Research Projects Effects of dispersed oil droplets and produced water components on growth, development and reproduction in Arctic pelagic copepods (PWC-Arctic) Anders Johny Olsen, Iurgi Imanol Salaverria-Zabalegui, Nor wegian Universit y of Science and Technology (NTNU), Nor way, Ida Beathe Øverjordet, Trond Nordtug, Bjørn Henrik Hansen, SINTEF, Nor way, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Technical Universit y of Denmark (DTU), Denmark, Dag Altin, BioTrix, Nor way Receding polar ice caps due to global warming open up the Arctic region for human activity including oil exploration and exploitation. Oil production involves increased discharges to the marine environment of inorganic and organic pollutants such as the lipophilic and toxic polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Keystone AMAP Core (Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme) Anders Galatius, Depar tment of Bioscience, Aarhus Universit y, Denmark The aim of the stay was to collect samples of ringed seal, sculpin and mussels for the current AMAP-monitoring of environmental poison in tissue of these organisms. The collection was in cooperation with local hunters. ALCHEMI Catherine Larose, Christoph Keuschnig, Universit y of Lyon, France The major goal of the ALCHEMI research project is to determine the role of Arctic microorganisms in ecosystem functioning in the context of change. This goal will be reached by identifying the temporal and spatial variations of biotic inputs and will focus on aspects related to microbial colonization, environmental selection, community evolution and stability and biodiversity in the snow and transition zones, i.e. the air-snow interface and the snow-soil interface. Testing the effects of fertilizer and chemical dispersant for oil biodegradation in pristine and preexposed, marine environments Fieldwork on the sea ice for PWC-Arctic project. Photo Iurgi Salaverria arctic calanoid copepods including Calanus glacialis and C. hyperboreus contain large lipid storages common to arctic species and constitute a crucial route for energy and matter from primary production to higher trophic levels, including most fish species. Consequently, arctic calanoids can become sinks for lipophilic contaminants like PAHs and thereby transfer toxic compounds up the arctic food chain. In addition, the fitness of these calanoids can potentially be impaired by oil production related discharges with reduced zooplankton and commercial fish stocks as a consequence. Christina Sinkwitz, Anders R. Johnsen, Geological Sur vey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), Denmark Marine water was sampled from the Harbor where the boats are fuelled (preexposed for oil) and from the Disko Bay (pristine). In the lab, the water was distributed in microcosms and spiked with crude oil and/or mineral nutrients and/or chemical oil dispersant. The development of oil degrader populations was highly dependent of the addition of mineral nutrients both in the harbor and the bay environments. This suggests that the potential for oil biodegradation in both environments is strongly limited by low in-situ concentrations of mineral nutrients. There was no effect of the dispersant on oil biodegradation or on microbial oil degrader populations. A n n u a l R e p o r t 2016 15 university of copenhagen facu lt y of sci e nc e A RC T I C STAT I ON Annual Repor t 2016 2 A R C T I C S TAT I O N ARCTIC STATION Annual Report 2015 CONTENTS Chairmans welcome ............................................................. 5 DiskoBasis monitoring ............................................................ 7 Research projects.................................................................. 15 Edu 4 A R C T I C S TAT I O N Chairmans Welcome Professor Bo Elberling Arc tic Station is one of the oldest arc tic field stations and has been impor tant for research at Disko Island and the Disko Bay for more than 10 0 years. The station is an unique site and surrounded by a high diversit y of ecosystems; not the least remar Rød elv Figure 1. New weather station (AWS4) on Skarvefjeld, 240 meter above sea level (69.27282 N, 053.45363W). The map shows the location of places where air temperature are being logged in a transect from sea level (T4) to 830 m asl (T2). Blæsedale n Greeland Disko Island Lyngmarksfjeld 5 DiskoBasis Monitoring 2016 Charlotte Sigsgaard, Casper Tai Christiansen, Mathilde Jammet, Per Juel Hansen, Kirsten S. Christoffersen, Aart Kroon, Thomas Friborg, Birger Ulf Hansen, Bo Elberling DiskoBasis is the ecosystem monitoring program at Arc tic Station. The program has increased the monitori 1040 Wind speed (m s-1) 31 Jan 2 Mar 1 Apr 1 Maj 31 Maj 30 Jun 30 Jul 29 Aug 28 Sep 28 Oct 27 Nov 27 Dec 2016 1000 960 40 10 30 0 20 -10 -20 10 -30 0 16 12 8 4 Wind dir (o) 0 300 200 100 Snow depth (m) 0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 