scholarly journals Effects of Arctic Warming on Microbes and Methane in Different Land Types in Svalbard

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (22) ◽  
pp. 3296
Author(s):  
Fang Zhang ◽  
Han Zhang ◽  
Shaofeng Pei ◽  
Liyang Zhan ◽  
Wangwang Ye

Climate change is having a profound impact on Arctic microbiomes and their living environments. However, we have only incomplete knowledge about the seasonal and inter-annual variations observed among these microbes and about their methane regulation mechanisms with respect to glaciers, glacial melting, snow lakes and coastal marine water. This gap in our knowledge limits our understanding of the linkages between climate and environmental change. In the Arctic, there are large reservoirs of methane which are sensitive to temperature changes. If global warming intensifies, larger quantities of methane stored in deep soil and sediments will be released into the atmosphere, causing irreversible effects on the global ecosystem. Methane production is mainly mediated by microorganisms. Although we have some knowledge of microbial community structure, we know less about the methane-correlated microbes in different land types in the Svalbard archipelago, and we do not have a comprehensive grasp of the relationship between them. That is the main reason we have written this paper, in which current knowledge of microorganisms and methane-correlated types in High Arctic Svalbard is described. The problems that need to be addressed in the future are also identified.

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 2221-2244 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Huang ◽  
S. L. Gong ◽  
S. Sharma ◽  
D. Lavoué ◽  
C. Q. Jia

Abstract. Black carbon (BC) particles accumulated in the Arctic troposphere and deposited over snow have significant effects on radiative forcing of the Arctic regional climate. Applying cluster analysis technique on 10-day backward trajectories, transport pathways affecting Alert (82.5° N, 62.5° W), Nunavut in Canada are identified in this work, along with the associated transport frequency. Based on the atmospheric transport frequency and the estimated BC emission intensity from surrounding regions, a linear regression model is constructed to investigate the inter-annual variations of BC observed at Alert in January and April, representative of winter and spring respectively, between 1990 and 2005. Strong correlations are found between BC concentrations predicted with the regression model and measured at Alert for both seasons (R2 equals 0.77 and 0.81 for winter and spring, respectively). Results imply that atmospheric transport and BC emission are the major contributors to the inter-annual variations in BC concentrations observed at Alert in the cold seasons for the 16-year period. Based on the regression model the relative contributions of regional BC emissions affecting Alert are attributed to the Eurasian sector, composed of the European Union and the former USSR, and the North American sector. Considering both seasons, the model suggests that Eurasia is the major contributor to the near-surface BC levels at the Canadian High Arctic site with an average contribution of over 85% during the 16-year period. In winter, the atmospheric transport of BC aerosols from Eurasia is found to be even more predominant with a multi-year average of 94%. The model estimates smaller contribution from the Eurasian sector in spring (70%) than that in winter. It is also found that the change in Eurasian contributions depends mainly on the reduction of emission intensity, while the changes in both emission and atmospheric transport contributed to the inter-annual variation of North American contributions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 166 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michał Grabowski ◽  
Aleksandra Jabłońska ◽  
Agata Weydmann-Zwolicka ◽  
Mikhail Gantsevich ◽  
Petr Strelkov ◽  
...  

Abstract The distribution of two common intertidal amphipod species Gammarus oceanicus and Gammarus setosus was studied along the coast of Svalbard Archipelago. Genetic analysis showed geographical homogeneity of G. oceanicus with only one molecular operational taxonomic unit (MOTU) and much higher diversification of G. setosus (5 MOTUs) in the studied area. Only two MOTUs of G. setosus are widespread along the whole studied Svalbard coastline, whereas the remaining three MOTUs are present mainly along the northern and eastern parts of archipelago’s largest island, Spitsbergen. Distribution analysis indicates that the demographic and spatial expansion of G. oceanicus in the northern Atlantic has started already during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, ca. 18 ka), while G. setosus seems to be a long-persistent inhabitant of the Arctic, possibly even through the LGM, with slower distribution dynamics. Combining the results of our molecular study with previous field observations and the knowledge upon the direction of ocean currents around the Svalbard Archipelago, it can be assumed that G. oceanicus is a typical boreal Atlantic species that is still continuing its postglacial expansion northwards. In recent decades it colonized High Arctic due to the climate warming and has partly displaced G. setosus, that used to be the only common gammarid of the Svalbard intertidal zone.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomasz Wawrzyniak ◽  
Marzena Osuch

