Summary

Active sand dunes. Great Sand Hills, southwestern Saskatchewan.

Ongoing climate change studies focussing on sand dunes in the Prairie Provinces may be divided into four main themes: Drought Impacts, Historical Changes in Land-Cover, Past Dune Activity, and Land-use Management. This research, undertaken by the Geological Survey of Canada in collaboration with universities and other government organizations, contributes to an improved understanding of drought and climate change impacts on the prairies. Many of these investigations focus on the southern prairies, an area that has historically experienced the most severe drought-related impacts in Canada.

Climate Change Impacts

General Circulation Models predict significant warming in the mid-latitudes of central North America as a consequence of increased atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases. Historical temperature trends indicate a warming of nearly 1°C over the last century on the prairies. In addition, extreme conditions such as the 1987-88 drought produced annual temperatures 3 to 4°C warmer than average, with regional precipitation deficits causing major economic losses. Warmer temperatures and less available moisture in the future would have a significant impact on the landscape and the economy of the prairies. Therefore, a sound understanding of the potential impacts of climate change is needed in order to develop strategies that could minimize any potential losses and maximize any potential benefits of climate change on the prairies.

Why Study Sand Dunes?

There are over 120 sand dune fields in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba occurring throughout the prairie and boreal ecozones (Cover Page). These dune areas have been less modified by human activities compared to much of the prairie landscape. Dune areas are not cropped because of their low soil fertility and low soil moisture holding capacity. They are also at a high risk of erosion by wind. These same attributes make sand dunes an important environmental indicator of climate change impacts. That is, they can act as "barometers" to assess the stability of the prairie landscape as a whole. Dune areas are also important to the people, flora and fauna that use them. They are presently utilized as resources for rangelands, provincial and national parks and recreation areas, forest reserves, military reserves, native reserves, wildlife reserves and hunting areas. While management plans exist for many dune areas, the potential impacts of climate change may require new strategies be developed to ensure sustainable resource management in the future.

Author: Stephen Wolfe