Table 3.1. Summary of historical population estimates for 22 circumpolar caribou and wild reindeer herds. Data courtesy of Circum-Arctic Rangifer Monitoring Assessment Network (CARMA) and D.E. Russell & A. Gunn; www.carmanetwork.com/display/ public/home. Data vary substantially among herds and over time in accuracy and precision, and represent only general patterns of abundance. Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna, CAFF 2013 - Akureyri . Arctic Biodiversity Assessment. Status and Trends in Arctic biodiversity. - Mammals(Chapter 3) page 91

The MODIS marine chlorophyll a product provided, similar to SST, is a 4 km global monthly composite based on smaller resolution daily imagery compiled by NASA. The imagery is reliant on clear ocean (free of clouds and ice) so only months from March to October have been provided, as the chlorophyll levels in the Arctic diminish during the winter months, when sea ice is prevalent. The marine chlorophyll a is measured in mg/m3

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.

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.

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.

The MODIS Sea Surface Temperature (SST) product provided is a 4km spatialresolution monthly composite made from nighttime measurements from the Aqua Satellite.The nighttime measurements are used to collect a consistent temperature measurement that isunaffected by the warming of the top layer of water by the sun.

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).

Arctic Biodiversity Assessment (ABA) 2013. Figure 4.2. Major flyways of Arctic birds. Bird migration links Arctic breeding areas to all other parts of the globe (adapted from ACIA 2005). Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna, CAFF 2013 - Akureyri . Arctic Biodiversity Assessment. Status and Trends in Arctic biodiversity. - Birds(Chapter 4) page 146

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

The two species of murres, thick-billed Uria lomvia and common U. aalge, both have circumpolar distributions, breeding in Arctic, sub-Arctic and temperate seas from alifornia and N Spain to N Greenland, high Arctic Canada, Svalbard, Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya (Box 4.3 Fig. 1). Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna, CAFF 2013 - Akureyri . Arctic Biodiversity Assessment. Status and Trends in Arctic biodiversity. - Birds(Chapter 4) page 163