activities

On 23 October 2023, Anaïs Lebrun sucessfully defended her PhD thesis, entitled "Responses of shallow arctic benthic communities to climate change". Anaïs is working within the FACE-IT project at the Laboratoire d'Océanographie de Villefranche, LOV, which belongs to Sorbonne University.

From 14 to 17 May 2023, FACE-IT scientists involved in the research area Ecosystem Function Changes met at the field station of Aarhus University located at the Limfjord in Rønbjerg, Denmark.

Dr. Lill Rastad Bjørst from Aalborg University is one of nineteen scholars who will take part in a series of events held in Washington, D.C. from April 24-28, 2023 as part of the Fulbright Arctic Initiative. Scholars from the Arctic Council’s eight member states will present their research and policy recommendations, capping two years of research and collaboration.

Phytoplankton primary production is the base of the marine food web. Consequently, productive areas are often important for benthic ecosystems, as well as fishery. Northern Melville Bay, in Northwest Greenland is north of the currently exploited fishing grounds, but important for vulnerable benthic organisms, including corals, sea pens, and sponges.

CHARTER, ECOTIP and FACE-IT, three EU-funded projects that are researching on biodiversity in relation to ice loss in the Arctic, organized jointly with the EU Polar Cluster a policy briefing in Brussels on 15 March 2023.

The University Centre in Svalbard UNIS is running the northernmost high-frequent time series of plankton in the world studying the seasonal community development and biodiversity in Adventfjorden on the west coast of Svalbard. Since 2018, UNIS has expanded this timeseries to also cover the entire Svalbard archipelago by regularly sampling fjords in western, northern, eastern and southern Svalbard during summers using cruise ships as platform.

FACE-IT, ECOTIP and CHARTER, the three Horizon 2020 projects working on Arctic biodiversity and ice loss are conducting a policy briefing on 15 March 2023, 2 pm, in Brussels.

Halvor Dannevig from the Western Norway Research Institute is co-editing a new Research Topic in "Frontiers in Marine Science".

Four days full of information and getting to know new colleagues! The FACE-IT kick-off meeting took place from 23 to 26 November 2020.

Right at the start of the FACE-IT project, the wide public was invited to attend a colloquium: “The new Arctic: Ecological and societal transitions in glacial fjord systems”. On 25 November, from 3:15 pm CET, experts from Greenland,

With November 1, 2020, we started the EU project FACE-IT (“The Future of Arctic coastal ecosystems – Identifying transitions in fjord systems and adjacent coastal areas”). FACE-IT is coordinated by Prof. Dr. Kai Bischof and Dr. Simon Jungblut from the University of Bremen. Marine Botany Group at the Department of Biology/Chemistry of the University of Bremen and compares Arctic fjord systems at different stages of glacial and sea-ice retreat in Greenland, Svalbard and the Norwegian Finmark.

The European Union (EU) has underscored its will to heighten its engagement in the Arctic region. Beyond traditional areas of interest – such as tackling climate change, supporting research and developing cooperations – critical resources and security emerged as new topics in the EU’s most recent policy documents.

The sugar kelp Saccharina latissima has received intense scientific attention over the last decades. In recent years, interest in cultivation of the species has strongly increased in the North Atlantic Ocean and the Eastern Pacific Ocean, driven by the great potential of S. latissima to be utilised for various industrial applications, including food, feed, and biomaterials.

Kelps (Phaeophyceae, Laminariales) are ecosystem engineers along Arctic rocky shores. With ongoing climate change, the frequency and intensity of marine heatwaves are increasing. Further, extensive meltwater plumes darken Arctic fjords. Assessing the effect of a sudden temperature increase at the cold-distribution limit of cold-temperate kelp species, we compared the responses of two kelp species (Agarum clathratum, Saccharina latissima) to realistic Arctic summer heatwave scenarios (4–10°C) under low- and high-light conditions (3; 120 μmol photons m-2 s-1) for 12 days.

