3.3. Knowledge gaps

3.3. Critical knowledge gaps of impacts of environmental change on key food species

This section describes a series of targeted research projects focused on critical knowledge gaps about the impacts of environmental change on key food species in Eeyou Istchee and Nunavik. These projects all employ knowledge co-production and mixed methods approaches that combine local knowledge interviews and ecological research methods. The first four projects described were included in the original project proposal, and three were added over the course of the project in response to emerging knowledge needs and collaborative opportunities. In all cases, the species and issues considered by these projects reflect i) our methodological progression (see section 1.4), focused initially on identifying relevant past and ongoing research and knowledge summaries and the key knowledge gaps they identify, before proceeding to more focused work and more-involved methodologies, ii) support from partner organizations, communities, and land users for our team to be involved in the research, iii) availability of funding to conduct field and community-based research on these topics, and iv) their relevance to adaptation of Eeyou Istchee and Nunavik local food systems to the impacts of climate change and other forms of environmental change, and v) avoiding duplication or overlap with other major research initiatives, including, for example Caribou Ungava, FISHES, BRIGHT, and Avativut. At the end of each project description, we summarize how project outcomes have advanced knowledge co-production about climate change adaptation.

3.3.1. Beaver and Char in Nunavik

This subproject started with MSc student Mikhaela Neelin conducting a Nunavik-based internship with Makivik focused on conducting interviews and generating a report synthesizing Inuit observations and concerns about the impact of climate change on Arctic char in general, and in relation to stream connectivity in particular. Interviewees were selected primarily through recommendations from Makivik staff and the Hunting Fishing Trapping Associations (Anguvigapiit) for each of the 10 participating communities, based on their knowledge and ongoing direct experience of the land or of management projects. All Nunavimmiut harvesters who requested participation in the consultations were included. Interviews for the internship followed an open-ended question format that began with prompts about Arctic char and climate change and allowed room for the interviewees to express their concerns, even if those deviated from the main questions. Interviews were conducted in English or Inuktitut according to interviewee preference. The final summary report synthesizing Inuit observations and concerns about the impact of climate change on Arctic char was released earlier this year (Neelin 2021a).

Among the 10 communities interviewed in Neelin (2021a), the subject of beavers was discussed with six communities situated within or close to the current distribution of beavers in Nunavik. Respondents in these six communities mentioned beaver observations, concerns related to their interactions with Arctic char migration, and recommended that research examine the present distribution of beaver and variables promoting their range expansion. This sub-project grew from those recommendations to address these questions using a participatory research approach that included Makivik, the Regional Nunavimmi Umajulirijiit Katujiqatigiininga (RNUK; the Hunting, Fishing, and Trapping Association), and the Tasiujaq Nanuapiit Board. These Nunavik representative groups directed research goals, guided the project, contributed local knowledge, assisted with surveys and site visits, and provided feedback on results and interpretation.

A second stage of this sub-project (Neelin 2021a was the first) was to synthesize available scientific literature on the positive and negative ecosystem impacts of beaver and to position this evidence in relation to concerns over potential negative impacts of beavers in the Arctic. The review, which is included in Neelin (2021b), focused on North American beaver (Castor canadensis) but included some literature about the Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) as the impacts of both species can be similar. The review was organized to consider impacts of beavers on i) water bodies and permafrost, ii) fish species, iii) general biodiversity, and iv) people, beginning with evidence from below the treeline in more typical beaver habitat before considering evidence or inference of potential impacts above the treeline in tundra environments. Available evidence indicates that in areas where beavers are native and other species have evolved alongside them, beavers can regulate and clean water, promote biodiversity, and regulate extreme weather events. This is tremendously important for the resilience of remote, rural and peri-urban landscapes in the face of climate catastrophes. However, beavers are not planning and engineering these landscapes to benefit the greater good. In the words of Woelfle-Erskine and Cole (2015), “through their daily actions, they inadvertently create the conditions for many other species’ flourishing.” Beavers are trying to live their beaver lives, provide food for their families, and stay sheltered from predation, and they just happen to create fortuitous by-products from their labour that may help other species. Woelfle-Erskine and Cole go on to say,

“Beavers are not ecosaviors who can magically restore a right ecology or an unfragmented landscape. [...] The beavers’ novel ecosystems will incorporate vestiges of large dams, edges of cityscapes, road culverts—and may sometimes promote species undesirable for native species [...]. Beavers do not recognize native/nonnative boundaries any more than they recognize human settlers’ property lines.”