Abstract. The article presents the climatological dataset from the Polish Polar Station Hornsund located in the SW part of Spitsbergen - the biggest island of the Svalbard Archipelago. Due to a general lack of long-term in situ measurements and observations, the high Arctic remains one of the largest climate‐data deficient regions on the Earth, so described series is of unique value. To draw conclusions on the climatic changes in the Arctic, it is necessary to analyse the long-term series of continuous, systematic, in situ observations from different locations and comparing the corresponding data, rather than rely on the climatic simulations only. In recent decades, rapid environmental changes occurring in the Atlantic sector of the Arctic are reflected in the data series collected by the operational monitoring conducted at the Hornsund Station. We demonstrate the results of the 40 years-long series of observations. Climatological mean values or totals are given, and we also examined the variability of meteorological variables at monthly and annual scale using the modified Mann-Kendall test for trend and Sen’s method. The relevant daily, monthly, and annual data are provided on the PANGAEA repository (https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.909042, Wawrzyniak and Osuch, 2019).


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frans-Jan W. Parmentier ◽  
Lennart Nilsen ◽  
Hans Tømmervik ◽  
Elisabeth J. Cooper

Abstract. Near-surface remote sensing techniques are essential monitoring tools to provide spatial and temporal resolutions beyond the capabilities of orbital methods. This high level of detail is especially helpful to monitor specific plant communities and to accurately time the phenological stages of vegetation – which satellites can miss by days or weeks in frequently clouded areas such as the Arctic. In this paper, we describe a measurement network that is distributed across varying plant communities in the high Arctic valley of Adventdalen on the Svalbard archipelago, with the aim to monitor vegetation phenology. The network consists of ten racks equipped with sensors that measure NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), soil temperature and moisture, as well as time-lapse RGB cameras. Three additional time-lapse cameras are placed on nearby mountain tops to provide an overview of the valley. The vegetation index GCC (Green Chromatic Channel) was derived from these RGB photos, which has similar applications as NDVI but at a fraction of the cost of NDVI imaging sensors. To create a robust timeseries for GCC, each set of photos was adjusted for unwanted movement of the camera with a stabilizing algorithm that enhances the spatial precision of these measurements. This code is available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4554937 (Parmentier, 2021) and can be applied to time series obtained with other time-lapse cameras. This paper presents an overview of the data collection and processing, and an overview of the dataset which is available at https://doi.org/10.21343/kbpq-xb91 (Nilsen et al. 2021). In addition, we provide some examples of how this data can be used to monitoring different vegetation communities in the landscape.


Zootaxa ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 3091 (1) ◽  
pp. 33 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARÍA LUISA ÁVILA-JIMÉNEZ ◽  
DARIUSZ J. GWIAZDOWICZ ◽  
STEPHEN JAMES COULSON

