Makivik Magazine Issue 90
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Polar Point of View<br />
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Examining Arctic Charr Diversity<br />
By Wendy Michaud<br />
As part of the Government of Canada Program for International Polar<br />
Year (IPY), <strong>Makivik</strong> and a number of cooperating organizations received<br />
funding to research the effects of climate change on arctic charr. As part<br />
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Some arctic charr spend their<br />
entire lives in freshwater, while<br />
others go out to sea for part of<br />
the year. Even within a single lake,<br />
different forms of this fish can be<br />
found.<br />
of this larger project, the research I am<br />
involved with examines the diversity of<br />
charr throughout the Canadian Arctic.<br />
Arctic charr happen to be more<br />
diverse than most fish species, and therefore<br />
we believe they may be affected by<br />
climate change in different ways. Some<br />
arctic charr spend their entire lives in freshwater,<br />
while others go out to sea for part of<br />
the year. Even within a single lake, different<br />
forms of this fish can be found. Forms<br />
are often identified by differences in size,<br />
shape, and colour. These differences in<br />
appearance have been linked to differences<br />
in diet, which ultimately affects things like<br />
growth and reproduction, as well as the amount of mercury found in<br />
different forms of arctic charr.<br />
Understanding the differences among arctic charr populations is<br />
important to making decisions about the way we use and protect these<br />
fish. For example, differences in growth and size are important to the<br />
harvest potential and sustainability of a population. It is also likely that<br />
different types of arctic charr will respond to climate change in different<br />
ways. Therefore, the purpose of this part of the project is to better<br />
understand the extent of charr diversity in Canada and how it relates<br />
to climate.<br />
During the last three years we have been collecting arctic charr from<br />
a number of places across the Canadian Arctic. We are then examining<br />
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