In Arctic environments where they are a new species, beavers are still trying to achieve the same goals as below the treeline: stay well-fed and keep their families safe. However, as beaver expand into the tundra they may amplify the impacts of climate change in southern arctic systems by facilitating northward expansion of other boreal species, at a cost to Arctic resident species. Many of the foreseen consequences are speculative because the expansion of beavers into the Arctic is a new phenomenon and the available body of research on this topic is very limited. Indigenous groups and governing bodies are forced to make major management decisions based on incomplete and speculative information.

The third phase of this sub-project involved community and field research in Nunavik, focused on 1) characterizing changing beaver distribution and associated habitat characteristics, 2) documenting Inuit knowledge about beaver expansion and the impact on Inuit food security, and 3) identifying adaptation strategies to minimize these impacts (Neelin (2021b)). This phase adopted mixed-methods and knowledge co-production approaches, including Inuit knowledge interviews, helicopter survey of beaver distribution, community questionnaires, and habitat selection analysis. Interviews conducted with 57 respondents from six Nunavik communities indicated the earliest observations of beavers in the Ungava region of Nunavik occurred near Kangiqsualujjuaq in the late 1950s and near Kuujjuaq in the 1970s, with beavers becoming more common close to Tasiujaq beginning in 2000, and recent observations confirming beaver presence much farther north near Aupaluk and Kangirsuk (Figure 25).

The impacts of beaver dams on Arctic char migration were identified as a primary concern of Nunavimmiut harvesters and wildlife management organizations. Questionnaires completed by 26 residents of the community of Tasiujaq indicated that perceptions of beavers were mostly negative or neutral, with positive views more often offered by women and in relation to the use of furs for clothing. Many respondents had very little knowledge of beavers, had never tasted beaver meat, and were uncertain or unsupportive of including beaver meat in their diet, since traditional country food is greatly preferred (Figure 26).

Nunavimmiut knowledge from the communities of Tasiujaq and Aupaluk contributed 24 local knowledge localities known to be inhabited recently or in the past by beavers. A helicopter survey of beaver lodges, caches and dams along western Ungava waterways consisted of 69 transects, each 10-15 km in length, including 15 transects with locally identified beaver locations and 54 systematic transects where beaver presence or absence was unknown. Across the entire 867 km survey, observed beaver sign included 46 lodges, 22 food caches, 33 dams, and 8 partial dams situated within 5 of 15 (33%) locally identified transects and 8 of 54 (15%) systematic transects (Figure 27A).

Active colony density averaged 0.06 colonies/km for locally identified transects (maximum = 0.5 colonies/km), 0.02 colonies/km for systematic transects (maximum = 0.3 colonies/km), and 0.03 colonies/km for the study region as a whole. Habitat selection analysis focused on the study region as a whole indicated beaver were more likely to be observed farther south and at low elevations, and in areas where conifers were present but where shrub cover was low to moderate, whereas at a local scale, beaver were associated with low ruggedness and most often observed along streams, less often along rivers and small lakes, and rarely on large lakes (Figure 27B).

Neelin (2021b) provides a mixed methods quantification of beaver distribution, abundance, and habitat selection above and below treeline in the western Ungava region of Nunavik, including the low latitude, low elevation, stream, river, and small lake watercourses where beaver presence is currently concentrated. This information can be used to track further expansion of beaver in Nunavik, model current and projected future habitat suitability, and prioritize locations for assessment and potential control of beaver impacts on Arctic ecosystems and the Inuit country food system.

