PURPOSE:Understanding and predicting species range shifts is crucial for conservation amid global warming. This study analyzes life-history traits of four seal species (ringed (Pusa hispida Schreber, 1775), bearded (Erignathus barbatus Pallas, 1811), harp (Pagophilus groenlandicus Erxleben, 1777), and harbour (Phoca vitulina Linnaeus, 1758) seals) in the Canadian Arctic using data from Inuit subsistence harvests. Bearded seals are largest, followed by harp seals, harbour seals, and ringed seals. Seasonal blubber depth patterns show minimal variation in bearded seals, whereas harbour and ringed seals accumulate fat in open-water seasons and use it during ice-covered seasons. Endemic Arctic seals (ringed and bearded) exhibit greater longevity and determinate body growth, reaching maximum size by 5 years, while harbour and harp seals grow indeterminately, physically maturing around 10-15 years. Age of maturation varies, with ringed and harbour seals being more sensitive to environmental fluctuations. Most bearded seals reproduce successfully each year, while ringed seals exhibit more variability in their annual reproductive success. Analysis of isoprenoid lipids in liver tissue indicates that ringed and bearded seals rely on ice-algal production, whereas harp and harbour seals depend on open-water phytoplankton production. Bearded seals appear more specialized and potentially face less competition, while harp seals may adapt better to changing habitats. Despite expected range shifts to higher latitudes, all species exhibit tradeoffs, complicating predictions for the evolving Arctic environment. DESCRIPTION:This dataset contains the data reported in Steven H. Ferguson, Jeff W. Higdon, Brent G. Young, Stephen D. Petersen, Cody G. Carlyle, Ellen V. Lea, Caroline C. Sauvé, Doreen Kohlbach, Aaron T. Fisk, Gregory W. Thiemann, Katie R. N. Florko, Derek C. G. Muir, Charmain D. Hamilton, Magali Houde, Enooyaq Sudlovenick, and David J. Yurkowski. 2024. A comparative analysis of life-history features and adaptive strategies of Arctic and subarctic seal species - who will win the climate change challenge? Canadian Journal of Zoology 2024-0093.R1The data set includes species, location, harvest date, sex, age, standard length, girth, fat depth, teste size, parity status, pregnancy status, corpora lutea (n), corpus albicans (n), follicles (n). This dataset includes raw, unfiltered, and unprocessed historical data provided by harvesters that have not been screened for outliers. Individual users should screen the data for their specific use.Cite these data as:Steven H. Ferguson, Jeff W. Higdon, Brent G. Young, Stephen D. Petersen, Cody G. Carlyle, Ellen V. Lea, Caroline C. Sauvé, Doreen Kohlbach, Aaron T. Fisk, Gregory W. Thiemann, Katie R. N. Florko, Derek C. G. Muir, Charmain D. Hamilton, Magali Houde, Enooyaq Sudlovenick, and David J. Yurkowski. 2024. Arctic and Aquatic Research Division, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Winnipeg, MB. https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/ea9ff038-8b16-11ef-8cce-55cc7f028297

