Permafrost ice caves: an unrecognized microhabitat for Arctic wildlife.

Keywords: Arctic; cave; climate change; microhabitat; permafrost; thermokarst; wolverine EN Arctic cave climate change microhabitat permafrost thermokarst wolverine 1 4 4 05/05/21 20210501 NES 210501 The Arctic is changing rapidly, introducing new challenges and opportunities for animals. The first site (Cave A) was used once (April 5) by a single wolverine for 12 h, and the second site (Cave B, 37 km from Cave A) was used twice (April 15 and May 3) by the same wolverine for 1-3 h during each visit. Abundant wolverine scat was present in the vicinity of the cave entrance, including in the trench, suggesting that the wolverines used both the cave and the snowdrifts formed in the trench for their den. Arctic, cave, climate change, microhabitat, permafrost, thermokarst, wolverine. [Extracted from the article]