CENPERM Annual Report 2014

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variations in the surface ice of the ice sheet. Enter microbes. Supraglacial microbes can affect albedo in several ways. Some aggregate dark mineral particles and organic matter deposited on the ice sheet surface. They also produce dark-colored humic substances as by-products of organic matter degradation. And probably most importantly some microbes, particularly ice algae, produce dark photo-protective pigments. Biological processes can therefore result in a significant change of albedo and hence the melting rate of the ice, thus closing a feedback loop between the physical behavior of the glacier surface and biological activity. In summer 2014 we researchers of multiple backgrounds and affiliations, including CENPERM, but united by a common goal within the Dark Snow initiative set out for the very first time to quantify the importance of microbial contribution to albedo change at the surface of the ice sheet. We focused primarily on the ice algae and their dark pigment, which we believe have the most significant effect on albedo. The underlying hypothesis was very simple: more algae means more pigment in the surface layer of ice, more pigment means darker color and more sunlight absorption, which in turn means amplified melting. More melting means more algae. We only needed to measure the numbers of algae in surface ice and the albedo. Simple. Simple, but not easy. First of all, we actually had to be there. For the whole melt season if possible. So we set up a field camp on the ice sheet, about 30 km inland from the edge of the ice sheet and 58 km east of Kangerlussuaq. Two tons of material plus personnel, enough to fill up a giant (and very expensive) S-61 helicopter. With the camp up and running, we began our daily measurements and sampling. Over 57 days, a total of 11 scientists, including two members of CENPERM Karen Cameron and myself collectet around 600 samples of surface ice for biological analysis, nearly 3000 close range spectral albedo readings and, most amazingly, individually counted around 94,000 algal cells in the field. This, on top of keeping an efficient camp running, kept us more than busy over the summer. Although the digestion stage of our campaign continues, it is already clear that ice algae are a significant component of the surface albedo of the ice sheet, and we are now busy putting a number on it. The significance of microorganisms on the ice sheet and other ice sheets and glaciers will be increasing in the warming world, not only due to their contribution to melting. We expect that microbial production and other carbon cycling processes will become more important on glacier surfaces, and that export of organic matter and other nutrients will considerably change downstream ecosystems, such as proglacial streams, lakes and soils, permafrost, and coastal waters. CENPERM, as a multidisciplinary center that hosts a wide range of research expertise on Greenland ecosystems, is an ideal place to integrate our results into a larger picture of the ongoing changes in Greenland as an ecosystem. Albedo measurements at the exper imental plots on the Greenland ice sheet . Photo: Marek Stibal CENPERM Annual Report 2014 11 ANNUAL REPORT 2014 CENPERM Center for Permafrost Field sites Brønlundhus Svalbard Longyearbyen Greenland Zackenberg Disko Qajaa Sweden Kangerlussuaq Nuuk Narsarsuaq Abisko Sermilik Directors welcome The vision of Center for Permafrost Highlights 2014 Højdepunk ter 2014 Microbes on the dark side of the Greenland Ice Sheet Publications & conferences Communication & outreach Educational activities Ongoing research projects & graduate students International collaborators & funding 2 CENPERM Annual Report 2014 Phot o Ke nt Pø r k sen Directors welcome CENPERM a Center of Excellence, funded by the Danish National Research Foundation has ended its third year and all field sites in Greenland are now fully operating. The last frontier was Brønlundhus in Peary Land in North Greenland. This now allows us to proceed with parallel inve The vision of Center for Permafrost Microbial activity Plant ecology CENPERM Permafrost soil & landscape dynamics CENPERM will integrate multidisciplinary research of biogeochemical and physical processes in a climate-vegetation-soil-microorganismpermafrost approach in transects across the major Photo Kent Pørksen CENPERM Annual Report 2014 5 Highlights 2014 Now half way into the 6-year funding period, we are very pleased to see a range of our scientific papers published within the Nature Publishing Group, representing the contrasting scale from molecules to landscape/regions, which is a key issue addressed at CENPERM. The finest scale i Future climate change is likely to act as a driver for microbial soil CH4 oxidation in arctic ecosystems with potential significant effects for the global consumption of atmospheric CH4. In