scholarly journals Snow conditions as an estimator of the breeding output in high-Arctic pink-footed geese Anser brachyrhynchus

Polar Biology ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gitte Høj Jensen ◽  
Jesper Madsen ◽  
Fred A. Johnson ◽  
Mikkel P. Tamstorf
Keyword(s):  
High Arctic ◽  
Anser Brachyrhynchus ◽  
Snow Conditions

scholarly journals Accelerating future mass loss of Svalbard glaciers from a multi-model ensemble

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Ward J. J. van Pelt ◽  
Thomas V. Schuler ◽  
Veijo A. Pohjola ◽  
Rickard Pettersson
Keyword(s):  
Mass Loss ◽  
Seasonal Pattern ◽  
Marked Change ◽  
Total Pore Volume ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Equilibrium Line Altitude ◽  
Rcp Scenarios ◽  
Historical Simulation ◽  
Snow Conditions ◽  
Accumulation Area Ratio

Abstract Projected climate warming and wettening will have a major impact on the state of glaciers and seasonal snow in High Arctic regions. Following up on a historical simulation (1957–2018) for Svalbard, we make future projections of glacier climatic mass balance (CMB), snow conditions on glaciers and land, and runoff, under Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) 4.5 and 8.5 emission scenarios for 2019–60. We find that the average CMB for Svalbard glaciers, which was weakly positive during 1957–2018, becomes negative at an accelerating rate during 2019–60 for both RCP scenarios. Modelled mass loss is most pronounced in southern Svalbard, where the equilibrium line altitude is predicted to rise well above the hypsometry peak, leading to the first occurrences of zero accumulation-area ratio already by the 2030s. In parallel with firn line retreat, the total pore volume in snow and firn drops by as much as 70–80% in 2060, compared to 2018. Total refreezing remains largely unchanged, despite a marked change in the seasonal pattern towards increased refreezing in winter. Finally, we find pronounced shortening of the snow season, while combined runoff from glaciers and land more than doubles from 1957–2018 to 2019–60, for both scenarios.

scholarly journals Snow physical properties may be a significant determinant of lemming population dynamics in the high Arctic

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 813-826 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florent Domine ◽  
Gilles Gauthier ◽  
Vincent Vionnet ◽  
Dominique Fauteux ◽  
Marie Dumont ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Population Dynamics ◽  
Basal Layer ◽  
Population Data ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Population Fluctuations ◽  
Snow Modeling ◽  
Animal Populations ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Snow Conditions ◽  
The Many

Cyclic population fluctuations are common in boreal and Arctic species but the causes of these cycles are still debated today. Among these species, lemmings are Arctic rodents that live and reproduce under the snow and whose large cyclical population fluctuations in the high Arctic impact the whole tundra food web. We explore, using lemming population data and snow modeling, whether the hardness of the basal layer of the snowpack, determined by rain-on-snow events (ROS) and wind storms in autumn, can affect brown lemming population dynamics in the Canadian high Arctic. Using a 7-year dataset collected on Bylot Island, Nunavut, Canada over the period 2003–2014, we demonstrate that liquid water input to snow is strongly inversely related with winter population growth (R2 ≥ 0.62) and to a lesser extent to lemming summer densities and winter nest densities (R2 = 0.29–0.39). ROS in autumn can therefore influence the amplitude of brown lemming population fluctuations. Increase in ROS events with climate warming should strongly impact the populations of lemmings and consequently those of the many predators that depend upon them. Snow conditions may be a key factor influencing the cyclic dynamics of Arctic animal populations.

scholarly journals Growth Rate and Salinity Profile of First-Year Sea Ice in the High Arctic

1981 ◽  
Vol 27 (96) ◽  
pp. 315-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Nakawo ◽  
N. K Sinha
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Sea Ice ◽  
Physical Properties ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
First Year ◽  
Baffin Island ◽  
Growth Season ◽  
Method Of Calculation ◽  
Salinity Profile ◽  
Snow Conditions

AbstractThis paper describes the growth of sea ice and the salinity profiles observed in Eclipse Sound near Pond Inlet, Baffin Island, Canada, during the winter of 1977–78. A numerical method of calculation has been developed to incorporate the variations in snow conditions and physical properties of ice and snow during the growth season. It is shown that the growth rate can be predicted reasonably well. It is also shown that the vertical salinity profile in the ice towards the end of the season, provides a record of previous climatological conditions. A dependence has been shown between the predicted growth rate and the measured salinity.

