This review provides a synopsis of the main findings of individual papers in the special issue <i>Terrestrial Biodiversity in a Rapidly Changing Arctic</i>. The special issue was developed to inform the <i>State of the Arctic Terrestrial Biodiversity Report</i> developed by the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program (CBMP) of the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF), Arctic Council ...

Evaluating the effectiveness of conservation actions is challenging for migratory species because a population can be impacted anywhere along its route. Conservation actions for the critically endangered Fennoscandian lesser white-fronted goose population include culling of red foxes in the breeding area and habitat improvements and reduction of illegal hunting in the non-breeding areas. One goal ...

There is scientific consensus that the archipelago of Svalbard is warming up faster than other parts of the planet. People who live in or regularly visit this part of the European high Arctic observe and experience these changes in a subjective and relational manner. This article illustrates how perceptions of environmental change are enmeshed with our ways of interacting with water(s) and dwelling ...

River ecosystems receive and process vast quantities of terrestrial organic carbon, the fate of which depends strongly on microbial activity. Variation in and controls of processing rates, however, are poorly characterized at the global scale. In response, we used a peer-sourced research network and a highly standardized carbon processing assay to conduct a global-scale field experiment in greater ...

Vegetation indices are corner stones in vegetation monitoring. However, previous field studies on lichens and NDVI have been based on passive sensors. Active handheld sensors, with their own light sources, enables high- precision monitoring under variable ambient conditions. We investigated the use of handheld sensor NDVI for monitoring pale lichen cover across three study sites from boreal heathlands ...

1. Actuarial senescence, the decline of survival with age, is well documented in the wild. Rates of senescence vary widely between taxa, to some extent also between sexes, with the fastest life histories showing the highest rates of senescence. Few studies have investigated differences in senescence among populations of the same species, although such variation is expected from population-level ...

Acanthobdellida gnaw into the sides of salmonid fishes in frigid Arctic lakes and rivers, latching on with fearsome facial hooks. Sister to leeches, they are an ancient lineage with two described species. Unfortunately, Acanthobdellida are rarely collected, leading to a paucity of literature despite their unique morphology. Populations range from Eurasia to Alaska (USA), but few specimens of ...

Background: The scimitar‐horned oryx (Oryx dammah) (SHO) is a large African antelope that became extinct in the wild just over two decades ago. Conservation of the species is of prime importance, but it might face pathogen stressors.<p> <p>Methods and principal findings: Brucella melitensis biovar 1 was previously confirmed in a high‐density captive population of SHO held in Abu‐Dhabi emirate. ...

Climate change, and other human-induced impacts, are severely increasing the intensity and occurrences of algal blooms in coastal regions (IPCC, 2022). Ocean warming, marine heatwaves, and eutrophication promote suitable conditions for rapid phytoplankton growth and biomass accumulation. An increase in such primary producers provides food for marine organisms, and phytoplankton play an important ...