A relative exposure index (REI), unweighted fetch, effective fetch, and other fetch-based indices (i.e., sum, minimum) were calculated for the Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) Shelves bioregion. Due to the extensive coastline of the study region, this analysis was conducted for a 5km buffered region along the coast at a spatial resolution of 250m. Detailed methods on the selection of input points for the NL bioregion are included below.MethodsPreprocessing and input point selection:Land boundary files were obtained for Eastern Canada and the Canadian Arctic (NrCan 2017) at a scale of 1:50,000 as well as for Saint Pierre and Miquelon (Hijmans 2015), and the New England states (GADM 2012) however the scale at which these layers were produced is unknown. Land boundary files were merged into a single land polygon layer and watercourses reaching for in-land and/or above sea level were clipped from this polygon layer (Greyson 2021). A 5km buffer was generated around the NL provincial boundary. This buffer was then clipped by all land polygons to remove areas overlapping land polygons within the study area. All buffer segments intersecting the NAFO divisions within the NL bioregion were selected and the Union tool in ArcGIS Pro (v. 2.7.2) was used to fill-in gaps within the buffered area, creating a more continuous polygon. The buffered layer was then dissolved, and the NL provincial boundary polygon was erased from the buffered layer to create the study area polygon. A 250m fishnet was created and clipped to the study area (5km buffer layer) and the feature to point tool was used (with the “inside parameter checked”) to convert this grid into a point layer (approx. 1,000,000 points). The spatial resolution for all subsequent analyses was matched to the fishnet grid at 250m.ReferencesGADM database of Global Administrative Areas (2012). Global Administrative Areas, version 2.0. (accessed 2 December 2020). www.gadm.orgGreyson, P (2021) Land boundary file for Eastern Canada, the Canadian Arctic, the New England States and Saint Pierre and Miquelon. [shapefile]. Unpublished data.Hijmans, R. and University of California, Berkeley, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology. (2015). First-level Administrative Divisions, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, 2015. UC Berkeley, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology. Available at: http://purl.stanford.edu/bz573nv9230Natural Resources Canada (2017) Administrative Boundaries in Canada - CanVec Series - Administrative Features - Open Government Portal. (accessed 2 December 2020). https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/306e5004-534b-4110-9feb-58e3a5c3fd97.

The wildlife values area and site datasets represent the consolidation of 13 wildlife data classes collected by the Ministry of Natural Resources. The data estimates locations used by wildlife for various reasons, including: * breeding * calving and fawning * denning * feeding * staging * nesting * wintering * general habitat areas * nurseries * travel corridors Locations are represented as points (site) or polygons (area) and may be related to a specific species or described more generally. Wildlife values data is most often used to support policy and legislation associated with the Crown Forest Sustainability Act. The data may also be used to inform a wide range of resource management activities and decisions. There are additional sensitive features related to provincially tracked species and species at risk that are not available as part of the open data package. Sensitive features are subject to licensing and approvals and may be requested by contacting [geospatial@ontario.ca](geospatial@ontario.ca).

The wildlife values area and site datasets represent the consolidation of 13 wildlife data classes collected by the Ministry of Natural Resources. The data estimates locations used by wildlife for various reasons, including: * breeding * calving and fawning * denning * feeding * staging * nesting * wintering * general habitat areas * nurseries * travel corridors Locations are represented as points (site) or polygons (area) and may be related to a specific species or described more generally. Wildlife values data is most often used to support policy and legislation associated with the Crown Forest Sustainability Act. The data may also be used to inform a wide range of resource management activities and decisions. There are additional sensitive features related to provincially tracked species and species at risk that are not available as part of the open data package. Sensitive features are subject to licensing and approvals and may be requested by contacting [geospatial@ontario.ca](geospatial@ontario.ca).

The Wildlife Management Unit Biologist Contact Boundaries dataset is comprised of all the polygons that represent the Wildlife Management Unit Biologist Contact Boundaries within the Province of Alberta. The dataset is to help determine which Biologist is responsible for each Wildlife Management Unit. Please refer to the metadata included with the data for full entity attribute information.

Zooplankton samples were collected at Ocean Station "P" (50.0000, -145.0000) from 1956 to 1980, and were analyzed to various levels of taxonomic resolution over the years. Although summaries of these data have been previously published ((LeBrasseur 1965) and (Fulton 1978, 1983)) the detailed species data have never been published. This detailed dataset contains total zooplankton wet weights/m3 for the whole period of 1956 to 1980, as well as densities (numbers/m3) for five major taxa (copepods, chaetognaths, euphausiids, amphipods, and Aglantha) from 1964 to 1967, species identifications, counts and lengths for many samples collected between 1968 to 1980. The attached supporting document (Ocean Station "Papa" detailed zooplankton data: 1956 – 1980) contains information on the methods used to collect and process the data along with descriptions of a number of fairly minor points about the data that were not resolved. It also describes, in detail, the format of the original data files, the corrections/changes that were made to these files in creating this version, and how these errors affect what was published in Fulton (1983).The purpose of this record is to make the detailed data available to the scientific community in an electronic format and to provide a convenient reference for citing the detailed data. Waddell, Brenda J., and Skip McKinnell. 1995. Ocean Station "Papa" detailed zooplankton data:1956 - 1980. Can. Tech. Rep. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 2056: 21 p.