The findings demonstrate how species expansion can be better monitored by integrating western science and Inuit knowledge. Inuit observations can detect beaver impacts on other species, are sensitive to small changes, and can capture transient events, such as sightings of beavers unsuccessfully attempting to colonize a new habitat. This can be a sign of future colonization and fill in gaps in the timeline. Helicopter surveys, on the other hand, can cover a larger area than Inuit may be able to travel by land, but it only allows us to see more obvious modifications and is limited to a snapshot in time. The results thus far show that the incorporation of both Indigenous and scientific knowledge creates more robust results and a better understanding of how and where beavers are colonizing the tundra. This knowledge has been produced in partnership with communities in order to help direct and inform local management practices and adaptation strategies. Increased awareness of the distribution of beavers, associated habitat variables, and possible future colonization routes can help Inuit policy makers to adapt to changing hydrological regimes and to prepare mitigation strategies.

In collaboration with Neelin, Nunavik Geomatics, and Ouranos, Caron (2020) evaluated the feasibility of using multispectral satellite imagery to detect beaver presence and distribution in Nunavik. Specifically, Caron (2020) evaluated the feasibility of using trend and breakpoint analyses on Landsat-derived water and vegetation indices of surface reflectance properties to detect beaver activity, ground truthed with sites of known beaver presence described in Neelin (2021b). Using a dense Landsat pixel stack at Neelin (2021b) observed beaver dam locations and at beaver-absent control sites, OLS linear regressions and Breaks For Additive and Seasonal Trends (BFAST) models were applied to a 21-year time series of six spectral indices. Long-term annual trends in these indices at beaver dam locations do not reveal evident shifts in surface properties and are generally similar to those obtained at control sites throughout the study area. The BFAST algorithm was successful in capturing, consistently across beaver sites, an abrupt change event in wetness indices (Tasseled Cap Wetness and MNDWI) and in one vegetation index (NDVI). These results provide general support for the hypothesis that beavers create ecological disturbances that can be detected in dense time series of Landsat data. Further research is needed to investigate how dense Landsat time series and/or higher resolution imagery, combined with breakpoint detection can be used to develop an automatic algorithm capable of mapping beaver locations in Nunavik. This potential is now being further explored by McGill under-graduate student Patricia Sung working in collaboration with Makivik Geomatics and under the supervision of Jeff Cardille and Murray Humphries at McGill.

Our research on beaver and char in Nunavik has advanced knowledge co-production about climate change adaptation by demonstrating how: i) wildlife surveys and monitoring can respond to local priorities and be informed by Inuit knowledge, ii) understanding species distributions and habitat selection - in the past and at present assessed at local and regional scales - informs modelling of future responses to climate change, and iii) culture and local knowledge both enable and constrain adaptation to the borealization of arctic landscapes.

3.3.2. Ptarmigan in Eeyou Istchee and Nunavik

Ptarmigan are an important food species across all communities in Eeyou Istchee and Nunavik, yet there is almost nothing available in the scientific literature regarding rock ptarmigan and willow ptarmigan in Quebec, including their range distributions, local abundance, habitat associations, or production rates. This proposed project sought to integrate local knowledge with winter based snow-tracking surveys and carcass analysis of body condition, genetic relatedness, contaminants to advance understanding of the ecology and conservation of willow and rock ptarmigan in Eeyou Istchee and Nunavik. This project was not pursued, in part because regional organizations and funders prioritized other projects more and earlier in the co-development process, and in part because once we had delayed initiating this project, pandemic-related travel restrictions emerged as another key impediment. We, as a research team, continue to be interested in pursuing this project in the future, if there is regional partner interest and community support.

Our proposed research on ptarmigan has advanced knowledge co-production about climate change adaptation by illustrating the challenges of documenting the contributions and conservation status of smaller, more widely distributed, and more abundant local food species within a research ecosystem that necessarily prioritizes a few over many wildlife species, local impacts, immediate conservation concerns, and new or contested conservation measures.

