The number and distribution of polar bears in the western Barents Sea

Jon Aars,

Tiago A. Marques,

Karen Lone,

Magnus Andersen,

Øystein Wiig,

Ida Marie Bardalen Fløystad,

Snorre B. Hagen,

Stephen T. Buckland

Published: Oct. 9, 2017

Polar bears have experienced a rapid loss of sea-ice habitat in the Barents Sea. Monitoring this subpopulation focuses on the effects on polar bear demography. In August 2015, we conducted a survey in the Norwegian Arctic to estimate polar bear numbers and reveal population substructure. DNA profiles from biopsy samples and ear tags identified on photographs revealed that about half of the bears in Svalbard, compared to only 4.5% in the pack ice north of the archipelago, were recognized recaptures. The recaptured bears had originally been marked in Svalbard, mostly in spring. The existence of a local Svalbard stock, and …

The sensitivity of diatom taxa from Yakutian lakes (north-eastern Siberia) to electrical conductivity and other environmental variables

Luidmila A. Pestryakova,

Ulrike Herzschuh,

Ruslan Gorodnichev,

Sebastian Wetterich

Published: July 31, 2018

Relative abundances of 157 diatom taxa from Yakutian lake surface-sediments were investigated for their potential to indicate certain environmental conditions. Data from 206 sites from Arctic, sub-Arctic and boreal environments were included. Redundancy analyses were performed to assess the explanatory power of mean July temperature (T July ), conductivity, pH, dissolved silica concentration, phosphate concentration, lake depth and vegetation type on diatom species composition. Boosted regression tree analyses were performed to infer the most relevant environmental variables for abundances of individual taxa and weighted average regression was applied to infer their respective optimum and tolerance. Electrical conductivity was best indicated …

Determining the species assemblage and habitat use of cetaceans in the Svalbard Archipelago, based on observations from 2002 to 2014

Luke Storrie,

Christian Lydersen,

Magnus Andersen,

Russell B. Wynn,

Kit M. Kovacs

Published: June 1, 2018

This study used 13 years of cetacean sighting data (2002–2014) from waters around the Svalbard Archipelago to determine key habitats for year-round resident species as well as seasonally resident species, and to explore spatial overlap between these groups via a combination of kernel density estimation and Maxent modelling. The data set consists of observations made by research vessels conducting various marine studies, coast guard ships and marine-cruise tourist operators. Data are reported from the seasonal period in which there is daylight (March-November), though 95% of the observations occurred June- September. Changes over the study period were investigated, within the limits …

Nutrient uptake controls and limitation dynamics in north-east Greenland streams

Catherine L. Docherty,

Tenna Riis,

David M. Hannah,

Simon Rosenhøj Leth,

Alexander M. Milner

Published: March 19, 2018

Permafrost thaw induced by climate change will cause increased release of nutrients and organic matter from the active layer to Arctic streams and, with increased water temperature, will potentially enhance algal biomass and nutrient uptake. Although essential for accurately predicting the response of Arctic streams to environmental change, knowledge of nutrient release on current Arctic in-stream processing is limited. Addressing this research gap, we quantified nutrient uptake of short-term releases of NO 3− , PO 43- and NH 4+ during peak snowmelt season in five streams of contrasting physiochemical characteristics (from unstable, highly turbid to highly stable, clear-water systems) in …

Radiogenic isotope (Nd, Pb, Sr) signatures of surface and sea ice-transported sediments from the Arctic Ocean under the present interglacial conditions

Jenny Maccali,

Claude Hillaire-Marcel,

Christelle Not

Published: March 22, 2018

Under modern conditions, sediments from the large continental shelves of the Arctic Ocean are mixed by currents, incorporated into sea ice and redistributed over the Arctic Basin through the Beaufort Gyre and Trans-Polar Drift major sea-ice routes. Here, compiling data from the literature and combining them with our own data, we explore how radiogenic isotopes (Sr, Pb and Nd) from Arctic shelf surface sediment can be used to identify inland and coastal sediment sources. Based on discriminant function analyses, the use of two-isotope systematics introduces a large uncertainty (ca. 50%) that prevents unequivocal identifications of regional shelf signatures. However, when …

Interannual variability in hydrography and water mass distribution in Hornsund, an Arctic fjord in Svalbard

Agnieszka Promińska,

Waldemar Walczowski,

Eva Falck

Published: Sept. 6, 2018

Progressing warming in the Arctic and increased extreme weather events can significantly influence the hydrography of Svalbard fjords, leading to changes towards more Atlantic-type waters in the fjords. In this paper, we look into the hydrographic conditions in Hornsund, the southernmost fjord on the west coast of Svalbard, by analysing high-resolution CTD measurements collected in July during cruises with the RV Oceania between 2001 and 2015. These observations revealed high interannual variability in temperature, salinity and distribution of water masses, mainly due to differences in timing of the transition between winter and summer conditions but also as a result of …