Lakes in the Anthropocene: Reflections on Tracking Ecosystem Change in the Arctic

Abstract

This book - requested by S.J. Hawkins, the Editor of Excellence in Ecology, when John Smol was recognized with the International Ecology Institute Prize - is certainly one of the most modern and complete texts on the Canadian Arctic. The polar area like many other extreme environments that I studied during my scientific activity (e.g., Greenland, Antarctica, Svalbard archipelago, Finland Lapland and mountain ecosystems), has for years been subject to great alterations due to climate changes (“the big threat multiplier”), mine effluents, local and long-distance pollution. The book provides an excellent overview of how the arctic environment has developed during the last ca. 200 years and even before. The Arctic environment is transforming rapidly....