3.3.3. Moose habitat quality in Northern Quebec

Moose were historically absent from most of Eeyou Istchee, but expanded into the territory around the 1920’s and, since then, have gradually expanded in distribution, increased in abundance, and grown in importance to the Cree, to the extent that they are now among the most consumed local foods in Eeyou Istchee (see section 2.1 Figure 19CD).

Consistent with continued northward expansion, moose are now being observed more and more frequently in the northern portions of Eeyou Istchee, including around Whapmagoostui and in southern Nunavik. The factors causing the northward expansion of moose in northern Quebec have not been addressed in the scientific literature, but many Cree attribute the expansion to climate change, forest-fire succession, and logging practices farther south. At the same time, declining moose populations in southern portions of Eeyou Istchee has emerged as a major concern. As originally proposed, this project consisted of three phases i) a MFFP-led GPS-collar study of moose habitat selection within the Adapted Forestry Regime of southern Eeyou Istchee, ii) a WECLIFS-initiated community-based monitoring program of moose distribution and habitat associations in Nunavik, and iii) connecting the results of the Eeyou Istchee habitat selection study and Nunavik community-based monitoring to analyse the contemporary and future distribution of moose and moose habitat quality across northern Quebec. Community-based reporting of moose observations in Nunavik has not yet been initiated and modelling of moose distribution and habitat quality across Eeyou Istchee and Nunavik has not yet been performed, but our research team has had the opportunity to lead a mixed methods approach to the assessment of moose habitat quality within Eeyou Istchee.

This component of the project focuses on moose and moose habitat quality in Eeyou Istchee habitat quality, within and north of the Adapted Forestry Regime, and the importance of moose for Cree subsistence and trapline stewardship. The specific objectives are to 1) evaluate moose habitat quality within the Adapted Forestry Regime territory in Eeyou Istchee at the trapline level and at the level of the Sites of Special Wildlife Interest to the Cree (25% areas), 2) evaluate moose habitat quality north of the commercial forestry zone in Eeyou Istchee under natural disturbance regimes, and 3) develop a moose Habitat Suitability Index model for northern Quebec’s western black spruce - feather moss forest ecozone (see Figure 1 in section 1.2). Although the current project objectives and focus emphasizes forestry and forestry impacts on moose habitat quality in southern Eeyou Istchee, the project includes a purposeful focus on moose populations north of the commercial forestry zone, in part because climate change has been identified as a potential contributor to moose population declines in southern Eeyou Istchee and population increases and range expansion in northern Eeyou Istchee and southern Nunavik. Furthermore, because a foundational priority for the project is to allow a diversity of knowledge organizations, holders, and approaches to work together respectfully to build common understandings based on both scientific and Cree knowledge, the project also informs the larger WECLIFS initiative as an exemplar of knowledge co-production focused on environmental change impacts on a critically-important food species.

The research focuses on the analysis of location data from satellite GPS collars deployed on moose living in traplines around Waswanipi and Oujé-Bougoumou that have been differentially affected by the Adapted Forestry Regime, as well as collars that have been redeployed north of Mistissini and around Nemaska, north of the Broadback watershed and beyond the northern limit of commercial forestry (see Figure 1,2 in section 1.2). The research also focuses on Cree knowledge of the evolution of moose habitat quality in Eeyou Istchee, as observed by Tallymen and other land users from Waswanipi, Oujé-Bougoumou, Mistissini, and Nemaska, including how hunting practices have been affected by habitat change. Cree knowledge and moose collar locations will be considered independently and in combination towards the development of consensus understanding of the evolution of moose habitat quality in northern Quebec, since the 2002 implementation of Adapted Forestry Regime until present. Integrating expert knowledge from all research partners will contribute to a more complete understanding of the effects of forest management and climate change on moose habitat quality in northern Quebec.

