CENPERM Annual Report 2017

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Highlights 2017 CENPERM highlights of 2017 include intensive fieldwork combined with detailed analyses of remote sensing products. The following four papers published in 2017 highlight the benefits of working multi-disciplinarily and performing both up- and downscaling. Scaling matters. The studies comprised analyses made for the entire ice-free part of Greenland, for specific landscape units, at plot level, where manipulations can be made, and finally at biogeochemical process level where ecosystem functioning is investigated, also with the use of molecular microbial methods. 1. Vegetation phenology plays an important role in regulating ecosystem processes across arctic ecosystems, and particularly in relation to recent climate changes. As an example, the timings of onset and end of the growing season correspond to the start and end of the period in which plants take up carbon from the atmosphere, and as a result directly influence the carbon cycle, and water and energy exchanges with the atmosphere. Karami et al. (2017) characterized, as part of his PhD dissertation, the spatio-temporal variations of vegetation phenology along latitudinal and altitudinal gradients in Greenland in order to examine the role of local and regional climatic drivers. As an important step, time-series from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) were corrected for the sampling biases caused by cloud cover. The resulting output indicates significant differences between West and East Greenland. The observed phenology; e.g. the date of the start of the growing season was significantly earlier (24 days), the length of the growing season was longer (25 days), and the time-integrated NDVI was higher in West as compared to East Greenland. This highlights the potentially biased result that is obtained if observations from one part of the Arctic uncritically are scaled to the rest of the Arctic. 6 CENPERM Annual Report 2017 2. Climate changes are pronounced in Arctic regions and increase the vulnerability of the Arctic coastal zone. For example, increases in melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet and reductions in sea ice and permafrost distribution are likely to alter coastal morphodynamics. The deltas of Greenland are largely unaffected by human activity, but the net result in terms of size due to increased freshwater runoff and sediment fluxes, decreasing sea ice, increased wave activity in ice-free periods and sea level rise has long remained unclear. In Nature Bendixen et al. (2017) document that southwestern Greenland deltas were largely stable from the 1940s to 1980s, but prograded (meaning growing in size) in a warming Arctic from the 1980s to 2010s. Results are based on the areal changes of 121 deltas since the 1940s, assessed using newly discovered aerial photographs and remotely sensed imagery. As a part of her PhD dissertation, she described how delta progradation was driven mainly by high freshwater runoff from the Greenland Ice Sheet coinciding with periods of open water (decreasing sea ice). The results improve the understanding of Arctic coastal evolution in a changing climate. Details of the study are found in this report on page 10-11. 3. Much attention has been directed toward methane (CH4) dynamics in peatlands and wet ecosystems at high latitudes, which are considered net CH4 sources which intensify the greenhouse effect and lead to further warming. However, few studies have hitherto investigated CH4 fluxes in subarctic heath ecosystems, which likely exhibit both CH4 production and uptake. Particularly, climate-induced changes in CH4 exchange and the overall carbon balance are largely unknown. In a unique 16 year long field experiment, Pedersen et al. (2017) investigated the response of biological CH4 uptake to increased summer warming by open-top chambers and deciduous leaf litter input in a ANNUAL REPORT 2017 CENPERM Center for Permafrost Field sites Brønlundhus Qaanaaq Svalbard Longyearbyen Greenland Zackenberg Disko Qajaa Sweden Kangerlussuaq Nuuk Narsarsuaq Abisko Sermilik Directors welcome The vision of Center for Permafrost Highlights 2017 Højdepunk ter 2017 Deltas are growing as climate is warming Publications & conferences Communication & outreach Educational activities