1. EU Speaker’s Corner, GEO Week, Geneva, 13-17 Jan 2014
Research and Monitoring of Ecosystems and Biodiversity in the Arctic: What has been done, and what does it matter?
Hannele Savela
Thule Institute, University of Oulu
on behalf of the INTERACT Consortium

2. What is the Arctic?
Geographic: Region above the Arctic Circle 66° 32" N
Biological: North of the arctic tree line
Climatological: Location in high latitudes, where the average daily summer temperature does not rise above 10 C (50 F)

3. What makes the Arctic special?
Climate
Nature
Biodiversity
Ecosystems
Indigenous cultures

4. Arctic Ecosystems and Biodiversity
Foodwebs consisting of plants and animals adapted to extreme conditions
One of the most productive ecosystems in the world (e.g. marine organisms, migratory birds)
Arctic wildlife have special adaptations to survive the cold and changeable environment
Biodiversity
Plant and animal species unique to high latitudes
Climate change is the most serious threat to Arctic biodiversity
Habitat loss and degradation
Loss of biodiversity
Emergence of invasive alien species
Natioal Wildlife Federation ( Arctic Biodiversity Assessment (

5. What is happening?

6. The past years have been the warmest recorded in the Arctic
Trends in mean surface air temperature over the period 1960 to Notice that the Arctic is red, indicating that the trend over this 50 year period is for an increase in air temperature of more that 2° C (3.6° F) across much of the Arctic, which is larger than for other parts of the globe. The inset shows linear trends over the period by latitude. —Credit: NASA GISS, retrieved from

7. The Arctic is changing
Time series 1995–2011 of the observed annual mass balance for the Mittivakkat Glacier, SE Greenland (Press release by S. Mernild et al for INTERACT).

8. Warming of the Arctic has consequences…
Changes in glaciers, permafrost, snow cover, sea ice
Endangered ecosystems and biodiversity
Invasive species
Emerging diseases
Effects on infrastructures
Societal and cultural consequences
Human activities also affect the Arctic
Global consequences  Arctic amplification!
National Snow & Ice Data Center,
Researchers say that the changes in the Arctic are worrisome, because they could lead to feedback effects that spur further warming. For instance, when the white sea ice melts in summer, areas of dark open water are exposed which can absorb more heat from the sun. That extra heat then helps melt even more ice. Permafrost may also be involved in feedbacks. As permafrost thaws, plants and animals that were frozen in the ground begin to decay. When they decay, they release carbon dioxide and methane back to the atmosphere that contributes to further warming.
Scientists have already seen evidence that positive feedbacks are occurring in the Arctic. They call this Arctic amplification.
Scientists are studying the many factors that influence Arctic climate to help figure out how feedbacks work and what will happen in the future. Researchers are also investigating how the changes in the Arctic climate will affect climate in other parts of the world. Scientists study data collected by satellites and at ground stations and also used use sophisticated computer models.
Melting glacier: V. Rinterknecht

9. What to do? Research Monitoring Outreach and information
What is happening?
Can we stop it?
How can we adapt?
Research
Monitoring
Outreach and information
Boy looking at dragonfly: H. Savela

10. Research and monitoring: levels of activity
Organizations
Projects
Individuals

11. Project level: INTERACT
Network for terrestrial research and monitoring in the Arctic
58 stations across the Arctic, northern and northern alpine areas
EU FP-7 Infrastructures project
One of the GEO European Projects

12. Monitoring Real-time monitoring
Data and monitoring on environment, biodiversity, and ecosystems
Climate records, Hydrology, Permafrost, Vegetation, Phenology, Species richness, Population counts, Tourism impacts
INTERACT partners’ monitoring activities have been on-going for up to 100 yr!
Real-time monitoring
Retrospective monitoring: Back to the Future

13. What has been done? 1970 to 2009 No change 1977 to 2009 change
From space
to the ground
Xu et al., NCC, 2013
INTERACT strategically samples the complexity of greening in the North
Here is an example on something that INTERACT can be useful at, in on-site validation of remotely-sensed data. ”From the space to the ground” approach. The picture on the left is from an article published recently in Nature Climate Change by Xu et al., involving also prof. Terry Callaghan from INTERACT among authors. The graph presents the greening of the Arctic in several places during the past 20 years, as shown by Normalized Differencce Vegetation Index. The results were validated by observations from two INTERACT sites, in Arctic Station on the west-coast of Greenland, and in Abisko in northern Sweden. Similarily to the graph left, you cannot detect change in the two photos taken from the same spot in Arctic Station in 1970 and 2009, whereas you can see a change in the two photos taken from the same sport in Abisko area thirty years apart, as also was observed in the publication. NVDI=Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, PAP=Photosynthetically active period.