Ground temp (oC) Soil moisture (Vol%) 0 80 10 Figure 7. Precipitation/ rain measured just outside Arctic Station (AWS1). Stacked monthly amounts from May to September are shown Sep from 1991 to 2016. Missing years are due Aug to malfunction of the equipment. Jul 400 350 Precipitation (mm) 300 250 200 Jun 150 May 100 50 0 1991 1993 1995 1 Figure 9. Photos of multisonde location on 15 May, 22 May and 11 June 2016. Massive snow melt and high water levels create turbulence along the cliff on the eastern brink when water is forced around the rock outcrop and causes fluctuations in the water level during the peak runoff periods. Photo Cas Figure 11. The location of the multisonde in Røde Elv (69 15 13N, 53 29 53W, 3 m asl. and ca 460 m from the coast, -see Figure 2). A wire was installed across the river in order to pull the Q-liner from side to side in the crossing. The river is 12 meter wide at this time and measurements were perfo Figure 12.Sampling of lake water 19 February 2016. Photo Kirsten Christoffersen ac terized by fairly harsh conditions above the lake sur face and limited biological ac tivit y below the ice due to darkness. The conditions are much milder in the spring (May in Table 1), snow is melting, ice thicknes 7,8 8 pH 8,2 8,4 8,6 0 50 Depth (meter) 100 Figure 13. Seasonality in pH measured from near surface water to 300 meters depth at the Fast station in Disko Bay 2016 (691114, 533107). 11-May 25-Jun 150 25-Jul 30-Aug 200 01-Oct 24-Oct 250 28-Nov 300 350 decreased to ca 8.0 due to the 14 A R C T I C S TAT I O N Research Projects Effects of dispersed oil droplets and produced water components on growth, development and reproduction in Arctic pelagic copepods (PWC-Arctic) Anders Johny Olsen, Iurgi Imanol Salaverria-Zabalegui, Nor wegian Universit y of Science and Technology (NTNU), Nor way, Ida Beathe Øverjo Sampling tidal algae at Kronprinsens Ejland. Photo Carlos M. Duarte Kelp forests in Greenland functional roles and response to climate change Dor te Krause -Jensen, Aarhus Universit y, Denmark, Carlos M. Duar te, K AUST Saudi-Arabia and Aarhus Universit y af filiation We studied the role of Arcti in Disko Bay Jakob Abermann, A siaq, Greenland Sur vey, Greenland This project focused on assessing the potential of integrating the ecosystem monitoring at Disko Bay in a GEM perspective. We performed pilot studies that narrowed down the scope and used the uniqueness of Arctic Station (AS) both in A sediment filled Rumohr Lot corer is retrieved. Photo Naja Mikkelsen Small Arctic grazers Sandra Craveiro, Antonio Calado, Universit y of Aveiro, Por tugal, Øjvind Moestrup, Depar tment of Biology, Universit y of Copenhagen, Denmark, Andre as Altenburger, Amalia Keck, Nina Lundholm, Natural Histor Sampling of snow on the glacier. Photo Tobias Luthe A n n u a l R e p o r t 2016 19 Ready for field work on the ice in Disko Bay. Photo Nina Lundholm 20 A R C T I C S TAT I O N A n n u a l R e p o r t 2016 21 Photo Kent Pørksen 22 A R C T I C S TAT I O N Education Arctic Biology Field Course Michelle S. Svendsen, Klara A . Rask, Søren R. Nielsen, Cecilie K. Hedemand, Sissel L. Fredsgaard, Nanna Devantier, Frederik F. Gai (students); Kirsten S. Christof fersen, Anders Michelsen (teachers). Depar tment of Biology, Universit y of Copenhagen, Denmark. T GUX-Aasiaat Geography Fieldtrip 2016 Teachers: David N. Penney and Karen Bengtson, GUX-Aasiaat (Nor th Greenlands Senior High School). Par ticipants: Geography students from 2nd class (Natural Sciences), GUX-Aasiaat. In September, 2016, a group of eleven 2nd year Ge ography students and t wo teacher A n n u a l R e p o r t 2016 25 Visits and public outreach GEM Workshop on 9-11 August 2016 at Arctic Station A work shop was held at Arc tic Station about the ongoing monitoring and future plans for Arc tic Station to be a monitoring site under Greenland Ecosystem Monitoring (GEM). All together 16 par ticipants from Universit y o Publications Scientific papers 2016 B l o k , D., Elb e r lin g, B., M i ch e ls e n, A . (2016 ). I ni t ia l s t a g e s of Tun d ra Shr u b L i t te r d e co m p o s i t i o n may b e a cce l e rate d by d e e p e r w inte r sn o w b u t s l o w e d d o w n by summ e r wa r m ing. Eco s y s te ms 28 A R C T I C S TAT I O N Members of the board Professor Bo Elberling (Chairman) Depar tment of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management Phone: + 45 3532 2520 E-mail: be@ign.ku.dk Git te Henrik sen (Secretar y) Facult y of Science Phone: + 45 3532 4256 E-mail: gin@science.ku.dk Professor MSO Kirsten Seestern Christof fers Title Arc tic Station Annual Repor t 2015 Publisher Board of the Arc tic Station, Univer sit y of Copenhagen, Denmark Editor A ar t Kroon and Charlot te Sigsgaard L ayout and graphic s Kent Pørk sen, Depar tment of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management Internet ver sion ark tisk station.ku.dk