Breeding and wintering range of common eiders Somateria mollissima in the circumpolar region (not all southern breeding areas included).The common eider Somateria mollissima has a circumpolar distribution breeding mainly on small islands in Arctic and boreal marine areas in Alaska (Bering Sea region), Canada, Greenland, Iceland, N Europe and the Barents Sea region. In mainland Russia, there is a gap in distribution from the Yugorski Peninsula (Kara Sea) to Chaunskaya Bay in E Siberia Important wintering areas include the Gulf of Alaska/Bering Sea/Aleutian region, SE Canada, SW Greenland, Iceland and NW Europe. Six or seven subspecies are recognized, of which four occur in North America. - <a href="http://arcticbiodiversity.is/the-report/chapters/birds" target="_blank">Arctic Biodiversity Assessment. Status and Trends in Arctic biodiversity. - Birds(Chapter 4) page 150</a>

The Arctic territory is roughly subdivided along two main axes in latitudinal subzones (Fig. 9.1) and longitudinal floristic provinces (Fig. 9.2). The latitudinal northsouth axis mainly reflects the present climate gradient divided into five different subzones, which are separated according to climate and vegetation in the lowlands of each zone. Published in the Arctic Biodiversity Assessment, Chapter 9 - released in 2013

Vegetation indices quantify the concentrations of green leaf vegetation (chlorophyll)around the globe, in an attempt to monitor and correlate vegetation health and stress. The MODIS vegetation products include the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)and an Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI). Included in the MOD13C1 product is both NDVIand EVI, so both have been provided for the CAFF Dedicated Pan-Arctic Satellite RemoteSensing Products and Distribution System. These indices come in a variety of resolutions,but MTRI has provided a monthly global composite on a 0.05° Climate Model GRID(CMG).

<img src="http://geo.abds.is/geonetwork/srv/eng//resources.get?uuid=59d822e4-56ce-453c-b98d-40207a2e9eec&fname=cbmp_small.png" alt="logo" height="67px" align="left" hspace="10px"> The Arctic marine data set contains a total of 111 species and 310 population time series from 170 locations. Species coverage is about 34% of Arctic marine vertebrate species (100% of mammals, 53% of birds, and 27% of fishes) (Bluhm et al. 2011). At the species level, even though the representation of Arctic fish species is lower than that of mammals and birds, the data are dominated by fishes, primarily from the Pacific Ocean (especially the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands). However, there are more population time series in total for bird species, which is reflective of this group being both better studied historically and also monitored at many small study sites compared to fish and marine mammal species, which are regularly monitored at a much larger scale through stock management. Note that the time span selected for marine analyses is 1970 to 2005 (compared with 1970 to 2007 for the ASTI for all species). CAFF Assessment Series No. 7 April 2012 - <a href=http://caff.is/asti/asti-publications/28-arctic-species-trend-index-tracking-trends-in-arctic-marine-populations" target="_blank"> The Arctic Species Trend Index - Tracking trends in Arctic marine populations </a>

The MODIS Land Surface Temperature (LST) product provided is a monthlycomposite configured on a 0.05° Climate Model Grid (CMG). It includes both daytime andnighttime surface temperatures, taken at 11 um and 4 um (night). This product has beenscaled. To convert the raster values to a Kelvin temperature scale, multiply by a factor of 0.02.

Colored Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM) is a measurement of the absorption of light in the UV and visible spectrum by the colored components of dissolved organic carbon. It is essentially the yellow substance in water as a result of decaying detritus. It is important to measure because it limits the amount of sunlight penetration, and thus restricts the growth of plankton populations. It is measured in a unit-less CDOM index. Data generated as part of CAFFs Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program (CAFF) and its Land Cover Change Initiative (LCC) Trends visible in the MODIS dataset show an overall decrease in the mean CDOM from 2003 to 2012, with a percent change of -31.7%. This trend can be seen in Figure 40. This decrease corresponds to the increase in total yearly primary productivity (Figure 30), as a decrease in the CDOM allows for sunlight to penetrate deeper into the water, boosting chlorophyll concentrations and thus primary productivity.

Arctic Biodiversity Assessment (ABA) 2013. Table 9.5. Species numbers of species-rich moss genera and families. Numbers highlighted in grey fields are used in calculating the percentage of the total moss flora. Listed are Splachnum, genera with at least 10 species and families with at least nine species. Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna, CAFF 2013 - Akureyri . Arctic Biodiversity Assessment. Status and Trends in Arctic biodiversity. - Plants(Chapter 9) page 333

The MODIS Land Water Mask is created from MODIS 250 m imagery incombination with Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) Water Body Data (SWBD) tocreate a global map of surface water at 250 m spatial resolution. Currently, only one mapexists, created in 2009 by Carroll et al. (2009). Because only one MODIS-based map exists,an analysis of surface water change is not possible at this time.

The Arctic Ocean and adjacent seas (AOAS) with the approximate delineation of the 16 regions examined for the occurrence of marine fish species. - <a href="http://www.caff.is/assessment-series/10-arctic-biodiversity-assessment/211-arctic-biodiversity-assessment-2013-chapter-6-fishes" target="_blank"> Arctic Biodiversity Assessment, Chapter 6: Fishes</a

Summary of Arctic vascular plant species and distribution by Arctic flora province and subzone based on Elven (2007). Arctic floristic provinces, subzones (A-E), neighbouring boreal or boreal-alpine zone (N) and distribution derived from Elven (2007). Arctic Biodiversity Assessment - Table 9.1 Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna, CAFF 2013 - Akureyri . Arctic Biodiversity Assessment. Status and Trends in Arctic biodiversity. - Plants(Chapter 9) page 321