14. Research: Transnational Access
Free access to research facilities, field sites, databases
5400 days used at 20 stations in 8 countries
360 researchers from 136 groups from 19 countries,
Biodiversity, glaciology, permafrost, climate, hydrology, ecology, biogeochemistry, human dimension…
From research to outreach: Publications, presentations, blogs, teaching, meeting local residents…
Photo by A. Sier

15. Modelling ecosystem responses to climate change; HOLOGIS, A
Modelling ecosystem responses to climate change; HOLOGIS, A. Long, Durham University, UK
Reconstructing Holocene temperature variations using non-biting midgesfrom the margins of the Greenland Ice Sheet
GINR in Greenland
Computer-based model of the Greenland Ice Sheet to predict how it has changed in the past and what may happen in the future
Contemporary lake sediment and water samples
Sediment cores from the lakes for reconstructing past changes in midge populations since the last ice age
Computer-based model of the Greenland Ice Sheet to predict how it has changed in the past and what may happen in the future
1) Contemporary lake sediment and water samples
reconstructing present-day distributions of chironomids from a range of elevations
background information about the lake characteristics and environmental conditions
2) Sediment cores from the lakes for reconstructing past changes in midge populations since the last ice age
radiocarbon dating of the fossil remains of the midgest to obtain a record of past temperature change
Photos by A. Long

16. Organization level: GEO
Organisations and projects working together to
Coordinate and integrate Earth Observations to GEOSS
Provide data, results and information about research and monitoring to decision and policy makers and users at different levels: GEOSS Common Infrastructure
Cold Regions (WA-01-C3), Ecosystems (EC-01-C2), Biodiversity (BI-01)

17. Do care about it; we can make a difference!
What can you do?
Citizen science
Everyday actions
Do care about it; we can make a difference!

18. Citizen scince in Action: Humpback whale photo ID
Collection of photos of the undersides of humpback whale tail fins
The underside of a humpback whale's tail fin can be used to identify individual whales
Catalogue of humpback whales that visit Greenlandic waters
Do the same whales return to certain regions in Greenland year after year?
Photos by Tenna Boye.

19. What does it matter?
Arctic is home to 13 million people and unique ecosystems and biodiversity
What happens in the Arctic amplifies, and effects the rest of the planet through feedback mechanisms
Uarctic website: Arctic areas are inhabited approximately by four million people according to the AHDR (Arctic Human Development Report) definition of the Arctic. The settlement area is divided between eight Arctic countries; Canada, United States, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Denmark. The circumpolar region is extremely sparsely populated. Using more broad definition, according to the University of the Arctic Atlas, there are approximately 13.1 million people living in the area of the circumpolar North, see the map of population distribution in the circumpolar North. Indigenous peoples have inhabited the Arctic for thousands of years. The proportion indigenous people is estimated to be about 10 percent of total population living in arctic areas. There are over 40 different ethnic groups living in the Arctic.
Arctic indigenous peoples include for example Saami in circumpolar areas of Finland, Sweden, Norway and Northwest Russia, Nenets, Khanty, Evenk and Chukchi in Russia, Aleut, Yupik and Inuit (Iñupiat) in Alaska, Inuit (Inuvialuit) in Canada and Inuit (Kalaallit) in Greenland. All of the above-mentioned countries except Iceland have indigenous peoples living within their Arctic territory. Official statistics do not necessarily recognize indigenous populations separately, although differences occur. The number of indigenous people is not accurate because of the definition of indigenousness.

20. Thank you for listening!
Integrating Observations to Sustain the Planet
Thank you for listening!