Jørgensen et al. (2014) we report in Nature Geoscience on the regional net methane budget for Northeast Greenl Højdepunkter 2014 CENPERM er nu halvvejs inde i finansieringsperioden på seks år. Det er med glæde, at vi kan konstatere at en række af vores helt centrale artikler nu er blevet publiceret i Nature Publishing Group. Det inkluderer artikler der repræsenterer hele skalaen fra molekyle til landskab hvi af CH4 i global skala. Jørgensen et al. (2014) konkluderer i Nature Geoscience, at de isfrie områder i Nordøstgrønland fungerer som et dræn for atmosfærisk metan og at dette dræn sandsynligvis vil blive forstærket i et fremtidigt varmere klima. Mange arktiske økosystemer virker som dræn for atmosfær Microbes on the dark side of the Greenland Ice by Marek Stibal, CENPERM and a member of the Dark Snow initiative The world is getting warmer. The Arctic doubly so. Glaciers and ice sheets are melting, raising sea levels and giving way to warmer ecosystems. Could we all all life forms join forces variations in the surface ice of the ice sheet. Enter microbes. Supraglacial microbes can affect albedo in several ways. Some aggregate dark mineral particles and organic matter deposited on the ice sheet surface. They also produce dark-colored humic substances as by-products of organic matter degra Publications & conferences Peer-reviewed international papers (CENPERM members shown in bold) Blikra, L.H., Christiansen, H.H. (2014) A fieldbased model of permafrost-controlled rockslide deformation in northern Norway. Geomorphology 208, 34-49. Cameron, K.A., Hagedorn, B., Dieser, M., Christner, B. mann, S., Larsen, I-L., Ytrehus, B., Hofshagen, M. (2104) Climate and environmental change drives Ixodes ricinus geographical expansion at the northern range margin. Parasites & Vectors 7, 1. Jørgensen, C.J., Johansen, K.M.L., Westergaard-Nielsen, A., Elberling, B. (2014) Net regional methane sink i structure and stable isotope signatures in West Greenland lakes. Hydrobiologia 730, 59-77 Rinnan, R., Steinke, M., McGenity, T., Loreto, F. (2014). Plant volatiles in extreme terrestrial and marine environments. Plant, Cell and Environment 37, 1776-1789. Rousk, K., Sorensen, P.L., Lett, S., Michelse University, DCE Danish Centre for Environment and Energy, 93. Science 2014.6. Korean Society of Soil Sciences and Fertilizer, 443-443. Sigsgaard, C., Stecher, O., Elberling, B., Christoffersen, K.S. (2014) Monitoring DiskoBasis. In: Perlt, T.W., Christoffersen, K.S. (ed.) Arctic Station Annual Re Møller, A.B., Hollesen, J., Matthiesen, H. and Elberling, B. (2014). Soil, climate and preservation conditions at three archaeological middens in South-Western Greenland. Extended abstracts of 2014 ICOMOS International Polar Heritage Committee Conference The Future of Polar Heritage. 126-130. Pape Voriskova, J., Gilman, F., Blok, D., Michelsen, A., Elberling, B., Priemé, A., Holben, W.E., Jacobsen, C.S. (2014) Effects of experimental warming on bacterial and fungal community in active layer of permafrost in Western Greenland. Poster at 15th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology, Seoul, Elberling, B. (2014) Den oversete vinter - samspillet mellem permafrost, jordmiljø og biologi samt ændringer i dette i relation til klimaændringer (in Danish). Invited speak at the Royal Danish Geographical Society, Copenhagen, Nov. 4. Hollesen, J. (2014) Arctic cultural heritage and climate change Biomass es timates using drones in relation to sheep far ming near Nar sar suaq in South Greenland. Photo: Bo Elber ling CENPERM Annual Report 2014 19 Communication & outreach Greenland and the Arctic have been on the general agenda in 2014 not least in relation to future exploration of natural resources and a general election in Greenland. CENPERM has prioritized communication and outreach activities this year in Greenlandic, English, and Danish address this task by participating in outreach activities across communicative platforms. Please see the additional links on our website: www.cenperm.ku.dk. Network meetings CENPERM has hosted and participated in several network meetings and seminars during 2014. The most important ones include Cha Other outreach Public lecture at Danish Association of Masters and PhDs: Permafrosten forsvinder - fup og fakta om Arktis (in Danish), Apr. 23 Bo Elberling. Guided tours on site, Disko, July and August. Tour groups and local inhabitants: more than 100 planned visitors. Guided tours on site, Abisko, Apr. 3. Samuel Faucherre: The importance of abiotic sediment parameters on arctic permafrost carbon turnover. Apr. 10. Ludovica Dimperio: The effects of climate changes on soil methane oxidation in a dry arctic tundra. Apr. 24. Mathilde Jammet: Winter and spring CH4 emissions in a subarctic lake and Oct. 23. Riikka Rinnan: Mismatch between climate change effects on ecosystem and plant emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds. Oct. 30. Merian