Sea ice, a central component of polar ecosystems, is undergoing profound changes due to climate change. In particular, the Arctic is experiencing unprecedented warming at quicker rates than other regions. This alarming trend of sea ice loss has dire consequences, with spill-over effects on the entire ecosystem, from phytoplankton to top predators.

Our ability to assess biodiversity at relevant spatial and temporal scales for informing management is of increasing importance given this is foundational to identify and mitigate the impacts of global change. Collecting baseline information and tracking ecological changes are particularly important for areas experiencing rapid changes and representing data gaps such as Arctic marine ecosystems.

The rapid environmental changes in aquatic systems as a result of anthropogenic forcings are creating a multitude of challenging conditions for organisms and communities. The need to better understand the interaction of environmental stressors now, and in the future, is fundamental to determining the response of ecosystems to these perturbations.

The sugar kelp Saccharina latissima is a Laminariales species widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere. Its physiology and ecology have been studied since the 1960s, given its ecological relevance on western temperate coasts.

The global green transition has put a new focus on the Arctic region and its resources (eg.energy, minerals, and access to land) at the same time as Arctic communities are looking for development, self-determination, and growth.

The aims of this review are to elucidate the spatial variation in the primary production rates and biomasses (Chl a) of sea ice algae in the Canadian Arctic–Greenland region, characterized by its comparable physical settings.

This review paper is the first to collect and synthesise the available knowledge, across various disciplines, on the importance of wintertime freshwater inflow from tidewater glaciers into Arctic fjords. While surface melt is limited during winter, tidewater glaciers can continue to deliver freshwater into the marine environment.

The collection of in situ data is generally a costly process, with the Arctic being no exception. Indeed, there has been a perception that the Arctic is lacking in situ sampling; however, after many years of concerted effort and international collaboration, the Arctic is now rather well sampled, with many cruise expeditions every year.

The Arctic Ocean is subject to high rates of ocean warming and acidification, with critical implications for marine organisms as well as ecosystems and the services they provide.

The melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet is accelerating, with glaciers shifting from marine to land termination and potential consequences for fjord ecosystems downstream.

Land-terminating glaciers and submarine melting of marine-terminating glaciers are significant features in Arctic regions and are foreseen to become more frequent as marine-terminating glaciers ultimately develop into a land-terminated state.

Broadly distributed seaweeds, such as the boreal-temperate kelp species Saccharina latissima, contain a multitude of metabolites supporting acclimation to environmental changes, such as temperature and salinity.

Tourism has been booming in Svalbard and has almost returned to pre-pandemic levels. At the same time, the island is a hotspot of rapid and cascading climate and environmental changes, which are already placing natural and social systems under stress.

Global warming affects the Arctic more than any other region. Mass media constantly relay apocalyptic visions of climate change threatening Arctic wildlife, especially emblematic megafauna such as polar bears, whales, and seabirds.

Increasing shipping traffic in the Arctic Ocean creates an emerging need to understand the consequences of maritime operations on the Arctic environment and coastal Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, as well as potential governance responses. To address this need, we examine recent shipping trends and assess their impact on Arctic environments and communities.

The Arctic experiences a rapid retreat of sea-ice, particularly in spring and summer, which may dramatically affect pagophilic species. In recent years, the decline of many Arctic seabird populations has raised concerns about the potential role of sea-ice habitats on their demography.

The Svalbard Archipelago has experienced a rapid increase in tourism-related activities over the past few decades. The Norwegian Government’s ambition to develop the Archipelago’s tourism industry offers multiple socio-economic opportunities.

Kelps act as ecosystem engineers on many polar rocky shore coastlines. The underwater light climate and temperature are the main drivers for their vertical and latitudinal distribution. With temperatures rising globally, an Arctic expansion of temperate kelp species and an accelerating glacial melt is predicted.

