Macroalgae monitoring 8 7 10 m 50 m 200 m The Greenland Ecosystem Monitoring program (GEM) on marine vegetation in the Disko Bay was initiated in the summer of 2018. The program includes studies of tidal and subtidal macroalgae along the shores of Disko Island and Kronprinsens Ejland as specified below. Water temperature (C) 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 -1 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 Year Figure 11. Average water temperature in July measured in a vertical profle at Fast Station, years 1992-2018. Data are shown for 10, 50 and 200 m depths. Tidal mac roalgae Growth of knotted wrack (Ascophyllum nodosum). Macroalgal forest s are expec ted to grow faster and expand their current distribution area and, hence, their associated ecosystem func tions in a warmer future with longer open water periods. The grow th, as the length and biomass of the young tissue at the tip of the shoot s, were measured, profiting from the fac t that annual "knot s"/ bladders are natural "markers" of each year's grow th. The youngest tip segment of Knot ted wrack grew at a rate of about 2 cm per year. The carbon and nitrogen content of the tissue were measured as supplementar y variables. Distribution and composition of macroalgae along transect lines from the upper to the lower edge of the tidal zone. It is expec ted that warming will allow the tidal vegetation to expand fur ther upshore. The composition and cover of the macroalgae in inter vals along transec t lines were visually assessed. A large scale illustration of the distribution was obtained by drone photos. The tidal vegetation forms a fringe along the shores of both For tuna Bay (Figure 13) and protec ted sites at Kronprinsens Ejland with the vege tation ex tending to about 1.5 m above card zero. The tidal vegetation is dominated by Fucus vesicuso sus and the communit y is relatively species- poor with a total of only 8 macroalgal species and the asso ciated fauna composed of My tilus sp, Lit torina sp. and Semibalanus. The tidal communit y also colonises tidal pools in this area with the pools charac terized by high pH in the summer. Subtidal mac roalgae Depth distribution and composition of macroalgal forests along transect lines extending from close to the shore and down to the deep edge of the macroalgal forest. It is expec ted that macroalgae will penetrate deeper in response to longer open water periods. Under water video was used for the assessment. The macroalgal forest s are dominated by kelps (Figure 14) and ex tend to maximum depths of around 43 m at Qeqer tarsuaq / K ødøen and somewhat deeper at Kronprinsens Ejland where the maximum depth was deeper than the length of the video line (50 m). Earlier studies in the Disko Bay area underline the deep penetration of kelp forest s in the area. Figure 12. Vertical distribution of a) Temperature (C), salinity ( ), density (g/L) and chlorophyll a (μg/L) as a function of the year at the marine monitoring site in Disko Bay. 12 university of copenhagen facu lt y of sci e nc e A RC T I C STAT I ON Ann ual Repor t 2 018 2 A R C T I C S TAT I O N ARCTIC STATION Annual Report 2018 CONTENTS Chairmans welcome ............................................................ 5 Monitoring at Arctic Station ........ .......................................... 6 Research projects ........................ ......................................... 17 Educa 4 Chairmans Welcome Professor Bo Elberling Compared to other years, the summer of 2018 was cold and wet in Greenland. While summer temperatures in Europe were higher than for decades, summer temperatures at Arctic Station were in general low. Despite the weather, the year 2018 has been a very succes Monitoring at Arctic Station Charlotte Sigsgaard, Regin Rønn, Michele Citterio, Jakob Abermann, Per Juel Hansen, Kirsty Langly, Kirsten S. Christoffersen, Sille Myreng, Daniel Binder, Laura Helene Rasmussen, Morten Rasch, Aart Kroon, Dorthe Krause-Jensen, Birgit Olesen, Thomas Friborg and Bo Elberli 15 10 10 Temperature (oC) Temperature (oC) 5 0 -5 -10 -15 Summer (J, J, A) Winter/coldest months (J, F, M) Mean annual air temperature -20 -25 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 Figure 2. Annual mean air temperatures at Arctic Station from 1992 to 2018 and mean air temperatures for 31-J an 2-Mar 1-Apr 1-May 31-May 30-J un 30-J ul 29-Aug 28-S ep 28-Oct 27-Nov 27-Dec 2018 1040 1000 960 60 0 40 -10 20 -30 0 Wind speed (m s -1) -20 Rain (mm) 80 10 Temperature (C) Air pressure (mbar) 1-J an 16 12 8 4 0 Wind dir () 300 200 100 S now depth (m) 0 0.8 40 0 Sep Precipitation (mm) 350 Aug Jul Jun May 30 0 250 20 0 150 10 0 50 19 91 19 92 19 93 19 94 19 95 19 96 19 97 19 98 19 99 20 00 20 01 20 02 20 03 20 04 20 05 20 06 20 07 20 08 20 09 20 10 20 11 20 12 20 13 20 14 20 15 20 16 20 17 20 18 0 Figure 5. Stacked monthly values of rain from Figure 7. Water started to run in the snow covered river bed on 6 June. Several fows with a mixture of water, snow and ice occurred during the day. Photos: Charlotte Sigsgaard and Laura L. Frendrup. Marine monitoring Marine monitoring has been periodically carried out at Arc tic Station