What is ArcticWOLVES?
ArcticWOLVES is an international initiative developed for the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008. The project will build a network of circumpolar wildlife observatories in order to assess the current state of arctic terrestrial food webs over a large geographical range. The network will provide baseline information to evaluate current and future population trends for a large number of species at several locations using standard protocols. Another aim of the project is to determine the relative importance of bottom-up (resources) and top-down (predators) forces in structuring arctic food webs, and how climate affects these trophic linkages. Arctic WOLVES has been fully endorsed by the ICSU/WMO Joint Committee for the International Polar Year 2007-2008 and was considered by the committee “a prominent and valued part of the IPY program”. The project currently involves more than 40 researchers from 9 countries (Canada, USA, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Netherlands, Finland, Germany, and Russia) and is currently lead by the Canada. Arctic WOLVES is also a component of Canadian IPY program. The administrative center of the project is located at the Centre d'études nordiques, Université Laval, Québec, Canada.