Fjord systems are transition zones between land and sea, resulting in complex and dynamic environments. They are of particular interest in the Arctic as they harbour ecosystems inhabited by a rich range of species and provide many societal benefits. The key drivers of change in European Arctic (i.e. Greenland, Svalbard, and Northern Norway) fjord socioecological systems are reviewed here, ...

In 2021, the Government of Greenland made an active, discursive shift in the political discourse regarding Greenlandic development. Since the last general election, the political agenda has changed from prioritizing industrialization and the development of extractive industries (with little focus on ratifying international treaties and commitments to lower CO2 emissions to limit global warming) to suddenly wanting to “live up to our name, Greenland” by kickstarting a green transition with the ambition to be an exporter of hydropower and mining rare earth elements (REE) to support the technology for the green transition.

Global warming accelerates melting of glaciers and increases the supply of meltwater and associated inorganic particles, nutrients, and organic matter to adjacent coastal seas, but the ecosystem impact is poorly resolved and quantified.

The Arctic region faces a warming rate that is more than twice the global average. Sea-ice loss, increase in precipitation and freshwater discharge, changes in underwater light, and amplification of ocean acidification modify benthic habitats and the communities they host.

The seaweed Desmarestia aculeata (Phaeophyceae) is distributed in the temperate zone of the North Atlantic up to the Arctic, where it is exposed to a high Arctic light regime and fluctuating salinity conditions resulting from glacial and terrestrial run-off. Information on how this species is able to thrive under current and future Arctic conditions is scarce.

The polar night has recently received increased attention as a surprisingly active biological season. Yet, polar night microbial ecology is a vastly understudied field. To identify the physical and biogeochemical parameters driving microbial activity over the dark season, we studied a sub-Arctic fjord system in northern Norway from autumn to early spring with detailed monthly sampling.

Greenland’s fjords and coastal waters are highly productive and sustain important fisheries. However, retreating glaciers and increasing meltwater are changing fjord circulation and biogeochemistry, which may threaten future productivity. The freshening of Greenland fjords caused by unprecedented melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet may alter carbonate chemistry in coastal waters, influencing CO2 uptake and causing biological consequences from acidification.

The magnitude and distribution of net primary production (NPP) in the coastal ocean remains poorly constrained, particularly for shallow marine vegetation. Here, using a compilation of in situ annual NPP measurements across >400 sites in 72 geographic ecoregions, we provide global predictions of the productivity of seaweed habitats, which form the largest vegetated coastal biome on the planet.

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.

In Kongsfjorden (Spitsbergen), we quantified the zonation of visually dominant macroalgal taxa and of detached macroalgae from underwater videos taken in summer 2009 at six transects between 2 and 138 m water depth. For the first time, we provide information on the occurrence of deep water red algae below the kelp forest and of detached macroalgae at water depth > 30 m.

Global warming, combined with an increasing influence of Atlantic Waters in the European Arctic, are causing a so-called Atlantification of the Arctic. This phenomenon is affecting the plankton biomass and communities with potential consequences for the upper trophic levels. Using long-term data (2005-2020) from a high Arctic zooplanktivorous seabird, the little auk (Alle alle), we tested the hypothesis that the Atlantification affects its diet, body condition and demography.

Kelp forests are productive coastal ecosystems that provide a range of ecosystem services. Mapping the distribution and area occupied by kelp forests is a critical step to identify their ecosystem functions and services, including their role in the carbon cycle, and to detect changes in their distribution.

The Los Alamos Sea Ice Model (CICE) is used by several Earth system models where sea ice boundary conditions are not necessary, given their global scope. However, regional and local implementations of sea ice models require boundary conditions describing the time changes of the sea ice and snow being exchanged across the boundaries of the model domain.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a new discursive regime that encompasses global environmental change challenges and sustainability sciences, including adaptation to climate change. Co-production of knowledge has become a key, intrinsic component in both sustainability sciences and adaptation research.