Ongoing research projects & graduate students International collaborators & funding CENPERM sta Photo: Bo Elberling 2 CENPERM Annual Report 2017 Directors welcome The end and the start. The year 2017 has been dominated by the activities reflecting the end of CENPERM I and the start of CENPERM II. As such we have been implementing as much as possible for the revised research plan for 20182022. The plan is now available on our website. The ima The vision of Center for Permafrost Microbial activity Plant ecology CENPERM Permafrost soil & landscape dynamics CENPERM integrates multidisciplinary research of biogeochemical and physical processes in a climate-vegetation-soil-microorganismpermafrost approach in transects across the major cli Field work at South Georgia . Photo: Bo Elberling. CENPERM Annual Report 2017 5 Highlights 2017 CENPERM highlights of 2017 include intensive fieldwork combined with detailed analyses of remote sensing products. The following four papers published in 2017 highlight the benefits of working multi-disciplinarily and performing both up- and downscaling. Scaling matters. The studies wet heath subarctic ecosystem. The study was directly linked to Pedersens MSc thesis work at CENPERM. The study site is in Northern Sweden and represents a dominant ecosystem type found across the circumpolar region. The study demonstrates the sensitivity and a surprising capacity throughout the ent Højdepunkter 2017 Højdepunkterne for CENPERM i 2017 omfatter flere eksempler på hvor feltarbejde er blevet kombineret med brug og analyse af remote sensing. Følgende fire publikationer offentliggjort i 2017, belyser fordelene ved at arbejde tværfagligt og inkludere både en op- og nedskalering. Studi 4. Nedbrydning af løv er et afgørende element i økosystemets CO2- og næringsstofkredsløb, og her er både bakterier og svampe primære nedbrydere. For at vurdere, hvordan sæsonernes klimaforandringer påvirker svampesamfundene og deres funktion, blev der inkuberet løv af Betula glandulosa på to lavtlig Deltas are growing as climate is warming by Mette Bendixen, postdoc, CENPERM, University of Copenhagen Deltas form where rivers meet the ocean and are shaped by the forces of rivers, waves and tides. Today, most deltas in the world are drowning because of a global rise in sea level. Large parts of In the work published in Nature in October, we show that the coasts of Greenland have an opposite response to a warming climate than the rest of the Arctic. As climate warms, the deltas of Greenland are growing. Key data for this research come from an archive of historical aerial imagery taken by th Publications & conferences Abermann, J., Hansen, B.U., Lund, M., Wacker, S., Karami, M., Cappelen, J. (2017). Hotspots and key periods of Greenland climate change during the past six decades. Ambio 46, 311. Barnhart, K.R., Abbas Khan, S., Box, J.E., Abermann, J., Langley, K., Kroon, A. (2017). Delt transported to anoxic river delta sediments. Microbial Ecology 74, 6-9. Chadburn, S. E., Krinner, G., Porada, P., Bartsch, A., Beer, C., Belelli Marchesini, L., Boike, J., Ekici, A., Elberling, B., Friborg, T., Hugelius, G., Johansson, M., Kuhry, P., Kutzbach, L., Langer, M., Lund, M., Parmentier, F ral variability in surface energy balance across tundra, snow and ice in Greenland. Ambio 46, 8193. Nielsen, C.S., Michelsen, A., Strobel, B.W. Wulff, K., Banyasz, I., Elberling, B. (2017). Correlations between substrate availability, dissolved CH4, and CH4 emissions in an arctic wetland subject to Rousk, K., Pedersen, P.A, Dyrnum K., Michelsen, A. (2017). The interactive effects of temperature and moisture on moss-associated N2 fixation. Theoretical and Experimental Plant Physiology 29, 25-36. Rousk K., Sorensen P.L., Michelsen A. (2017). Nitrogen fixation in the High Arctic: A source of new Priemé A., Blok D., Haugwitz M.S., Vor íšková J., Elberling B. (2017). Arctic soil microbial sensitivity to seasonal dynamics and climate change. In Tate, K. (ed.), Microbial Biomass - A New Paradigm in Terrestrial Biogeochemistry (pp 275307). London, UK: World Scientific Publishing. Poster present Communication & outreach CENPERM continued its series of weekly talks at the Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management. These seminars were also held for Phd students and postdocs to present specific parts of their