Greenland: projects/activities

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Directory entires that have specified Greenland as one of the geographic regions for the project/activity and are included in the AMAP, ENVINET, SAON and SEARCH directories. Note that the list of regions is not hierarchical, and there is no relation between regions (e.g. a record tagged with Nunavut may not be tagged with Canada). To see the full list of regions, see the regions list. To browse the catalog based on the originating country (leady party), see the list of countries.

It is also possible to browse and query the full list of projects.

Displaying: 1 - 8 of 8
1. BioBasis - Zackenberg

The purpose of the BioBasis programme is to monitor basic qualitative and quantitative elements of biodiversity in the terrestrial ecosystems at Zackenberg in Northeast Greenland. The programme provides data on typical High Arctic species and processes that can be expected to react on year to year variation in climate as well as long-term climate change. It includes 30 variables of terrestrial and limnic plant, arthropod, bird and mammal dynamics in the Zackenberg valley.

Biological effects Biology Fish Terrestrial mammals Modelling Ice Biodiversity Arctic Food webs Ecosystems
2. INTERACTIONS

Important progress has been made in recent decades to describe and understand how arctic terrestrial vertebrate interact, especially concerning predator-prey interactions. Indirect interactions between different prey species modulated by shared predators (e.g. Arctic fox) are believed to have important impacts on the structure and/or dynamics of some communities. Yet, our understanding of these types of interactions is still fragmentary. To fill that gap, we will build on ongoing projects exploring related questions in Canada (Marie-Andrée Giroux, Nicolas Lecomte, Joël Bêty) and Greenland (Olivier Gilg, Niels M. Schmidt), while taking advantage of existing networks (ADSN in North America and “Interactions” program in Greenland and Eurasia). The aim of the project is to promote the implementation of several common protocols that will (1) improve each collaborator’s knowledge at the site level and, more importantly, that will (2) be merged across sites and years to improve our understanding of the functioning and the influence of indirect interactions on arctic vertebrate communities in general.

Five types of data have been identified (by the 5 initiators of the project already mentioned above) as being mandatories to answer questions related to this topic. These data sets will be collected using 5 specific protocols described in the following chapters:

  1. Monitor predation pressure using artificial nests
  2. Monitor real predation pressure on Calidris nests using Tiny Tags
  3. Observations of predators and lemmings (3b: fox scats DNA barcoding)
  4. Assessing lemming (or “rodent”) relative abundance using different methods
  5. Assessing “herbivores” (excl. rodents) relative abundance using “faeces transects”
Arctic Biodiversity Biological effects Biology Climate change Diet Ecosystems Environmental management Food webs Modelling Populations Reproduction Spatial trends Temporal trends Terrestrial mammals
3. ARCTIC - Advanced Research on Contaminant Transfer, Impact and Consequences

Det danske bidrag til Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) under Arktisk Råd har dokumenteret at østgrønlandske isbjørne er mest forurenede mht. fedtopløselige organiske miljøgifte. Siden 1999 har Danmarks Miljøundersøgelsers Afdeling for Arktisk Miljø (DMU-AM) undersøgt isbjørnesundheden i Østgrønland via et unikt samarbejde med lokale bjørnefangere, og et tværfagligt samarbejde med biologisk, veterinær og human medicinske fagområder i Grønland og Danmark samt internationale samarbejdsrelationer med Canada, Norge og Tyskland. Undersøgelserne er mundet ud i en lang række af række internationale videnskabelige publikationer som dokumenterer tidstrend i miljøbelastningen af de grønlandske og norske isbjørne og sammenhængen mellem forurening og helbredseffekter på isbjørne. Disse har fået omtalt presseomtale verden over.

Biological effects Biology PCBs Heavy metals Long-range transport Sea ice Climate change Exposure Arctic Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) Pesticides Diet Temporal trends Marine mammals
4. Effects of large herbivores on diversity of plants and soil microfauna.

To monitor effects of hebivore grazing in established exclosures in west Greenland on diversity of plants and microarthropods in soil. One site in central west Greenland with caribou and one site in southern Greenland with sheep.

Biological effects Biology Soils Environmental management Climate change Caribou Terrestrial mammals Biodiversity Arctic Reindeer Ecosystems
5. ZERO-database

The ZERO database contains all validated data from the Zackenberg Ecological Research Operations Basic Programmes (ClimateBasis, GeoBasis, BioBasis and MarinBasis). The purpose of the project is to run and update the database with new validated data after each succesfull field season. Data will be available for the public through the Zackenberg homepage linking to the NERI database. The yearly update is dependent on that each Basis programme delivers validated data in the proscribed format.

Biological effects Hydrography Geophysics Climate Polar bear GIS Sediments Marine mammals Biology Populations Soils UV radiation Fish Discharges Sea ice Climate change Terrestrial mammals Ice Biodiversity River ice Arctic Seabirds Geochemistry Reproduction Permafrost Ecosystems
6. Long distance pollen transport in the Arctic: 1. Greenland

The submitted proposal aims to perform the monitoring of the pollen rain in the Greenland atmosphere by distinguishing the local pollen production, relatively low, from pollen grains originating from other Arctic areas. A regular monitoring of the atmospheric pollen content must be performed in order to evaluate the amount emitted and characterise the seasonality of the emission. A comparison with air mass trajectories must allow the modelling of long distance transport

Biology Climate variability Spatial trends Modelling Biodiversity Data management pollen Atmosphere Ecosystems
7. Algal Toxins; their Accumulation and Loss in commercially Important Shellfish, including larval Mortality and Appraisal of Normal sampling procedures.

-Development of methods to enhance the rate of toxin depuration ( detoxification), especially in shellfish species of high economic value and prolonged retention e.g., King Scallops -Understanding the reaction products and metabolic transformations of toxins in shellfish tissues. -Determine the relationship between algal population dynamics ( including free cell and encysted stages ) to seasonal and spatial patterns of toxicity in shellfish populations. -Assess the effects of harmful algae on the various stages in the life history of shellfish ( Larvae, Spat, Adults ). -Investigate sampling frequencies and protocols ( live shellfish sampling ).

Biology Fish Environmental management Contaminant transport Food webs Diet Temporal trends Human health Human intake
8. Algal Toxins; their Accumulation and Loss in commercially Important Shellfish, including larval Mortality and Appraisal of Normal sampling procedures.

-Development of methods to enhance the rate of toxin depuration ( detoxification), especially in shellfish species of high economic value and prolonged retention e.g., King Scallops -Understanding the reaction products and metabolic transformations of toxins in shellfish tissues. -Determine the relationship between algal population dynamics ( including free cell and encysted stages ) to seasonal and spatial patterns of toxicity in shellfish populations. -Assess the effects of harmful algae on the various stages in the life history of shellfish ( Larvae, Spat, Adults ). -Investigate sampling frequencies and protocols ( live shellfish sampling ).

Biology Fish Environmental management Contaminant transport Food webs Diet Temporal trends Human health Human intake