since 1924. Figure 9. About 60-70 mm of rain on the 3 August 2018 caused overland fow and high discharge and high content of suspended sediment in the river. Photo: Elisabeth L. Kolstad. there is of ten a layer of cold water at 50 -10 0 m with temperatures as low as -1.6 C sandwiched bet ween the warmer sur fa Macroalgae monitoring 8 7 10 m 50 m 200 m The Greenland Ecosystem Monitoring program (GEM) on marine vegetation in the Disko Bay was initiated in the summer of 2018. The program includes studies of tidal and subtidal macroalgae along the shores of Disko Island and Kronprinsens Ejland as specified Figure 13. Overview, based on drone images, of Fortuna Bay with the tidal vegetation forming a fringe along the shoreline visible as a light brown contour at low tide. Drone operated by Dorte KrauseJensen and Birgit Olesen and drone images analysed and processed by Michael Bo Rasmussen. Growth of s 14 Chlorophyll (ug l-1) 12 Danish Meteorological Institute (DM I) which will pro vide data for in-situ validation data for DM Is remote sensing produc t s. The first complete dataset will be downloaded in 2019. Data received via satellite link already shows seasonal variabilit y in the temperatur Figure 18. Two moulins on Chamberlin Glacier found in August 2018 (left) and the entrance of one of the moulins which in August 2018 appeared safe to descend. Photos: Michele Citterio. Influence of cloud cover in surface energy balance in Arctic environments Sur face air temperatures in the Arctic enhance snow and glacier melt is still poorly known, not the least in Greenland. While some authors claim clouds enhance melt water runof f others claim that decreasing cloud cover drives the recent mass loss on the Greenland ice sheet. Despite their crucial impor tance for understanding Arc tic cli Research Projects Development of methodology for evaluating chemicals discarded in high Arctic waters Kim Gustavson, Eva Friis Møller, Mette Dalgaard, DCE, Department of Bioscience Aarhus University, Denmark The overall aim of the project was to strengthen the basis for evaluation and regulation of Baleen whale. Photo: Mads Peter Heide-Jørgensen. Qimmeq Anders J. Hansen, Tom Gilbert, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, Nobuyuki Yamaguchi, Qatar University, Quatar, Siz Madsen, Denmark The Qimmeq Project consists of several components including, sled dog genetics, culture history, film- and phot Greenlandic Perspectives Survey (GPS) AMAP - collection of ring seal samples Kelton Minor, University of Copenhagen, Kraks Fond Institute for Urban Economic Research, Denmark, Ulunnguaq Markussen, University of Greenland, Greenland, Hans Peter Mønsted, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark Sign CENPERM activities Per Ambus, Anders Michelsen, Laura Helene Rasmussen, Laura Bjørnholt Larsen, Emily Pickering Pedersen, Ludovica D'Imperio, Andreas Westergaard-Nielsen, Trevor James Popp, Steffen Bo Hansen, Sune Olander Rasmussen, Bo Elberling, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, Peter Convey, Brit A n n u a l R e p o r t 2018 21 Preparing samples in the laboratory . Photo: Advanced Analytical Chemistry - Arctic Pollution Chemistry 2018 (Field course) Photo Kent Pørksen 22 Education CHESS PhD school: Arctic Glacier Field Course Alexios Theofilopoulos, Andreas Alexander, Anais Bretones, Andreas Plach, Calvin Shackleton, Ida Margrete Ringgaard, Jacob Morgan, Jonathan Rheinlander, Karita Kajanto, Lis Allaar t, Margaret Lindeman, Maya Becker, Mor ven Muilwijk, Nicholas Ra Field trip North Greenlands High School GUX Asiaat Photo: Advanced Analytical Chemistry -Arctic Pollution Research 2018 (Field course). All projec ts included numerous sampling trips in the field (open water and coast line) followed by analyses in dif ferent designated labs at the Arc tic Station based monitoring projec t focusing on the conditions of the living resources based on input from local fishers and hunters. Visiting period: 5 December, 2 days. Climate Change in Greenland Niels Vinther, Egedal Gymnasium, A sger Vinther Michelsen, Kenneth Sorento, Mediehuset København Denmark Visit Publications Scientific papers 2018 A lb e r s C. N ., K ra m s h ø j M ., R inna n R . (2018). R a p i d min e ra liz at i o n of b i o g e ni c vo lat il e o rg a ni c co m p o un d s in te m p e rate a n d A rc t i c s o ils . B i o g e o s ci e n ce s 15, 3591-3 6 01. D O I :10.519 4 / b g -15 - Reports 2018 K a li t a, S . N ., Wo hlra b, S ., Ku e hn e, N . a n d J o hn, U., A l fre d - We g e n e r- I ns t i tu te (2018): Tra ns c r ipto m e ana l y s is of sing l e ce lls: a p la nk to n cha ra c te r iz at i o n of A rc t i c wate r s , 2n d A nnua l M e e t ing of D F G -S P P 19 91 T Members of the board Professor Anders Michelsen Depar tment of Biology Phone: + 45 2339 8286 E-mail: andersm@bio.ku.dk Professor Bo Elberling (Chairman) Depar tment of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management Phone: + 45 3532 2520 E-mail: be@ign.ku.dk A ssociate Professor Nina Lundholm Natural A n n u a l R e p o r t 2018 29 Title Arc tic Station Annual Repor t 2018 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