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The vast boreal biome plays an important role in the global carbon cycle but is experiencing particularly rapid climate warming, threatening the integrity of valued ecosystems and their component species. We developed a framework and taxonomy to identify climate‐change refugia potential in the North American boreal region, summarizing current knowledge regarding mechanisms, geographic distribution, and landscape indicators. While "terrain‐mediated" refugia will mostly be limited to coastal and mountain regions, the ecological inertia (resistance to external fluctuations) contained in some boreal ecosystems may provide more extensive buffering against climate change, resulting in "ecosystem‐protected" refugia. A notable example is boreal peatlands, which can retain high surface soil moisture and water tables even in the face of drought. Refugia from wildfire are also especially important in the boreal region, which is characterized by active disturbance regimes. Our framework will help identify areas of high refugia potential, and inform ecosystem management and conservation planning in light of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT To accomplish the objectives of a long-term ecological monitoring program (LTEM), repurposing research data collected by other researchers is an alternative to original data collection. The Boreal Avian Modelling (BAM) Project is a 10-year-old project that has integrated the data from >100 avian point-count studies encompassing thousands of point-count surveys, and harmonized across data sets to account for heterogeneity induced by methodological and other differences. The BAM project faced the classic data-management challenges any LTEM must deal with, as well as special challenges involved with harmonizing so many disparate data sources. We created a data system consisting of 4 components: Archive (to preserve each contributor's data), Avian Database (harmonized point-count data), Biophysical Database (spatially explicit environmental covariates), and Software Tools library (linking the other components and providing analysis capability). This system has allowed the project to answer many questions about boreal birds; we believe it to be successful enough to merit consideration for use in monitoring other taxa. We have learned a number of lessons that will guide the project as it moves forward. These include the importance of creating a data protocol, the critical importance of high-quality metadata, and the need for a flexible design that accommodates changes in field techniques. One of the challenges the BAM team faced-gaining access to relevant data sets-may become easier with the increased expectation by journals and funding agencies that documenting and preserving research data be a standard part of scientific research. © 2015 The Wildlife Society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In North America, many species of European earthworms have been introduced to northern forests. Facilitative or competitive interactions between these earthworm species may result in non-additive effects on native plant and animal species. We investigated the combined versus individual effects of the litter-dwelling earthworm Dendrobaena octaedra Savigny, 1826 and the deep-burrowing species Lumbricus terrestris L., 1758 on microarthropod assemblages from boreal forest soil by conducting a mesocosm experiment. Soil cores from earthworm-free areas of northern Alberta, Canada, were inoculated with D. octaedra alone, L. terrestris alone, both worm species together, or no earthworms. After 4.5 months, microarthropods were extracted from the soil, counted, and identified to higher taxa. Oribatid mites were further identified to family and genus. Abundance of microarthropods was significantly lower in the treatment containing both species than in the no earthworm treatment and the L. terrestris treatment. Oribatida and Prostigmata/Astigmata differed significantly among treatments and were lowest in the treatment containing both earthworm species, followed by the D. octaedra treatment, although post-hoc pairwise comparisons were not significant. Within the Oribatida, composition differed between the control and L. terrestris treatments as compared to the D. octaedra and both-species treatments, with Suctobelbella and Tectocepheus in particular having higher abundances in the control treatment. Effects of the two earthworm species on microarthropods were neither synergistic nor antagonistic. Our results indicate that earthworms can have strong effects on microarthropod assemblages in boreal forest soils. Future research should examine whether these changes have cascading effects on nutrient cycling, microbial communities, or plant growth. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]