Tourism is vital in ensuring thriving communities in peripheral areas of the Arctic. However, many Arctic destinations have seen a dramatic increase in visitors, raising concerns about their ability to withstand tourism pressures. Simultaneously, socioecological systems in the region are undergoing rapid transformations with significant implications for future development.

The Arctic region is experiencing rapid warming and an increase in the frequency and intensity of marine heatwaves (MHWs), posing an increasing risk to coastal ecosystems. Kelp communities in the Arctic are vital habitats that support biodiversity and resilience but are particularly vulnerable to increasing temperature anomalies.

Sarina Niedzwiedz (University of Bremen) and Tobias Vonnahme (Greenland Institute of Natural Resources) presented FACE-IT results at the "Fjords in a changing climate" workshop in Stalheim, Norway. This interdisciplinary workshop on the physical oceanography, biogeochemistry and biology of fjords in the past, present and future took place from 02 to 05 June 2025.

On 28 May 2025, Cheshtaa Chitkara successfully defended her PhD thesis, entitled "Arctic marine microbial eukaryotes–Spatiotemporal drivers of community structure and ecological impacts of Atlantification". Prior to the defense, Cheshtaa presented a trial lecture with the title “Mixotrophy in plankton: ecological concepts and evidence with examples from the Arctic”. 

Ecosystems in the Arctic are affected by multiple stressors caused by climate and environmental changes, increased pollution and human activities. The changes are unprecedented, with considerable scientific uncertainties over their potential consequences. In such a situation the use of the precautionary principle can be justified in environmental management.

Glaciers cover approximately 60% of the Svalbard archipelago, but despite extensive research on Svalbard’s glaciers and their retreat, little is known about the effect of glaciers with different termination points on fjordic benthic communities in the Arctic. Billefjorden, Svalbard, includes bays influenced by runoff from inland glaciers and Nordenskiöldbreen, a glacier that, due to retreat, has split into a marine- and a shore-terminating side since 2017.

Kongsfjorden is located in West Spitsbergen, Svalbard archipelago. Its hydrography is influenced by the West Spitsbergen Current (WSC) transporting warm and saline Atlantic Water (AW) toward the Arctic basin. We assessed changes in fjord water properties over two decades (1999–2020) using summer hydrographic surveys performed by the Norwegian Polar Institute in the fjord, the adjacent shelf, and open ocean regions.

On 06 February 2025, Luisa Düsedau successfully defended her PhD thesis, entitled "Assessment of Macroalgal Biodiversity and Habitat Change in the European Arctic". Luisa worked within the FACE-IT project at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Germany).

Glacier fronts are hotspots of pelagic productivity due to upwelling of nutrient-rich water. As tidewater glaciers retreat into land, this subglacial circulation will disappear and sedimentation from terrestrial runoff will increase, leading to a decrease in pelagic productivity with a decline in the abundance of fish and zooplankton.