Effects of snow cover on the timing and success of reproduction in high-Arctic pink-footed geese Anser brachyrhynchus

Polar Biology ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 30 (11) ◽  
pp. 1363-1372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesper Madsen ◽  
Mikkel Tamstorf ◽  
Marcel Klaassen ◽  
Nina Eide ◽  
Christian Glahder ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Snow Cover ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Anser Brachyrhynchus

scholarly journals Growth Rate and Salinity Profile of First-Year Sea Ice in the High Arctic

1981 ◽  
Vol 27 (96) ◽  
pp. 315-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Nakawo ◽  
N. K Sinha
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Sea Ice ◽  
Physical Properties ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
First Year ◽  
Baffin Island ◽  
Growth Season ◽  
Method Of Calculation ◽  
Salinity Profile ◽  
Snow Conditions

AbstractThis paper describes the growth of sea ice and the salinity profiles observed in Eclipse Sound near Pond Inlet, Baffin Island, Canada, during the winter of 1977–78. A numerical method of calculation has been developed to incorporate the variations in snow conditions and physical properties of ice and snow during the growth season. It is shown that the growth rate can be predicted reasonably well. It is also shown that the vertical salinity profile in the ice towards the end of the season, provides a record of previous climatological conditions. A dependence has been shown between the predicted growth rate and the measured salinity.

scholarly journals The seasonal dynamics of a High Arctic plant - visitor network: temporal observations and responses to delayed snow melt

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark A. K. Gillespie ◽  
Elisabeth J Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Seasonal Dynamics ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Flowering Phenology ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Snow Melt ◽  
Insect Activity ◽  
Snow Conditions ◽  
Snow Fences ◽  
Delayed Flowering

Plant - visitor food webs provide important insights into species interactions, and more information about their seasonal dynamics is vital to understanding the resilience of species to external pressures. Studies of Arctic networks can also improve our understanding of species responses to the pressures of climate change. This study provides the first description of a plant – insect visitor network in Svalbard, a High Arctic archipelago already experiencing the consequences of climate change. A subset of the network was collected from experimental plots where the snow melt date was delayed with snow fences. The deep snow plots delayed flowering and we expected this to disrupt plant-visitor interactions compared to ambient snow conditions. However, the composition of flowers and insect visitors were similar between regimes, and the network tracked patterns of overall flowering phenology. Nevertheless, the deep snow significantly reduced the average overlap between flower availability and insect activity, reducing the probability of an interaction. We suggest that at a landscape scale, Arctic pollinators will benefit from patchy changes to snow melt that maintain heterogeneity in the timing of flowering but changes that increase homogeneity in snowmelt across the landscape may negatively impact some species.

Summer phytoplankton of the northern Barents Sea (75–80º N)

2019 ◽  
pp. 8-19
Author(s):  
Larisa A. Pautova ◽  
Vladimir A. Silkin ◽  
Marina D. Kravchishina ◽  
Valeriy G. Yakubenko ◽  
Anna L. Chultsova
Keyword(s):  
Barents Sea ◽  
Weighted Average ◽  
Arctic Basin ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Alexandrium Tamarense ◽  
Warm Water ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Absolute Maximum ◽  
Deep Trench ◽  
Maximum Biomass

The structure of the summer planktonic communities of the Northern part of the Barents sea in the first half of August 2017 were studied. In the sea-ice melting area, the average phytoplankton biomass producing upper 50-meter layer of water reached values levels of eutrophic waters (up to 2.1 g/m3). Phytoplankton was presented by diatoms of the genera Thalassiosira and Eucampia. Maximum biomass recorded at depths of 22–52 m, the absolute maximum biomass community (5,0 g/m3) marked on the horizon of 45 m (station 5558), located at the outlet of the deep trench Franz Victoria near the West coast of the archipelago Franz Josef Land. In ice-free waters, phytoplankton abundance was low, and the weighted average biomass (8.0 mg/m3 – 123.1 mg/m3) corresponded to oligotrophic waters and lower mesotrophic waters. In the upper layers of the water population abundance was dominated by small flagellates and picoplankton from, biomass – Arctic dinoflagellates (Gymnodinium spp.) and cold Atlantic complexes (Gyrodinium lachryma, Alexandrium tamarense, Dinophysis norvegica). The proportion of Atlantic species in phytoplankton reached 75%. The representatives of warm-water Atlantic complex (Emiliania huxleyi, Rhizosolenia hebetata f. semispina, Ceratium horridum) were recorded up to 80º N, as indicators of the penetration of warm Atlantic waters into the Arctic basin. The presence of oceanic Atlantic species as warm-water and cold systems in the high Arctic indicates the strengthening of processes of “atlantificacion” in the region.

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