Trends in water temperature and salinity (A) and density of phytoplankton of two size ranges (B), Canada Basin, 2004 to 2008. Stratification of the water column increased throughout the Canada Basin over a recent five-year period, accompanied by a change in phytoplankton communities. The upper ocean layer showed trends of increased temperature and decreased salinity (Figure 18A), which combine to make this layer progressively less dense. The layer of water below this did not change in density over this period (not shown). The larger size class of phytoplankton (which would include diatoms) decreased in abundance, while the smaller types of plankton increased (Figure 18B). In addition to the trends shown, nutrient content in the upper ocean water layer decreased. Abundance of microbes (bacteria and similar organisms) that subsist on organic matter increased. Total phytoplankton biomass, however, remained unchanged. If this trend towards smaller species of phytoplankton and microbes is sustained, it may lead to reduced production of zooplankton, an impact that would be transmitted through the food web to birds, fish and mammals. Published in the Life Linked to Ice released in 2013, page 30. Life Linked to Ice: A guide to sea-ice-associated biodiversity in this time of rapid change. CAFF Assessment Series No. 10. Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna, Iceland. ISBN: 978-9935-431-25-7.

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

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.

Albedo is a reflection coefficient that describes the reflecting power of a surface. Data compiled for CAFFs Land Cover Change Initiative with dataset for the firs of very month during 2001- 20112. - <a href="http://www.caff.is/indices-and-indicators/land-cover-change-index" target="_blank"> Land Cover Change Initiative (LCC)</a>

Appendix 9.1 List of all Arctic vascular plant species (with PAF code number) and their distribution in the 21 Arctic floristic provinces and 5 subzones based on Elven (2007).

Locations of sub-Arctic and Arctic shipping accidents and incident causes, 1995-2004 (source: Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment 2009). Published in the Arctic Biodiversity Assessment (ABA) released in 2014.

The Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program, a cornerstone programme of the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF), Arctic Council working Group is an international network of scientists, government agencies, Indigenous organizations and conservation groups working together to harmonize and integrate efforts to monitor the Arctic's living resources.CBMP experts are developing four coordinated and integrated Arctic Biodiversity Monitoring Plans to help guide circumpolar monitoring efforts. Results will be channeled into effective conservation, mitigation and adaptation policies supporting the Arctic. These plans represent the Arctic's major ecosystems(Marine, Freshwater, Coastal, Terrestrial). It is important that monitoring programs develop the most effective reporting strategies if they are to inform decision making. To facilitate effective and consistent reporting, the CBMP has chosen a suite of indices and indicators that provide a comprehensive picture of the state of Arctic biodiversity – from species to habitats to ecosystem processes to ecological services. These indices and indicators are developed in a hierarchical manner, allowing users to drill down into the data from the higher-order indices to more detailed indicators. These are being developed through an expert consultation process. The Arctic Species Trend Index (ASTI) is part of this suite of indicators and indices developed by CAFFs CBMP. It tracks trends in over 300 Arctic vertebrate species and comprises the Arctic component of the Living Planet Index. It is important to identify how wildlife and ecosystems are changing in order to develop effective conservation and adaptation strategies in the Arctic, an environment undergoing dramatic changes. The ASTI describes overall trends across species, taxonomy, ecosystems, regions and other categories.

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.

Map of the Arctic Ocean with superimposed stacked bars representing species numbers of macrozoobenthos from different shelf sea areas: Crustacea+Mollusca+Echinodermata (blue) and Annelida (black). Compiled by Piepenburg et al. (2011). Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna, CAFF 2013 - Akureyri . Arctic Biodiversity Assessment. Status and Trends in Arctic biodiversity. - Marine Invertebrates(Chapter 8) page 282