Ocean temperatures have increased during 2011–2020, causing significant changes in the marine environment. One area that has been affected by the temperature increase is the Arctic, leading to a decrease in glacial mass and an increase in meltwater. Some organisms e.g., Fucus (brown seaweed) benefit from these environmental changes while others may be strongly affected.

Arctic summer sea ice extent is decreasing and thinning, forming melt ponds that cover more than 50% of the sea ice area during the peak of the melting season. Despite of this, ice algal communities in melt ponds are understudied and so are their contribution to the Arctic Ocean primary production and carbon turnover.

Arctic benthic ecosystems are facing high-speed environmental changes, such as decreased sea ice coverage, increased temperature and precipitations, as well as the invasion by non-indigenous species. Few sub-arctic fjords have the particularity to have an inner-most part forming a basin in which water remains very cold.

Accelerating warming and associated loss of sea ice are expected to promote the expansion of coastal marine forests (macrophytes) along the massive Arctic coastlines. Yet, this region has received much less attention compared to other global oceans. The available future projections of Arctic macrophytes are still limited to few species and regions, and mostly focused at lower latitude ranges, thus precluding well-informed IPCC impact assessments, conservation and management.

Different sea ice models apply unique approaches in the computation of nutrient diffusion between the ocean and the ice bottom, which are generally decoupled from the calculation of turbulent heat flux.

This study uses cetacean sighting data, acquired via a citizen science programme, to update distributions and spatial trends of whales and dolphins in waters around the Svalbard Archipelago during the period 2005–2019.

Arctic fjord systems experience large amplitudes of change in temperature and radiation regime due to climate warming and the related decrease in sea ice. The resultant increase in irradiance entering the water column influences photosynthetic activity of benthic and pelagic primary producers.

Kelps are important foundation species in coastal ecosystems currently experiencing pronounced shifts in their distribution patterns caused by ocean warming. While some populations found at species’ warm distribution edges have been recently observed to decline, expansions of some species have been recorded at their cold distribution edges.

Since 2002 the pan-arctic integration symposia has attempted to figure out how the Arctic Ocean can be understood as an independent, mediterranean type ocean and node of the Northern Hemisphere.

Snow cover on sea ice is the most important factor controlling light availability for sea ice algae, but it is predicted by climate models to become more variable and stochastic. Here, we document effects of a sudden, complete loss of the entire snow cover on first-year sea ice at Kangerlussuaq Fjord, West Greenland, due to a natural Föhn wind event that caused a ca. 17 °C air temperature increase over 36 h.

Snow cover on sea ice is the most important factor controlling light availability for sea ice algae, but it is predicted by climate models to become more variable and stochastic. Here, we document effects of a sudden, complete loss of the entire snow cover on first-year sea ice at Kangerlussuaq Fjord, West Greenland, due to a natural Föhn wind event that caused a ca. 17 °C air temperature increase over 36 h.

There is strong evidence of an increase in primary production (PP) in the Arctic Ocean (AO) over the last two decades. Further increases will depend on the interplay between decreasing light limitation for primary producers, as the sea ice extent and thickness decrease

An international symposium addressing pan-Arctic perspectives of the marine ecosystems of the Arctic Ocean took place in October 2017 and this editorial introduces the publications that derived from the conference.

Male bearded seals (Erignathus barbatus) use vocal displays to attract females and to compete with other males during the mating season. This makes it possible to monitor breeding populations of this species using passive acoustic monitoring (PAM).

Temperatures in the Arctic are increasing at a faster pace than at lower latitudes resulting in range expansion of boreal species. In Greenland, the warming also drives accelerating melt of the Greenland Ice Sheet resulting in more meltwater entering Greenland fjords in summer.

This study presents comprehensive mapping of the current distribution of pinnipeds and polar bears (Ursus maritimus) around Svalbard based on a regional marine mammal sightings programme and explores time-trends (2005–2018).

Systemer i et klimaforandret Arktis: Den svære dialog mellem fakta- og meningsproducenter.