work, to create a forum for sharing of knowledge, problems, and solut Other Bendixen, M. Climate change - facts, uncertainties, and policies, Panel-discussion organized by Uni. of Copenhagen at Folkemødet, Bornholm, Jun. 6. Elberling, B. Plantevækst & Permafrost. Offentligt foredrag i Magisterforeningen, Nov. 23. Fenger-Nielsen, R. Klimaforandringer og Grønlands arkæo May 4. Birger U. Hansen, Thomas Friborg, associate professors, CENPERM/IGN: Presentations on Greenland Ecosystem Monitoring (GEM). May 11. Tao Li, postdoc, CENPERM/BIO: Plant volatiles in a changing environment: stress response, ecological and atmospheric implications. Sep. 21. Bo Elberling, profess Educational activities CENPERMs activities in 2017 include a number of educational efforts. These include both arctic field courses and classic university courses at the basic and advanced levels at the University of Copenhagen. In addition to course taught, a number of M.Sc. theses have been superv Aerial and near-field remote sensing, Dept. of Geosciences and Natural Management, University of Copenhagen, A. Westergaard-Nielsen. Arctic biology, Dept. of Biology, University of Copenhagen, spring, R. Rinnan, A. Michelsen, A. Priemé. Climate change and biogeochemical cycles. Dept. of Biology, Uni Ongoing research projects & graduate students In February, the PhD students held a WriteCamp outside Copenhagen. Like the previous years a special Master theses workshop was held in March with discussion and presentations of projects in progress. A number of the master students participated in the C Faucherre, Samuel: Subsurface carbon and nitrogen pools and potential mobilization in permafrozen soil environments. Supervisors: Bo Elberling and Christian Juncher Jørgensen. Fenger-Nielsen, Rasmus: Predicting and mapping environmental threats to archaeological sites in Greenland under current and Frendrup, Laura Lønstrup: The impact on the nitrogen cycle in an arctic tundra with a changing climate. Supervisor: Per Ambus. Hermesdorf, Lena: Methane oxidation: patterns and drivers. Supervisor: Bo Elberling. Kolstad, Elisabeth Larsen: N cycling at snowbed gradient. Supervisors: Per Ambus, Anders Simonsen, Anne Mette Tholstrup: Environmental impacts of submarine tailings disposal from an iron-ore mine, Norway, completed Jul. 2017. Supervisor: Bo Elberling. Simonsen, Lisbeth: Microbial succession and nitrogen fixation along the chronosequence of a receding glacier in West Greenland, completed International collaborators & funding Research activities at CENPERM continue to be linked to a number of well-established international arctic networks. These cooperation agreements are supplemented by a strong affiliation to internationally recognized researchers. External experts and Center eva British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge (UK): P. Convey, K.K. Newsham and E.M. Biersma. Intl. cooperation at Disko and South Georgia. Shared fieldwork and publications. Delft University of Technology, The Netherland: Computer vision lab. Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, Schweiz: T. Crowther. University of Eastern Finland, Department of Environmental Science, Finland: M. Kivimäenpää. Sample treatment, light and scanning electronmicroscopy. University of Edinburgh, School of GeoSciences, UK: I. Myers-Smith, S. Angers-Blondin. Pan-arctic shrub growth meta-analysis. University of Helsinki, Danish Energy Agency (Energistyrelsen): Evaluating monitoring program in Disko Bay. Grant holder: Thomas Friborg. 2016-2017. DKK 450,000. Danish Energy Agency (Energistyrelsen): GeoBasis- Disko. Grant holder: Thomas Friborg. 2017-2018. DKK 1,604,000. Danish Ministry for Research: Integrated Carbon O CENPERM staff Researchers Researchers Albers Christian Nyrop Researcher Ambus Per Professor Andersen Thorbjørn J. Professor Christensen Ditte Marie Trainee Elberling Bo Professor, Director Ernstsen Verner Brandbyge Associate professor Friborg Thomas Associate professor Hansen Birger Ul CENPERM staff Ravn Nynne R. PhD student Schostag Morten Dencker PhD student St Pierre Kyra PhD student, visiting Svendsen Sarah H. PhD student Wang Peiyang PhD student, visiting Technical staff Jacobsen Pia Laboratory technician Madsen Mathias Electronics technician Moser Vagn Laboratory ANNUAL REPORT 2017 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