isoprenoid (HBI) lipid termed IPSO25 and a structurally related tri-unsaturated counterpart (HBI III) (viz. IPSO25/HBI III) has been used as a proxy measure of variable sea ice cover in the Antarctic owing to their production by certain sea ice algae and open water diatoms, respectively. To investigate this further, we quantified selected lipids and their photo- and autoxidation products in samples of suspended particulate matter (SPM) collected at different water depths in the polynya region west of the Dalton Iceberg Tongue (East Antarctica). The results obtained confirm the high efficiency of photo- and autoxidation processes in diatoms from the region. The systematic increase of the ratio IPSO25/HBI III with water depth in the current samples appeared to be dependent on the sampling site and was due to both (i) a relatively higher contribution of ice algae to the deeper samples resulting from their increased aggregation and therefore higher sinking rate, or (ii) a stronger abiotic degradation of HBI III during settling through the water column. Analyses of samples taken from the water-sediment interface and some underlying near-surface sediments revealed a further increase of the ratio IPSO25/HBI III, indicative of further differential oxidation of the more unsaturated HBI. Unfortunately, specific oxidation products of HBI III could not be detected in the strongly oxidized SPM and sediment samples, likely due to their lability towards further oxidation. In contrast, oxidation products of HBI III were detected in weakly oxidized samples of phytoplanktonic cells collected from Commonwealth Bay (also East Antarctica), thus providing more direct evidence for the involvement of photo- and/or autoxidation of HBI III in the region. This oxidative alteration of the ratio IPSO25/HBI III between their source and sedimentary environments might need to be considered more carefully when using this parameter for palaeo sea ice reconstruction purposes in the Antarctic.

Abstract: Geolocators are useful for tracking movements of long-distance migrants, but potential negative effects on birds have not been well studied. We tested for effects of geolocators (0.8–2.0 g total, representing 0.1–3.9 % of mean body mass) on 16 species of migratory shorebirds, including five species with 2–4 subspecies each for a total of 23 study taxa. Study species spanned a range of body sizes (26–1091 g) and eight genera, and were tagged at 23 breeding and eight nonbreeding sites. We compared breeding performance and return rates of birds with geolocators to control groups while controlling for potential confounding variables.

Abstract: The genus Thelopsis was classified in the family Stictidaceae but its systematic position has never been investigated by molecular methods. In order to determine its family placement and to test its monophyly, fungal DNA of recent collections of Thelopsis specimens was sequenced. Phylogenetic analyses using nuLSU, RPB2 and mtSSU sequences reveal that members of Thelopsis form a monophyletic group within the genus Gyalecta as currently accepted. The placement of Thelopsis, including the generic type T. rubella, within the genus Gyalecta challenges the generic circumscription of this group because Thelopsis is well recognized by the combination of morphological characters: perithecioid ascomata, well-developed periphysoids, polysporous asci and small, few-septate ellipsoid-oblong ascospores. The sterile sorediate Opegrapha corticola is also placed in the Gyalectaceae as sister species to Thelopsis byssoidea + T. rubella. Ascomata of O. corticola are illustrated for the first time and support its placement in the genus Thelopsis. The hypothesis that O. corticola might represent the sorediate fertile morph of T. rubella is not confirmed because the species is phylogenetically and morphologically distinct. Thelopsis is recovered as polyphyletic, with T. melathelia being placed as sister species to Ramonia. The new combinations Thelopsis corticola (Coppins & P. James) Sanderson & Ertz comb. nov. and Ramonia melathelia (Nyl.) Ertz comb. nov. are introduced and a new species of Gyalecta, G. amsterdamensis Ertz, is described from Amsterdam and Saint-Paul Islands, characterized by a sterile thallus with discrete soralia. Petractis luetkemuelleri and P. nodispora are accommodated in the new genus Neopetractis, differing from the generic type (P. clausa) by having a different phylogenetic position and a different photobiont. Francisrosea bicolor Ertz & Sanderson gen. & sp. nov. is described for a sterile sorediate lichen somewhat similar to Opegrapha corticola but having an isolated phylogenetic position as sister to a clade including Gyalidea praetermissa and the genera Neopetractis and Ramonia. Gyalecta farlowii, G. nidarosiensis and G. carneola are placed in a molecular phylogeny for the first time. The taxonomic significance of morphological characters in Gyalectaceae is discussed.