Long-term wildlife research and monitoring sites in Arctic Canada

In Arctic Canada, the development of long-term research sites to study vertebrates (principally marine birds and marine mammals) has supported the safe delivery of collaborative science that is unique in its ability to assess the impacts of rapid environmental change and increasing human-generated pressures (e.g., fisheries bycatch, harvest, tourism, resource development) to wildlife and their habitats. The longevity of these research programs has enabled them to be impactful in their ability to inform environmental and wildlife conservation and management actions in Canada and internationally. In this Special Issue, we have collected a series of papers describing key long-term (>10 years) Arctic wildlife research and monitoring sites (mainly in Nunavut), including why they were developed, their scientific accomplishments, their impact on domestic or international policy, the relevance of the research to local Inuit communities, and how they might evolve to address future conservation issues. In this overview paper, we describe the social, political, and scientific context underlying the development and delivery of science at these sites over the past 40 years, and comment on the role of these programs in supporting the evolution of wildlife research in Arctic Canada.