The project is coordinated by McGill postdoc Dr. Gwyneth MacMillan, is co-funded by MFFP, CQFB, CNG, and McGill, and led by a project steering committee consisting of representatives from Cree Nation Government (CNG), Cree Trappers Association (CTA), Cree Québec Forestry Board (CQFB), wildlife and forestry branches of Québec’s Ministère de Forêts, Faune et Parcs (MFFP), and the Cree Nations of Waswanipi, Oujé-Bougoumou, Misitssini, and Nemaska. This steering committee met 13 times between September 2020 and December 2021. An initial phase of the research, completed in November and December, 2020 and January, 2021, focused on online interviews with members of the steering committee, and other members of the organizations they represent, to clarify project goals, approaches, and priorities across all project partners. The following quotes, from steering committee members, summarize some of the direction and insight offered during this initial project phase:

“It's going to be important to talk about what [Cree] people know and to understand moose habitat and behaviour from whatever knowledge our people have here. Biologists will have their understanding of all of this, and I know that's a big part of this project, but it’s going to be important to look at both knowledge types to get a better understanding of the health of the moose population as well as their habitat.”

“This project would be successful if there is common respect between people around the table, around the steering committee, and if everyone is able to give their opinion and be listened to, and if everyone is taken into account and consideration.”

A subsequent project phase focuses on Cree knowledge interviews with tallymen and other land users in Waswanipi, Oujé-Bougoumou, Mistissini, and Nemaska. A total of 37 interviews, including 56 knowledge holders, were completed across the four communities during October and November 2021 by McGill team members Gwyneth MacMillan, Nathan Badry, Eleanor Stern, and Karl-Antoine Hogue working with local research assistants from each community. These interviews used a relationship mapping technique referred to as fuzzy cognitive mapping to document Cree knowledge of the key variables influencing moose habitat quality on traplines. Moose collar locations from 38 cow moose collared within the Adapted Forestry Regime zone (2018-2020) and from 26 cow moose collared north of this area (2021-2023), as well as collar videos from 4 moose within the southern zone and 6 moose within the northern zone, are currently being analysed in relation to habitat variables by MSc student Eleanor Stern and BSc student Karl-Antoine Hogue. A subsequent knowledge integration phase will use a weight of evidence approach to combine collar location analysis and Cree knowledge to generate an integrated moose habitat quality model for Eeyou Istchee. A final knowledge application phase of the research will examine the relevance of the findings to forestry policy and moose conservation in Eeyou Istchee.

Although this moose habitat quality project currently focuses on a recent-to-present time frame and a within-Eeyou-Istchee spatial extent, the project stands to offer an excellent foundation of collaborative approaches and co-produced knowledge that could be extended to broader consideration of moose habitat quality across northern Quebec. The modelling approach could be extended spatially into Nunavik, if there is community interest in contributing past and present moose observations and their understanding of the evolution of moose habitat quality in the region. The modelling approach could also be extended temporally to the future, based on climate and habitat projections available for northern Quebec.

Our research on moose habitat quality in Eeyou Istchee has advanced knowledge co-production about climate change adaptation by demonstrating: i) the importance of south-to-north anthropogenic development gradients, in addition to south-to-north climate gradients, in shaping the abundance and distribution of key local food species in northern Quebec, ii) the extent to which forestry influences wildlife responses to climate change and climate change influences wildlife responses to forestry, and iii) the knowledge co-production, mixed methods, research ethics, and collaborative approaches required to address critical knowledge gaps from multiple knowledge perspectives in a politicized and contested governance landscape.

3.3.4. Culturally significant plants, seasonality, and environmental change in Eeyou Istchee

Plants are important contributors to local food systems and community well-being, whether used as food or medicine or, most often, a combination of both. Plant contributions to local food systems generally receive less attention than animal contributions, in part because there has been more attention paid to most-often male hunting and fishing contributions to the local food system, than most-often female plant gathering, food preparation, and healing contributions. This project will ensure a targeted focus on plant contributions to local food and well-being in Eeyou Istchee and is intended to complement related work recently completed or underway in Nunavik (Cuerrier et al. 2015; Avativut). Methodology will include key informant interviews to 1) identify culturally significant plants across Cree communities in Eeyou Istchee, 2) their uses as food and medicine, 3) how local access, harvest, sharing, and storage combine to define their availability and use, and 4) local knowledge about their seasonality and climate sensitivity.

