Multidisciplinary perspectives on living marine resources in the Arctic

Sturla F. Kvamsdal,

Dorothy Dankel,

Nils-Arne Ekerhovd,

Alf Håkon Hoel,

Angelika Renner,

Anne Britt Sandø,

Stein Ivar Steinshamn

Published: Jan. 1, 2022

Many areas in the Arctic are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. We observe large-scale effects on physical, biological, economic and social parameters, including ice cover, species distributions, economic activity and regional governance frameworks. Arctic living marine resources are affected in various ways. A holistic understanding of these effects requires a multidisciplinary enterprise. We synthesize relevant research, from oceanography and ecology, via economics, to political science and international law. We find that multidisciplinary research can enhance our understanding and promote new questions and issues relating to impacts and outcomes of climate change in the Arctic. Such issues include recent …

The Queen of the Arctic: Louise Arner Boyd

Elisabeth Isaksson,

Anka Ryall

Published: Jan. 1, 2023

Louise Boyd (1887–1972) was a female pioneer in Arctic research whose legacy includes the exploration of north-east Greenland. In this Perspective piece, we use a broad interdisciplinary approach to investigate her career as a photographer and expedition leader. When documenting glacial retreat during the 1930s, she was at the forefront of the development of glaciology as a research discipline. Without family obligations and with seemingly inexhaustible financial resources, she used Arctic exploration to create an independent and self-defined life for herself.

Possible signs of recovery of the nearly extirpated Spitsbergen bowhead whales: calves observed in east Greenland

Outi M. Tervo,

Mikkel-Holger Strander Sinding,

Mads Peter Heide-Jørgensen,

Rikke G. Hansen,

Marie Louis

Published: Jan. 1, 2023

The Spitsbergen population of bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) was harvested to near extinction during the whaling era. Here, we show possible signs of recovery of the population by reporting observations of two calves in the Scoresby Sund polynya in East Greenland on 2 and 4 May 2022, and it is the first observation of this kind in this area since the early 1900s.

Perceptions of decision-makers about a potential forum of cooperation in the eastern part of the North American Arctic

Mathieu Landriault,

Jean-François Savard,

Anna Soer

Published: Jan. 1, 2023

Cooperation in the Arctic region has been fruitful in the past few decades, generating several multilateral organizations and forums covering the entire circumpolar North. In many cases, forums were created to serve as catalysts, bringing together decision-makers from different backgrounds in a conference setting to promote dialogue and the exchange of ideas. To enquire about the possibility of creating a forum of cooperation in the eastern North American Arctic, a total of five governmental officials from Canada, Denmark, Nunavut, Québec and Greenland, and one elected representative from Greenland were interviewed with the same set of five questions. The governmental officials …

Local temperature near native vascular plants in the Argentine Islands–Kyiv Peninsula region, Antarctic Peninsula: annual variability and approximation using standard meteorological measurements

Mykhailo V. Savenets,

Larysa Pysarenko,

Svitlana Krakovska,

Ivan Parnikoza,

Denis Pishniak

Published: Jan. 1, 2023

We describe the main features of LT variability that influence native vascular plants in the Antarctic and examine the relationship between the temperature regime at the micro-level and meteorological conditions at the macro-level. We used a period of over a year, during which 37 specialized mini-loggers recorded LT near vascular plants in the Argentine Islands–Kyiv Peninsula region of the Antarctic Peninsula. Rather than measuring standard air or soil temperature, these loggers detect the temperature near the ground, in the microhabitats that harbour vascular plants. On a daily scale, LT correlates with standard (2-m) air temperature, with the values higher at …