Projects/Activities

The full list of projects contains the entire database hosted on this portal, across the available directories. The projects and activities (across all directories/catalogs) are also available by country of origin, by geographical region, or by directory.

Displaying: 1 - 8 of 8
1. Lakes; Chemistry

Annual measurements of physical, chemical, and biological variables are taken in small to medium sized, mostly minimally disturbed lakes, situated across the country. Of the 108 lakes that are part of the Trend Station Lake monitoring programme, 20 are situated in AMAP area. The main aim of the monitoring programme is to document long-term changes related to global or regional change and human-generated stressors. To complement the Trend Station Lake monitoring programme, national lake surveys provide spatial data needed to determine regional patterns, and coupled with time-series data, changes in surface water quality. The National Lake Survey (the Surveillance Stations, re-sampled stations) programme for lake water quality, started in 2007 and results in data of all Swedish lake conditions. Each year some 800 new lakes are sampled to determine chemical and physical conditions; lakes are resampled at 6 year intevals. 4824 lakes are sampled in the country during a six-year sampling cycle, with 1270 situated in AMAP area. The variables included in the Trend Station Lake monitoring programme include water chemistry, fish, phytoplankton, macrophytes, zooplankton, and benthic invertebrates, whilst the National Lake Survey is focused solely on chemical and physical parameters.

Absorban acidification Al algae Arctic As Benthos Biological effects Ca Cd conductivity Contaminant transport Cr Cu Data management Discharges Environmental management Epiphyton Eutrophication Fe Fish Food webs Hydrography K Local pollution Long-range transport Mapping Mg Mn N NH4 Ni NO2-NO2 Nutrients Pb pH phytoplankton Sediments Si Spatial trends Temperature Temporal trends TOC Total nitrogen Total phosphor V Zn zooplankton Turbidity Benthic fauna Chlorophyll Secchi depth Litoral zone Sublitoral zone Profundal zone Pelagic zone
2. Zooplankton Monitoring in the European Arctic Gateway (ZooMon-EAG)

Zooplankton make essential links between producers and predators in marine ecosystems, so mediating in the CO2 exchange between atmosphere and ocean They can be indicators of climate variability, and changes in zooplankton species distribution and abundance may have cascading effects on food webs. West Spitsbergen Current is the main pathway of transport of Atlantic waters and biota into the Arctic Ocean and the Arctic shelf seas. West Spitsbergen Shelf coastal and fjordic waters, therefore, are natural experimental areas to study mechanisms by which the Atlantic and Arctic marine ecosystem interact, and to observe environmental changes caused by variability in climate. The main objectives of the zooplankton monitoring are: a) to study patterns and variability in composition and abundance in zooplankton of the West Spitsbergen Current and the West Spitsbergen fjords and coastal waters; b) to find out environmental factors responsible for the observed patterns and variability in zooplankton, and to understand possible relations between zooplankton and their environment on different space and time scales; c) to observe and monitor the variability in zooplankton in relation to local and global climate changes.

Ecosystems zooplankton
3. Assessment of spatial and temporal patterns of HCH isomers in the arctic environment

In order to assess the spatial and temporal patterns of the a-, b- and g-isomers of hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) in the arctic biotic and abiotic environment, it is proposed that: (1) concentrations and ratios of HCH isomers be compared over time in air, water, seals, beluga, polar bears and seabirds to determine any shifts in isomeric ratios and how those shifts interrelate among the various media, and (2) concentrations and ratios of HCH isomers be compared spatially in the abiotic and biotic media and reasons for any patterns explored.