The need for comprehensive studies of the invertebrate fauna in the high Arctic is increasingly acknowledged in order to more fully understand ecosystem functioning, resilience and to project future changes in the biodiversity and species ranges. Information on the mesostigmatid fauna in the high Arctic is scarce and scattered. Large regions of the high Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, including most of the areas in the east of the island group, have never been surveyed for the mesostigmatid fauna. Furthermore, most of the current knowledge on the mesostigmatid fauna of this important region in the European high Arctic originates from studies in the early 20 th century. Much of the associated slide material no longer exists, either being mislaid or deliberately destroyed, resulting in an ambiguous and potentially misleading mesostigmatid fauna checklist in which identifications and potential synonyms cannot be reliably assessed. Determination of fresh material sampled between 2007–2010 may be an ideal procedure to resolve the great number of uncertainties about the mesostigmatid fauna of the Svalbard archipelago. Twelve out of the 27 species recorded from the Svalbard archipelago were found in the new samples collected from a large number of localities and microhabitats. No new species were identified in the current campaign, and most of the non-observed species are considered to be past missidentifications or potential synonyms. Combining this study with recent publications provides a total mesostigmatid mite diversity for Svalbard of 22 species. This represents the most accurate checklist of the mesostigmatid mite fauna of the archipelago to date.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Congbo Song ◽  
Manuel Dall’Osto ◽  
Angelo Lupi ◽  
Mauro Mazzola ◽  
Rita Traversi ◽  
...  

Abstract. Understanding aerosol-cloud-climate interactions in the Arctic is key to predict the climate in this rapidly changing region. Whilst many studies have focused on submicron aerosol (diameter less than 1 μm), relatively little is known about the climate relevance of supermicron aerosol (diameter above 1 μm). Here, we present a cluster analysis of multiyear (2015–2019) aerodynamic volume size distributions with diameter ranging from 0.5 to 20 μm measured continuously at the Gruvebadet Observatory in the Svalbard archipelago. Together with aerosol chemical composition data from several online and offline measurements, we apportioned the occurrence of the coarse-mode aerosols to anthropogenic (two sources, 27 %) and natural (three sources, 73 %) origins. Specifically, two clusters are related to Arctic haze with high levels of black carbon, sulfate and accumulation mode (0.1–1 μm) aerosol. The first cluster (9 %) is attributed to ammonium sulfate-rich Arctic haze particles, whereas the second one (18 %) to larger-mode aerosol mixed with sea salt. The three natural aerosol clusters were: open ocean sea spray aerosol (34 %), mineral dust (7 %), and an unidentified source of sea spray-related aerosol (32 %). The results suggest that sea spray-related aerosol in polar regions may be more complex than previously thought due to short/long-distance origins and mixtures with Arctic haze, biogenic and likely snow-blowing aerosols. Studying supermicron natural aerosol in the Arctic is imperative for understanding the impacts of changing natural processes on Arctic aerosol.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 805-815 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomasz Wawrzyniak ◽  
Marzena Osuch

Abstract. The article presents the climatological dataset from the Polish Polar Station Hornsund located in the southwest part of Spitsbergen – the biggest island of the Svalbard archipelago. Due to a general lack of long-term in situ measurements and observations, the High Arctic remains one of the largest climate-data-deficient regions on the Earth. Therefore, the described time series of observations in this paper are of unique value. To draw conclusions on the climatic changes in the Arctic, it is necessary to analyse and compare the long-term series of continuous, in situ observations from different locations, rather than relying on the climatic simulations only. In recent decades, rapid environmental changes occurring in the Atlantic sector of the Arctic are reflected in the data series collected by the operational monitoring conducted at the Hornsund station. We demonstrate the results of the 40-year-long series of observations. Climatological mean values or totals are given, and we also examined the variability of meteorological variables at monthly and annual scale using the modified Mann–Kendall test for trend and Sen's method. The relevant daily, monthly, and annual data are provided on the PANGAEA repository (https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.909042, Wawrzyniak and Osuch, 2019).


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen M. Platt ◽  
Øystein Hov ◽  
Torunn Berg ◽  
Knut Breivik ◽  
Sabine Eckhardt ◽  
...  

Abstract. The Zeppelin Observatory (78.90° N, 11.88° E) is located on the Zeppelin Mountain at 472 m above sea level on Spitsbergen, the largest island of the Svalbard archipelago. Established in 1989, the observatory is part of the “Ny-Ålesund Research Station” and an important atmospheric measurement site, one of only a few in the high Arctic and as a part of several European and global monitoring programs and research infrastructures, notably the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP), the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP), the Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW), the Aerosols, Clouds, and Trace gases Research InfraStructure (ACTRIS), the Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment (AGAGE) network, and the Integrated Carbon Observation System (ICOS). The observatory is jointly operated by the Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI), Stockholm University and the Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU). Here we detail the establishment of the Zeppelin Observatory including historical measurements of atmospheric composition in the European Arctic leading to its construction. We present a history of the measurements at the observatory and review the current state of the European Arctic atmosphere, including results from trends in greenhouse gases, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), other traces gases, persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and heavy metals, aerosols and Arctic haze, and atmospheric transport phenomena.


