Vulnerability of the coastal ecosystems of Sable Island National Park under a changing climate

A challenge for resource management and conservation planning is a lack of baseline knowledge of how ecosystems operate. For example, Parks Canada has a mandate to not only protect the ecological integrity of protected areas under their jurisdiction, but monitor these systems. However, a challenge for resource management and conservation planning is a lack of baseline knowledge of how ecosystems operate. My research approach will enable us to directly address these unknowns through development of methodologies and monitoring approaches that will directly aid in future conservation planning and development.

Sable Island Park Reserve is an example of an extremely susceptible coastal ecosystem that is highly influenced by environmental change and subsequent variability in weather extremes. An increase in storm-surge activity and erosion has led to large-scale change in the surface hydrology of Sable Island. This includes the loss of major freshwater sources that sustain populations of endemic horses, seals, and a multitude of endangered endemic species. I propose the inclusion of paleolimnological baseline information that will provide context for us to develop a viable monitoring program to understand and project the influence of environmental change on these fragile ecosystems. Paleolimnology is the study of indicators preserved in lake sediment through time. With these methods, lakes can serve as storybooks of the past, and the information contained can be used to calibrate our projections for the future.