Shelf seas Pathways Organochlorines trends fish Long-range transport seawater Spatial trends HCH isomers Modelling Polar bear Arctic Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) sediment Seabirds Sediments Atmosphere Ocean currents Temporal trends zooplankton Marine mammals air
4. Relative importance of different sources of particulate matter in the Kongsfjorden environment

The general objective of this research concerns the quantitative and qualitative study of particulate matter retained in natural (sea-ice and sediment) and artificial (sediment traps) traps in order to determine the main origin (autochtonous and allochtonous) and the relative importance of different fractions of particulate matter and to follow their fate in the environment. To quantify the autochtonous origin of particulate matter, primary production, nutrient uptake, biomass distribution, phytoplankton community structure and fluxes in the first levels of the trophic chain will be investigated. Studies will be conducted in the sea-ice environment and in the water column and compared to the particle fluxes measured both in the water, using sediment traps and in the sediment, by radiometric chronology, in order to estimate the different contribution of these habitats to carbon export to the bottom. The zooplankton will be identified and counted and primary production, nutrient uptake and phytoplankton dynamics will be related to hydrological structure and nutrient availability in the environment. The Kongsfjord results particularly suitable for the main objective of this research as it is influenced by important inputs of both atmospheric (eolic and meteroric) and glacial origin and is characterised by a complex hydrological situation which may promote autochtonous productive processes, thus determining important particulate fluxes.

athmospheric carbon dioxide Biological effects Biology Arctic haze Hydrography inorganic and organic nutrients particulate Sea ice Ice Oceanography Biodiversity Arctic Ice cores Data management Atmosphere Ocean currents phytoplankton sediment radiometric chronology zooplankton
5. UV-radiation and its impact on genetic diversity, population structure and foodwebs of arctic freshwater

The aim of this international project is to measure and model arctic UV-radiation and assess the effects on freshwater planktonic organisms and foodwebs. The fieldwork and experiments are conducted at Ny-Alesund, Spitsbergen. The specific aim of our participation is to study the food web effects of UV-B stress by means of in-situ enclosure studies. In the laboratory we found that UV-B stressed algal cells may increase in volume and form a thicker cell wall. These changes in the algal cells may reduce their digestibility by zooplankton. Further the role of photopigments (like melanin and carotenoids), present in some zooplankters, will be studied in relation to the survival of these animals at high UV-B exposure. Research activities Grazing experiments with Daphnia pulex (melanic and hyaline) are performed in in-situ enclosures (under different UV exposures) in the Brandal Lagune during July. The green alga Chlamydomonas will be incubated in-situ under different UV exposures to assess the potential use of this alga as a biodosimeter for UV-B. Further the survival of melanic and hyaline daphnids will be tested in-situ.

Biological effects UV radiation survival photopigments Exposure Food webs Reproduction phytoplankton zooplankton
6. Zooplankton monitoring in the Norwegian Sea

Monitor the abundances of zooplankton at two transects along the coast 4-8 times a year, and in the Norwegian Sea in May and July-August

Climate variability Oceanography zooplankton
7. Persistent organic pollutants in marine organisms in the marginal ice zone near Svalbard: Bioconcentration and biomagnification

Due to the high organochlorine concentrations reported in Arctic top predators, and the potential transport of contaminants with the drifting sea-ice in the Arctic, organisms constituting lower trophic levels living in association with sea-ice have been proposed as susceptible of uptake of high loads of organic pollutants. The present project studies the organochlorine occurrence in organisms living in the marginal ice zone north of Svalbard and in the Fram Strait. This includes both ice fauna (ice-amphipods), zooplankton, polar cod and different seabird species foraging in the marginal ice zone. Our objectives are to investigate: *The bioaccumulation of organochlorines in ice-associated amphipods in relation to diet preference, spatial variation due to sea ice drift route, size, sampling year, uptake and distribution within the body. *Comparison of organochlorine contamination in pelagic and ice-associated organisms at the similar trophic position, to investigate the effect of sea ice as a transporter and concentrator of pollutants. *Spatial variation in zooplankton species, related to differences in water masses and exposure to first year or multi year sea ice. *The contamination load in different seabirds feeding in the marginal ice zone, in relation to diet choice and estimated trophic position, taxonomically closeness and the induction of hepatic CYP P450 enzymes.

habitats Biology sea ice drift route Organochlorines PCBs Fish Long-range transport Spatial trends Sea ice Contaminant transport Ice trophic positions Arctic Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) Seabirds Food webs metabolism Pesticides ice-associated organisms Diet zooplankton
8. Zooplankton-The Barents Sea

Monitoring of zooplankton in the Barents Sea with sections and area coverages.

Food webs zooplankton