2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 5065-5073 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Huang ◽  
S. L. Gong ◽  
S. Sharma ◽  
D. Lavoué ◽  
C. Q. Jia

Abstract. Black carbon (BC) particles accumulated in the Arctic troposphere and deposited on snow have been calculated to have significant effects on radiative forcing of the Arctic regional climate. Applying cluster analysis technique on 10-day backward trajectories, seven distinct transport pathways (or clusters) affecting Alert (82.5° N, 62.5° W), Nunavut in Canada are identified in this work. Transport frequency associated with each pathway is obtained as the fraction of trajectories in that cluster. Based on atmospheric transport frequency and BC surface flux from surrounding regions (i.e. North America, Europe, and former USSR), a linear regression model is constructed to investigate the inter-annual variations of BC observed at Alert in January and April, representative of winter and spring respectively, between 1990 and 2005. Strong correlations are found between BC concentrations predicted with the regression model and measurements at Alert for both seasons (R2 equals 0.77 and 0.81 for winter and spring, respectively). Results imply that atmospheric transport and BC emission are the major contributors to the inter-annual variations in BC concentrations observed at Alert in the cold seasons for the 16-year period. Other factors, such as deposition, could also contribute to the variability in BC concentrations but were not considered in this analysis. Based on the regression model the relative contributions of regional BC emissions affecting Alert are attributed to the Eurasian sector, composed of the European Union and the former USSR, and the North American sector. Considering both seasons, the model suggests that former USSR is the major contributor to the near-surface BC levels at the Canadian high Arctic site with an average contribution of about 67% during the 16-year period, followed by European Union (18%) and North America (15%). In winter, the atmospheric transport of BC aerosols from Eurasia is found to be even more predominant with a multi-year average of 94%. The model estimates smaller contribution from the Eurasian sector in spring (70%) than that in winter. It is also found that the inter-annual variation in Eurasian contributions depends mainly on the reduction of emissions, while the changes in both emission and atmospheric transport contributed to the inter-annual variation of North American contributions.


NeoBiota ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 37 ◽  
pp. 37-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabine B. Rumpf ◽  
Inger Greve Alsos ◽  
Chris Ware

Biosecurity measures are commonly used to prevent the introduction of non-native species to natural environments globally, yet the efficacy of practices is rarely tested under operational conditions. A voluntary biosecurity measure was trialled in the Norwegian high Arctic following concern that non-native species might be transferred to the region on the footwear of travellers. Passengers aboard an expedition cruise ship disinfected their footwear with the broad spectrum disinfectant Virkon S prior to and in-between landing at sites around the remote Svalbard archipelago. The authors evaluated the efficacy of simply stepping through a disinfectant foot bath, which is the most common practice of footwear disinfection aboard expedition cruise ships in the Arctic. This was compared to a more time consuming and little-used method involving drying disinfected footwear, as proposed by other studies. The two practices were evaluated by measuring microbial growth on paired footwear samples before and after disinfection under both conditions. Step-through disinfection did not substantially reduce microbial growth on the footwear. Allowing disinfected footwear to dry, however, reduced the microbial burden significantly to lower levels. Thus, the currently adopted procedures used aboard ships are ineffective at removing microbial burden and are only effective when footwear is given more time to dry than currently granted under operational conditions. These findings underscore results from empirical research performed elsewhere and suggest the need to better relay this information to practitioners. It is suggested that footwear should minimally be wiped dry after step-through disinfection as a reasonable compromise between biosecurity and practicability.


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