The project is being led by McGill PhD student Allison Ford. Through an internship conducted in Mistissini with the Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay from June - October 2019, Allison contributed to the production of the CBHSSJB Guidebook and Database: Edible Plants and Mushrooms of Eeyou Istchee. This resource - currently in draft form - includes original photographs, identification information, seasonal timing, Cree names, traditional uses, and available nutritional information on more than 6 trees, 5 shrubs, 16 berries, 19 herbs, and 11 mushrooms within Eeyou Istchee.

Subsequent phases of this project will revise and complete the guidebook and database through a series of regional workshops, while also focusing in on two local plant species - Labrador tea (kaachichepakw; Rhododendron groenlandicum) and blueberries (iiyiminh; Vaccinium spp.) whose role as biocultural keystones in Eeyou Istchee is being impacted by environmental change. The overall goal of this study is to use a multi-perspective, mixed methods, community-based approach to understand and communicate local knowledge narratives of Cree experiences of plants, seasons, and phenology in the context of environmental variation in space and time. The intention of this work is to honour the guidance provided by Cree knowledge holders about the importance of recognizing that local food systems are situated in place and in season (Figure 9, and related discussion in section 1.5), while also seeking to ground the modelling of regional climate gradients and future climate change projections within the lived experience of culturally-significant plants and their contributions to Eeyouch well-being.

Our in-progress research on seasonal phenology in Eeyou Istchee has advanced knowledge co-production about climate change adaptation by demonstrating: i) the extent and importance of species-, place-, and year-specific bioclimatic conditions and seasonal transitions, ii) their importance to key food species and systems local food systems, and iii) how seasonal phenological knowledge and responses to weather variability can support adaptive capacity.

Nathan Badry is also contributing to a Niskamoon and CNG-led literature review on lake sturgeon in Eeyou Istchee, intended to serve as a knowledge synthesis and guiding document for future research conducted by government agencies and communities. The review focuses on sturgeon biology, historic and current population dynamics (abundance, structure and trends) and distribution (main rivers and watershed scales) in Eeyou Istchee, threats to the species, measures already implemented or currently underway to favour sturgeon recovery, and possible broad strategies and related recovery measures for the future.

This lake sturgeon case study of local food value chains has advanced knowledge co-production about climate change adaptation by describing a real-world example of how primary activities (preparation, access, harvest, processing, storage, and consumption) intersect with supporting conditions (ecological production, people, equipment, and institutions) to enable and constrain the local food value obtained from sturgeon. This research has highlighted the importance of primarily non-climatic impacts and adaptations within the sturgeon food value chain, including the impacts of residential schools and the wage economy on preparation, access, people, and equipment, as well as the impacts of hydro-electrical development on access and ecological production.

3.3.6. Eelgrass declines and geese along the James Bay Coast

The Coastal Habitat Comprehensive Research Program is a large-scale community-partnered research project initiated in 2017 in response to concerns by coastal Cree Land Users over eelgrass declines along the eastern coast of James Bay and the importance of healthy eelgrass to the stopover behaviour and Cree harvest of migratory geese. The project aims to bring together Cree Traditional Knowledge and scientific research to gain a detailed and holistic understanding of the coastal ecology of Eeyou Istchee (Figure 29).

The Coastal Habitat Comprehensive Research Program is overseen by a Steering Committee that is comprised of representatives from four Cree coastal communities (Waskaganish, Eastmain, Wemindji, and Chisasibi), regional Cree organizations, Hydro-Québec, and the Canadian Wildlife Service, among other organizations. The project is organized into seven components, led by six research teams with specific but interrelated objectives (Figure 29). In 2019, members of the CHCRP steering committee invited our McGill-based research team, including PhD student Melanie-Louise Leblanc and thesis supervisor Murray Humphries, to contribute to the eelgrass bed component of this collaborative research project.

