Trait-based approaches connect the traits of species to ecosystem functions to estimate the functional diversity of communities and how they may respond to environmental change. For the first time, we compiled a traits matrix across 11 traits for 28 species of Arctic ice meiofauna, including Copepoda (Subclass), Nematoda (Phylum), Acoela (Order), Rotifera (Phylum), and Cnidaria (Phylum). Over 50 years ...

Many benthic invertebrate taxa possess planktonic early life stages which drift with water currents and contribute to dispersal of the species, sometimes reaching areas beyond the current ranges of the adults. Until recently, it had been difficult to identify planktonic larvae to species level due to lack of distinguishing features, preventing detection of expatriate species. Here, we used DNA ...

Ecosystems are currently experiencing rapid changes. Decision-makers need to anticipate future changes or challenges that will emerge in order to implement both short-term actions and long-term strategies for reducing undesirable impacts. Strategic foresight has been proposed to help resolve these challenges for better planning and decision-making in an uncertain future. This structured process ...

Host density, host body size and ambient temperature have all been positively associated with increases in parasite infection. However, the relative importance of these factors in shaping long-term parasite population dynamics in wild host populations is unknown due to the absence of long-term studies. Here, we examine long-term drivers of gill lice (Copepoda) infections in Arctic charr (Salmonidae) ...

Diapausing populations of Calanus finmarchicus at depth in the Lofoten Basin (LB) return to the continental shelf and slope off the Lofoten-Vesterålen Islands during the phytoplankton spring bloom to feed and spawn, forming surface swarms with a great abundance. To study how overwintering populations of C. finmarchicus move with the deep currents and return to the shelf, Lagrangian transport ...

In this study, we explore Indigenous energy opposition to and acceptance of small hydropower development. In Sapmi ´ (i.e., the traditional homeland of the Indigenous S´ ami people), land development poses a major threat to the cultural and material needs of the S´ ami people through the loss of pastures essential to Sami ´ reindeer herding. In contrast to large-scale renewable energy projects ...

Chlorophyll-a (Chl) retrieval from ocean colour remote sensing is problematic for relatively turbid coastal waters due to the impact of non-algal materials on atmospheric correction and standard Chl algorithm performance. Artificial neural networks (NNs) provide an alternative approach for retrieval of Chl from space and results for northwest European shelf seas over the 2002–2020 period are ...

Fungi are highly diverse organisms, which provide multiple ecosystem services. However, compared with charismatic animals and plants, the distribution patterns and conservation needs of fungi have been little explored. Here, we examined endemicity patterns, global change vulnerability and conservation priority areas for functional groups of soil fungi based on six global surveys using a ...

Climate change induced alterations to winter conditions may afect decomposer organisms controlling the vast carbon stores in northern soils. Soil microarthropods are particularly abundant decomposers in Arctic ecosystems. We studied whether increased snow depth afected microarthropods, and if efects were consistent over two consecutive winters. We sampled Collembola and soil mites from a snow ...

Seasonal patterns in mesozooplankton composition, vertical distribution, and timing of reproduction are challenging to study in the open sea due to ocean currents and mix of populations of different origins. Sill fjords, on the other hand, with restricted water exchange, are ideal locations for studying taxa- and community-specific adaptations to the prevailing environment. Here, we present ...