De-icing of Arctic Coasts: Critical or new opportunities for marine biodiversity and Ecosystem Services?

Informations

Funding country

Norway

Acronym

-

URL

-

Start date

1/1/2019

End date

12/31/2022

Budget

413,280 EUR

Fundings

Abstract

In this project we have put together a strong pan-Arctic and multidisciplinary team from Norway, Poland, Canada, US and Denmark to predict biodiversity- and socio-ecological consequences of the change from seasonal ice-covered to ice-free Arctic coasts. Arctic coastal ecosystems are under growing pressure as climate change and human activities increase, necessitating that government managers, industries, conservation organisations and communities have access to timely biodiversity and ecosystem status data. In 2020, the ACCES project was granted a one-year extension free of charge due to COVID. Official end of the project is now December 2022. Field activities in 2021, were still challenging to organize due to strict COVID regulations.. International partners were not able to join field activities as planned. UNIS kindly provided extra funding so we could hire a PhD candidate to take care of the planned sea ice biodiversity work. Further, we relied on master students to conduct the many field tasks in 2021. In summer, a 8 days scientific cruise to Eastern Svalbard was conducted. The ACCES project applied for cruise time with the Norwegian coast guard both in 2020 and 2021, and during these two cruises we have done important mapping of macroalgae and coastal marine biodiversity in eastern Svalbard ? a site exposed to extensive sea ice. Samples from these cruises are currently analysed in close cooperation with our Polish partners. Ship time for a third coast guard cruise in 2022 has been applied for and we hope that we will get ship time again so we can bring our international partners. Some of our planned studies in eastern Svalbard depend on their expertise and equipment. Further, the project has continued its work on improving remote sensing as a tool for coastal monitoring in Svalbard and pan-Arctic. Currently we have two manuscripts in review, work that focuses on the extent and consequences of coastal darkening. The ACCES project is now in its final phase and we have full focus on publishing results. In 2021, we published an important report on the environmental status of Svalbard coastal waters with recommendations for future research and management needs. In parallel, a short popular scientific summary for stakeholders was published. This work, which built upon the Sustainable Svalbard Coast workshop we arrange din March 2020, is a direct deliverable to the ongoing circum-polar biodiversity work by the coastal expert group under the Arctic Council and CAFF. Further, molecular work has revealed new essential information on sea ice nematode biodiversity in Svalbard. Nematodes are by far the most abundant and important phyla present in coastal sea ice. In addition, important work on zooplankton biodiversity in nearshore waters was published in 2021. More publications are on its way and many of these will be part of a special issue we are planning in relation to the science session Arctic Coasts in Transition at the international Arctic Frontiers conference in Tromsø, January 2022, that ACCES project partners co-lead.