Descriptive transcript
Dr. Ian Bradbury, Research Scientist, Fisheries and Oceans Canada: [00:00:01] Climate change is severely impacting ecosystems at a global scale. In Canada, warming is about twice the global average. This is impacting everything from agricultural production to fisheries, forestry to the transmission of disease and pathogens.
Joey Angnatok, Commercial Fisherman, Putjotik Fisheries Ltd.: [00:00:22] People have noticed a decrease in the numbers of char. It's very important for food source in both summer and winter. Also, it gives people the reason to get out on the land and, I guess, be who they are.
Carl Plante, Citizen: [00:00:45] I am concerned by the impact of climate change on forest environments. The way I see it, we're going to see forest stands being degraded over decades.
Rick Bennett, Breeding Lead, Carinata, Nuseed Canada: [00:00:57] We believe that breeding for climate resilient crops is important in today's world. We see a lot more extreme weather patterns.
Dr. Ian Bradbury: [00:01:08] Genomics is a study of an organism's complete set of DNA, including all its genes. In April of 2022, the Government of Canada Genomics Research and Development Initiative launched the Genomic Adaptation and Resilience to Climate Change Project.
[On screen: Genomic Adaptation and Resilience to Climate Change]
[On screen: GenARCC]
Dr. Ian Bradbury: [00:01:28] GenARCC enables scientists in different departments to reach out to one another, combine their expertise and address issues that extend beyond the mandates of single departments. GenARCC researchers are using genomic tools to answer the following questions. How are species and populations in Canada adapted to their environment? What is the rate of change? And how will these species and populations respond to future climate change? GenARCC's activities are organized into three ecosystem based work packages.
[On screen: Forest and Tundra ecosystems]
Dr. Ian Bradbury: [00:02:02] For the Forest and Tundra work package, questions include: how to invest funds to conserve and protect wildlife such as caribou, where to plant trees and which trees to plant considering drought, heat tolerance and pest resistance.
Dr. Nathalie Isabel, Research Scientist, Natural Resources Canada: [00:02:16] Forest genomics gives us a high level of agility. In the GenARCC project, genetic diversity in forests is being studied, and experiments are being conducted under controlled conditions. The goal is to paint a picture of diversity or vulnerability hotspots in Canada. What is also interesting is that we'll be able to layer information on different trophic levels. That means information not just on trees but also the microbiome, including all soil micro-organisms and those associated with trees, that is, symbiotic micro-organisms or fungi.
[On screen: Agroecosystems]
Dr. Ian Bradbury: [00:02:56] For the agro ecosystems work package, we're asking questions such as: which plants support declining pollinator populations, which crops to plant for drought and heat resistance, or tolerance and disease management in bison populations.
Dr. Christina Eynck, Research Scientist, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada: [00:03:13] The most important Brassica oilseed on the Canadian prairies is canola and our part of the GenARCC project is to assess the adaptive capacity to drought and Brassica oilseed species and to develop tools that will help to more efficiently develop drought tolerant cultivars.
[On screen: Aquatic and Coastal ecosystems]
Dr. Ian Bradbury: [00:03:31] In the aquatic and coastal work package, we're looking at: which species are safe to eat or require new health screening, where to invest funds to conserve and protect wildlife populations such as polar bear, seabirds and salmonids, and identifying which fisheries may be poised to grow or to collapse in response to climate change.
At present, very little is known regarding stock structure of Arctic char in coastal Labrador, and a large part of this project is building a genetic baseline or a map of genetic variation in Arctic char in the region. Understanding and conserving genetic variation among populations within a species is important because it allows the species and populations to adapt to changing environments and to other stresses.
GenARCC relies heavily on strong linkages with end users, including Indigenous groups from across Canada. These linkages provide access to different types of knowledge, critical baseline information and access to samples. The integration of end users directly into the project ensures that those most heavily impacted by climate change have immediate access to the results and the science advice coming out of the project.
In many ways, this is a new way of doing research, addressing issues of importance to Canadians. The ability to predict climate change impacts across Canadian wild and agricultural environments is key to successful mitigation and adaptation of climate change impacts.
[On screen: GRDI.CANADA.CA]
[On screen: GenARCC]
[On screen: Government of Canada wordmark]