Most of the field and community-based research undertaken by the Coastal Habitat Comprehensive Research Program has been completed and is currently being synthesized and presented in draft form to the program steering committee. Melanie Lousie-Leblanc has recently completed her PhD thesis, which includes one chapter from the Coastal Habitat Comprehensive Research Program. This chapter synthesizes 38 years (1982 – 2020) of eelgrass monitoring data to assess the spatio-temporal trends and environmental correlates (including river freshwater discharge, air temperature, sea surface temperature, accumulated growing degree days, ice breakup dates) of eelgrass abundance along the eastern coast of James Bay.

Our in-progress research on eelgrass trends and drivers in the Eeyou Marine Region has advanced knowledge co-production about climate change adaptation by demonstrating: i) how large scale, collaborative, and multi-institutional research can be prioritized around and coordinated by community knowledge priorities, ii) the value of combining retrospective analysis, remote sensing, field sampling, and community-partnered research to establish temporal and spatial trends in key bioindicators, and iii) interactive impacts of altered freshwater discharge and climate change on coastal ecosystems and local food subsistence activities.

3.3.7. Polar bear monitoring in the Eeyou Marine Region

In recent consultations (Eeyou Marine Region Wildlife Board 2019), coastal Cree communities in Eeyou Istchee prioritized studies on polar bear (whabhskewh or wâpiskw; Ursus maritumus) ecology in the Eeyou Marine Region (EMR) of eastern James Bay. Little information is available on polar bears in James Bay though they form the most southerly polar bear population in the world, may be a genetically distinct subpopulation, and are increasingly exposed to rapidly changing environmental conditions. Furthermore, as a federally recognized species at risk, polar bears require responsible management. Traditionally Cree do not harvest or trap polar bears for food or their fur but encounters with polar bears in and around camps is a safety concern that impacts the harvest of other species. Communities have noted changes in polar bear presence and habitat use in James Bay, including more frequent polar bear sightings and encounters, which they attribute to reduced sea ice extent in winter and accelerated ice breakup in spring, which forces polar bears to offshore islands and along the coast at a time of year when Cree are travelling to their hunting camps for the annual spring goose hunt. To answer community questions about polar bear distribution, movements, habitat use, and diet in the EMR, with the support and guidance of the CTA and EMRWB, McGill MSc student Alex Langwieder thesis focuses on collaborative development of a non-invasive monitoring program that will provide information on the habitat, genetics, diet, and body condition of these bears. The project seeks to establish a methodology that could be used by EMR communities and wildlife management entities to monitor this population over time. These tools will help communities be well-informed about polar bears in James Bay, including deterrent methods and safety measures required to ensure land users remain safe while continuing to keep traditional activities and practices alive and well.

Our in-progress research on polar bear monitoring in the Eeyou Marine Region has advanced knowledge co-production about climate change adaptation by demonstrating: i) how the distribution and abundance of key wildlife species can be documented through community-based monitoring using non-invasive approaches, and ii) how non-consumed wildlife species have indirect but important effects on coastal ecology, land-based activities, and local food value networks.

3.3.8. Conclusion: Critical knowledge gaps of impacts of environmental change on key food species

This section has described a series of targeted research projects focused on critical knowledge gaps about the impacts of environmental change on key food species in Eeyou Istchee and Nunavik. These projects all employed knowledge co-production and mixed methods approaches that combined local knowledge interviews and ecological research methods. The first four projects described were included in the original project proposal, and three were added over the course of the project in response to emerging knowledge needs and collaborative opportunities. Of all the research, synthesis, and modelling undertaken by the WECLIFS initiative, these projects were the most prioritized, best supported, and benefitted from the most involvement of regional organizations and community partners. We believe this is because these projects focused on tangible and immediate knowledge priorities related to highly valued species, were inclusive of climate change impacts and adaptations but also considered many other components of change, and successfully bridged our team's wildlife research with the knowledge and support of land users.