Regions: South Slave Region
Tags: climate change, hydrology, limnology, paleohydrology, historical data, paleolimnology, flooding, ecological change, stream flow, wildlife habitat, Mackenzie Delta, drought, Slave River Delta
| Principal Investigator: | Wolfe, Brent BBW (10) |
| Licence Number: | 13605 |
| Organization: | Wilfrid Laurier University |
| Licensed Year(s): |
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
|
| Issued: | May 07, 2004 |
| Project Team: | Dr. Roland |
Objective(s): This research program is centred on developing high-resolution 1000-year hydro-ecological histories in the Mackenzie Basin Deltas (MBDs) from multi-proxy analyses of lake sediment cores supported by comprehensive field based studies of modern hydrology and limnology. This project will address four critical research questions: 1) What are the flood and drought frequencies in the MBDs over the past 1000 years; 2) is there evidence to suggest prolonged periods of drought have occurred naturally in the past, prior to recent dry intervals in the Peace-Athabasca Delta and Slave Delta which have been attributed to natural climate variation, global climate warming, and/or river flow regulation; 3) What are the ecological responses to hydrological variability and what is the impact on wildlife habitat; and 4) What is the forecast for hydro-ecological conditions in the MBDs in light of future climate change and increasing demand on water resources? Results will address concerns related to the potential environmental impact of river regulation, resource development, and climate variability on the MBDs.