The Arctic climate is changing rapidly. The warming and resultant longer open water periods suggest potential for expansion of marine vegetation along the vast Arctic coastline. We compiled and reviewed the scattered time series on Arctic marine vegetation and explored trends for macroalgae and eelgrass (Zostera marina).

In August 2023, three researchers of the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) and the University of Bremen visited the Holmfjorden Research Station of the Norwegian Instutute of Marine Research (IMR). Marie Koch (AWI) and Simon Jungblut (Uni Bremen) had…

Nora Diehl and Sarina Niedzwiedz from the University of Bremen conducted a field work campaign in Nuuk, Greenland in June / July 2023 to answer the question, how future Arctic kelp forest communities might look like. Kelps are brown macroalgae that…

The Arctic and Svalbard in particular is warming at a rate far beyond the global average, leading to a reduction of sea-ice and glacial retreat. Fjords in Svalbard represent model systems to study climate change induced ecosystem transitions, as…

End of August 2022, Sarina Niedzwiedz from the University of Bremen conducted a field campaign to analyse the effect of terrestrial run-off on Arctic kelp ecosystems. Kelps act as ecosystem engineers and foundation species, thereby providing the…

In summer 2022, a group of scientists of the University of Bremen and the Alfred Wegener Institute investigated the biochemical capacities and reactions to changing temperatures in benthic key species of the Porsangerfjord. We stayed at the…

In summer 2022, a team of 4 scientists specialized on seaweeds (from Germany, Norway and Canada) undertook an expedition to the Holmfjorden Research Station of the Norwegian Institute for Marine Research at the Porsangerfjord. Over a time period of…

The Ny-Ålesund research station has a long tradition in international and interdisciplinary research cooperation, which has been fostered by the ever-increasing interaction within and between the four flagship programs operated by NySMaC. One…

On 08 April 2024, FACE-IT and the collaborating project "Future Arctic Lives" invited for a workshop on Lakselv, Porsanger, Finmark. This workshop explored the lokal management options for the mitigation of climate and environmental changes. 15…

The FACE-IT colleagues Camilla Risvoll and Solveig Øye Bjørdal from the Nordland Research Institute co-organized a set of workshops in the Posanger Municipality, Finnmark, Norway.

The first biennial Greenland Marine Research Seminar hosted by the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources (GINR) brought together the Davis Strait Observing System as well as the FACE-IT and ECOTIP projects with stakeholders, managers, and…

"How is cruise tourism developing in Greenland and how to secure the balancing of interests and concerns of businesses and communities in a fragile environment?" This was the topic of a seminar organized by the FACE-IT project together with the…

“Cruise trouble”: How to sustainably develop Arctic cruise tourism? Join our seminar to learn about how different Arctic destinations cope with cruise tourism and how cruise tourism impacts communities and the environment. Share your views on…

The Greenland Institute of Natural Resources (GINR), partner in the FACE-IT project, invites to a Greenland Marine Research Seminar in the frame of the Greenland Science Week Nuuk (6-10 November 2023). The seminar will take place on 7 November 2023,…

FACE-IT, the project Future Arctic Lives and the Porsanger Municipality invited to a workshop about the future Porsangerfjorden from the stake- and rightholders point of view! On 03 and 04 May, fishermen, young people and others from the…

On 25 October 2022, FACE-IT in collaboration with the BalancingAct project (funded by the Research Council of Norway), will be hosting a scenario workshop in Longyearbyen, Svalbard. Stakeholders of the tourism industry in Svalbard will explore the…

On 26 August 2022, FACE-IT will be hosting a scenario workshop in Nuuk, Greenland, inviting stakeholders of the Nuup Kangerlua fjord to explore how climate change and other factors might affect the  fjord and its future value for fishing and…

[in German] Public lectures in the House of Science Bremen

Public Colloquium: 30 November 2022

Webinar: 21 September 2022

Public Colloquium: 25 November 2020