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Nutrient enrichment in the High Arctic associated with Thule Inuit whalers: a paleolimnological investigation from Ellesmere Island (Nunavut, Canada)

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Abstract

Cultural eutrophication is one of several environmental stressors that represents a significant ecological threat as the human population continues to grow and encroach on aquatic ecosystems. However, until recently, the environmental impacts of ancient human populations that had low population densities were thought to be largely insignificant relative to those of post-industrial urban society. Based on paleolimnological and archeological data, we have shown that Thule Inuit whalers living in small, nomadic communities were altering High Arctic pond ecology centuries before industrialization. Changes in diatom species assemblage and spectrally inferred aquatic primary production indicate a period of increased production in a pond (E-Knud) on Knud Peninsula, Ellesmere Island, which can be linked to the effects of the Thule from about 810–340 years ago. This site is near the northernmost region of past Thule occupation. Input of nutrients from bowhead whale carcasses, used by the Thule Inuit for sustenance and the construction of winter settlements, as well as other Thule activities (e.g., sealing, human waste, etc.), resulted in an increase in δ15N, which coincided with ecologically significant diatom abundance changes, including an increase in Amphora ovalis. Diatom and nutrient changes also coincided with increased primary aquatic production, as measured by spectrally inferred chlorophyll a concentration. In addition, we recorded relative increases in diatom taxa such as Craticula halophila and Achnanthidum minutissimum in the more recent sediments, which we attribute to recent climate warming, manifested by lower water levels and associated evapo-concentration. Specific conductivities recorded during three sampling years (2004, 2006, 2009) show a trend of increasing conductivity in pond E-Knud in response to declining water levels. Together these changes in diatom species abundance suggest that multiple environmental stressors, operating several centuries apart, have led to marked limnological changes in E-Knud pond.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Alyson Paul, Marco Viscomi, Bronwyn Keatley, and Chris Grooms for assistance in the field. This study has been made possible by the NSERC and PCSP research grants of John P. Smol and Marianne S.V. Douglas, as well as the NSTP grant of Kris Hadley. We also acknowledge Linda Kimpe and the G.G. Hatch Stable Isotope Laboratory at the University of Ottawa for isotope analysis. We would also like thank Dr. Karen McCullough for assistance with site selection. X. Wang (CCIW) and NLET are gratefully acknowledged for assistance with the water chemistry. Dr. I Rod Smith and two anonymous journal reviewers provided many helpful comments on a previous version of this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Paleoecological Environmental Assessment and Research Laboratory (PEARL), Department of Biology, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada

    Kristopher R. Hadley & John P. Smol

  2. Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Department, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E3, Canada

    Marianne S. V. Douglas

  3. Program for Chemical and Environmental Toxicology, Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada

    Jules M. Blais

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  1. Kristopher R. Hadley
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  4. John P. Smol
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Correspondence to Kristopher R. Hadley.

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Hadley, K.R., Douglas, M.S.V., Blais, J.M. et al. Nutrient enrichment in the High Arctic associated with Thule Inuit whalers: a paleolimnological investigation from Ellesmere Island (Nunavut, Canada). Hydrobiologia 649, 129–138 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-010-0235-6

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