3.2. Key species

To complement local knowledge observations of climate change impacts in Eeyou Istchee and Nunavik, we compiled and synthesized scientific literature on the observed and anticipated impacts of climate change on key food species in both regions (see Appendix 2 below). We selected 32 key species and species groups to include in this literature review according to their relative importance in harvest and food frequency surveys conducted in Eeyou Istchee and Nunavik (see Figure 18 in section 2.1). Since climate change induces important ecosystem-wide changes that may similarly affect some wildlife species, the state of knowledge review is organized by ecosystem and lists observed or projected changes in several biotic and abiotic factors, as well as documented or anticipated impacts on key wildlife species and populations, including their abundance, distribution and health. We have begun to translate this knowledge review into species summary sheets including basic information about each species together with observed and anticipated climate change impacts. Draft summaries for 9 species are included here and once completed will be presented in French, English, Cree, and Inuktitut. A related initiative led by Berteaux, Casajus, and Ropars (2018) focused on modelling climate, species range distributions, trophic interactions, and terrestrial ecosystems vulnerability to climate change in northern Quebec. The resulting reports and interactive maps are available here.