Situated in the Gwich’in settlement Area (GSA), the Rat River is inhabited by anadromous Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma malma) that are harvested by both Gwich’in and Inuvialuit beneficiaries. The harvest of Dolly Varden from the Rat River occurs during the summer at feeding areas along the coast (by the Inuvialuit) and during upstream migration in the Mackenzie Delta (by both Gwich’in and Inuvialuit). Dolly Varden stocks are co-managed under an Integrated Fisheries Management Plan (IFMP) whose signatories include Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), Gwich'in Renewable Resources Board, Fisheries Joint Management Committee, and Parks Canada Agency. The Rat River Working Group, the co-management body that makes recommendations for harvest levels for Dolly Varden stocks in the GSA, has supported research activities that facilitate implementation of the IFMP, including studies to monitor harvest levels and assess population status. Population studies (e.g., abundance estimates, biological and genetic sampling) and coastal harvest monitoring activities allow for a comprehensive assessment of this stock. The data are used to inform co-management partners on the status of Dolly Varden from the Rat River.

This resource documents a dataset of epifauna occurrences collected in 2021 during The Knowledge and Ecosystem-Based Approach in Baffin Bay (KEBABB) program developed by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) in collaboration with university partners. The overall objective of KEBABB is to characterize the variability and trends in physical, chemical, and biological oceanographic conditions and food webs supporting fisheries in the connected ecosystems of western Baffin Bay and Lancaster Sound. In 2021, DFO expanded the KEBABB program to Barrow Strait (KEBABS-Knowledge and Ecosystem-Based Approach in Barrow Strait), a key productive area of the Tallurutiup Imanga National Marine Conservation Area. The study took place in the Eastern Canadian Arctic (mainly in Baffin Bay, Davis Strait and Barrow Strait). Sampling is done along transects at fixed stations in the study area. Catches are collected with a 1.5 m Agassiz trawl (5 mm mesh net) for 3 minutes bottom-contact time at a target speed of 1.5 knots and with a 3 m benthic beam trawl (6.4 mm mesh net) for 15 minutes bottom-contact time at a target speed of 3 knots. A total of 16 stations were sampled for epifauna in 2021 between 85-850 m depth. Epibenthic invertebrates are identified to the lowest possible taxonomic level and photographed. All unknown specimens are frozen. In the lab, the identifications are validated or refined with the photos and the frozen specimens.The data are presented in Darwin Core and are separated in two files:The “Activité_épifaune_KEBABB_epifauna_event_en” file which contains information about missions, stations and deployments, which are presented under a hierarchical activity structure.The “Occurrence_épifaune_KEBABB_epifauna_en” file that contains the taxonomic occurrences.Further details on sampling can be found in the following report: Pućko, M., Charette, J., Tremblay P., Brulotte S., St-Denis B., Ciastek S., Hedges, K., Kuzyk, Z., Roy V., and Michel, C. 2022. An ecosystem-based approach in the eastern Arctic: KEBABB/S (Knowledge and Ecosystem-Based Approach in Baffin Bay/Barrow Strait) 2021 expedition report. Can. Manuscr. Rep. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 3250: viii + 58 p. https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2022/mpo-dfo/Fs97-4-3250-eng.pdfUSE LIMITATION:To ensure scientific integrity and appropriate use of the data, we would encourage you to contact the data custodian.

BiologicEcologic ISO Feature Dataset symbolization and publication. September 5, 2017.

Historical finds of Operophtera brumata