S. Haugwitz: Biogeography of arctic fungi. Nov. 6. Daan Blok: Shrubs on the rise: the role of snow cover and summer temperature in tundra ecosystem Per Ambus dur ing his Inaugur al lec ture at CENPER M , Dec. 4. Photo: Kent Pør k sen Guests Throughout 2014, CENPERM has had the pleasure of receiving a number of visiting experts at the Center. These guests contributed significant scientific insights to the continued research efforts at the Cente Educational activities CENPERM activities in 2014 included a number of educational efforts. These include both arctic field courses and classic university courses at bachelor, master and PhD levels. CENPERM lecturers have in 2014 been involved in several regular university courses, where CENPERM top Biological Experiments: Design and Analysis, B.Sc. course, Dept. of Biology, University of Copenhagen. A. Michelsen, D. Blok, autumn. General Microbiology, B.Sc. course, Dept. of Biology, University of Copenhagen. A. Priemé, autumn. Samfundsmæssigt Væsentlige Stofstrømme, Dept. of Geosciences and Na Ongoing research projects & graduate students At CENPERM we aim to address specific research problems at the Postdoc, PhD and Master levels and at the same time to ensure a shared perspective on permafrost research and related fields. In most cases, thesis at Master and PhD levels are merged into in Rousk, Kathrin. Postdoc, Jan. 2014Abiotic controls of nitrogen (N) fixation: Implications for plant-bacteria associations and ecosystem N-cycling. Stibal, Marek. Researcher, Mar. 2012Microbial community on the Greenland Ice Sheet as a possible factor affecting the physical behaviour of the ice sheet Lindwall, Frida: Diurnal variation and controls of volatile organic compound emissions from arctic vegetation, Mar. 1, 2013-. Supervisor: Riikka Rinnan. Markussen, Thor Nygaard: Sediment supply from tidewater glaciers and coastal erosion to fjords and shelf seas, Greenland, Oct. 1. 2012- . Superviso Banyasz, Imre: Carbon lability in permafrost soils with different grain size and field measurements in Disko, Greenland, Feb. 2014-. Supervisors: Bo Elberling, Samuel Faucherre and Cecilie Skov. Brusvang, Peter: Carbon exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence in a low arctic heath: effects of experimen Pedersen, Sami: An incubation study of carbon lability in permafrost affected soils in the Lena River Delta, completed Jul. 2014. Supervisors: Christian J. Jørgensen and Samuel Faucherre. Rolsted, Morten Mikkel Mejlhede: Morphological and physiological responses of dwarf birch (Betula nana) to exper Vedel-Petersen, Ida: BVOC emission from sub-arctic plants in response to climate change, completed Sep. 2014. Supervisors: Riikka Rinnan and Michelle Schollert. Winkler, Judith: Long-term response of Salix polaris after six years of increased snow cover in a High Arctic ecosystem, completed Jun. 201 International collaborators & funding Research activities at CENPERM are linked to a number of well-established international arctic networks. These cooperation agreements are supplemented by a strong affiliation to internationally recognized researchers. These research profiles will contribute sign Greenland Institute of Natural Resources: Field Investigations. Helmholtz Zentrum München-Institute for Biochemical Plant Pathology. Germany: Jörg-Peter Schnitzler, Experimental collaboration and Phytotron study with tundra mesocosms. iDiv centre for biodiversity synthesis, Leipzig, Germany. sTUNDRA Wageningen University, the Netherlands: Monique Heijmans, permafrost field incubation study. Aarhus University, Denmark: Villum Research Station permafrost coring. Two permafrost boreholes. Permafrost thermal monitoring and core analyses for scientific publication. External funding Researchers with Villum Foundation / Aarhus University: Permafrost coring at Station Nord. Grant holder: Bo Elberling and Hanne H. Christiansen. Period: 2014. DKK 570,000. Villum Foundation: Young Investigator Programme: Microbial community on the Greenland Ice Sheet as a possible factor affecting the physical behav CENPERM staff Researchers Albers Christian Researcher Ambus Per Professor Andersen Thorbjørn J. Associate professor Andreasen Toke Research assistant Christiansen Hanne Hvidtfeldt Professor Christensen Anne T. Research assistant Elberling Bo Professor, Director Ernstsen Verner Br CENPERM staff Lindwall Frida PhD student Karami Mojtaba PhD student Kramshøj Magnus PhD student Larsen Nynne R. PhD student Markussen Thor N. PhD student Mikkelsen Andreas Bech PhD student Nielsen Cecilie Skov PhD student Nielsen Morten Schostag PhD student Schollert Michelle P ANNUAL REPORT 2014 The Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF) is an independent organization established by the Danish Parliament in 1991 with the objective to promote and stimulate basic research at the highest international level at the frontiers of all scientific fields. The Center of Excell