ANNUAL REPORT 2012 CENPERM Center for Permafrost ANNUAL REPORT 2012 CENPERM Center for Permafrost Field sites Kims Fjelde Svalbard Longyearbyen Greenland Zackenberg Disko Qajaa Sweden Kangerlusssaq Nuuk Narsarsuaq Abisko Sermilik Directors welcome 3 CENPERM presentation 5 Highlights 2012 9 Højdepunk ter 2012 11 Publications & conferences 13 Communication & outreach 19 Educational activities 25 Ongoing research projects & graduate students 26 International collaborators & funding 30 CENPERM staff 2 CENPERM Annual Report 2012 P hot o moni t or ing , Disko. P hot o K . Pør k se n Directors welcome Center for Permafrost (CENPERM) was officially opened on 1 of June 2012 as a Center of Excellence. This research initiative has the goal to deliver world class science and educational activities in permafrost research for at least the next six years. Based on the substantial financ 4 Pe r m afros t dr illing in Z acke nbe rg. P hot o S . H är t e l CENPERM Annual Report 2012 CENPER M group at the week ly Fr iday seminar. Photo K . Pør k sen CENPERM presentation The vision of CENPERM is to integrate the consequences of permafrost thawing on arctic ecosystems and to feed that information into existing climate change models. Fulfilling this vision requires multidisciplin reasons for the frequently poor performance of climate models at high latitudes. Microbial activity Plant ecology CENPERM Permafrost soil & landscape dynamics CENPERM will integrate multidisciplinary research of biogeochemical and physical processes in a climate-vegetation-soil-microorganismperm Research at CENPERM will target climatemicroorganism-plant-soil-permafrost interactions linking the activity of microbial genes directly to nutrient pools, plant/root activity, GHG exchange and climate. In addition, CENPERM will quantify the thermal state of the Greenlandic permafrost by performing CENPER M inaugur ation 1 June. Photos K . Pør k sen CENPERM Annual Report 2012 8 Highlights 2012 On 1 of June 2012 Center for Permafrost (CENPERM) was officially opened as a Center of Excellence funded by The Danish National Research Foundation with supplementary funding from the University of Copenhagen. The main activities since the opening have been the physical and organizat The development of the microbial community on the surface of the Greenland ice sheet was stu-died in summer 2012. Samples of cryoconite (the surface sediment) were collected duing several trips from May through September in order to represent the whole melt season. Molecular analysis of these sample Højdepunkter 2012 (Danish) Den 1. juni 2012 blev Center for Permafrost (CENPERM) officielt åbnet som et Center of Excellence finansieret af Danmarks Grundforskningsfond med supplerende finansiering fra Københavns Universitet. Siden åbningen har de vigtigste aktiviteter været etableringen af de fys Ved hjælp af en mellemstor borerig blev der i september 2012 i Zackenbergdalen indsamlet 50 m intakte permafrost sedimentkerner fra to forskellige men udbredte landskabstyper med hver deres karakteristisk plantesamfund. Kernerne er analyseret med hensyn til stratigrafi, kornstørrelse, isindhold og i Publications & conferences Peer-reviewed international papers (CENPERM members shown in bold) Andresen, C.S., Straneo, F., Ribergaard, M.H., Bjork, A., Andersen, T.J., Kuijpers, A., NorgaardPedersen, N., Kjaer, K.H., Schioth, F., Weckstrom, K., Ahlstrom, A.P. (2012). Rapid response of Helheim Glaci AMBIO 41 (Supplement 3), 269-280. Larsen, K.S., Michelsen, A., Jonasson, S., Beier, C., Grogan, P. (2012). Nitrogen uptake during fall, winter, and spring differs among plant functional groups in a subarctic heath ecosystem. Ecosystems 15, 927-939. Lund, M., Falk, J.M., Friborg, T., Mbufong, H.N., S PreSens Precision Sensing, Regensburg, Germany. http://www.presens.de/uploads/tx_presensapplicationnotes/120412_APP_Subsurface_O2_w_11. pdf Kokfelt, U., Johansson, A., Muscheler, R., Hammarlund, D. (2012). Dating of a young, subarctic peat deposit using the radiocarbon wiggle-match technique. LUCCI Jørgensen, C.J., Elberling, B. (2012). Flooding induced N2O emissions following extreme weather flooding of a non-managed wetland soil. Society of Wetland Scientists (SWS), Aarhus, Denmark, 17-20 Jun. Kroon, A., Bendixen, M., Sigsgaard, C. (2012). Quantification of sediment budgets at an Arctic delt The role of subglacial microbes in carbon cycling and methane release in the past and present. AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, USA, 4 Dec. Stibal, M., Mikkelsen, A.B., Wadham, J.L., Telling, J., Hawkings, J., Lis, G.P., Lawson, E.C., Hasan, F., Dubnick, A., Elberling, B., Jacobsen, C.S. (2012). The Westergaard-Nielsen, A., Lund, M., Hansen, B.U., Tamstorf, M. (2012). Pixelating the Arctic: From digital cameras to flux measurements. k at snow fe nce Report si t e at Disko. CENPERM Annual 2012 P hot o K . Pør k se n 18Fie ld wor PhD. polar seminar, Department for Geography and Geology, Univers Communication & outreach As the observed changes in global permafrost dynamics have potential implications for the general public, the Center for Permafrost has prioritized communication and outreach activities from day one. It is the wish of CENPERM to interact with society and thereby present the CENPERM visit to Greenland, Nuuk, 8-9 May. Bo Elberling and Anders Priemé visited central governmental agencies, research departments and other key organizations relevant to the future activities of CENPERM in Greenland. The planned research portfolio was outlined to the organizations, followed by i Newspaper article: Kälteliebende Pflanzen unter Druck. Arktische Vegetationsentwicklung simuliert / Erwärmung ändert Vegetation in der Hocharktis. Neues Deutschland, Feb 6. Also web release URL: http://www.neues-deutschland.de/artikel/217585. kaelteliebende-pflanzen-unter-druck.html. Based on interv Short educational film: Danskernes Akademi TV show: PhD in 3 minutes Drivhusgas dynamik i naturlige vådområder http://www.dr.dk/DR2/Danskernes+akademi/Ph.D _paa_3_minutter/ Programmer/Ph.D _paa_3_minutter_drivhusgas.htm, 11 Sep. Christian Juncher Jørgensen delivers central insights from his prior w 11 May. Anders Michelsen, Changes in plant cover, nitrogen fixation and plant and microbial N uptake following warming in the Arctic 25 May. Chilbal Film, Landskabet der giver den gas 25 May. Aart Kroon, Arctic coastal dynamics 8 Jun. Carsten Suhr Jacobsen, Microbial ecology of cold habitats 21 Sep. Knute Nadelhoffer, University of Michigan, 2 May. In relation to a PhD defence Knute Nadelhoffer took part in a scientific meeting discussing CENPERM research strategies. Robert Björk, University of Gothenburg, 15 Jun. & 9. Nov. As part of the collaboration project The sensitivity of carbon in Arcti Educational activities CENPERM lecturers have already from 2012 been involved in several ordinary university courses, where CENPERM topics have been taught. Disko. Photo B. Elberling Field courses Arctic Geology 204 course: The University Centre in Svalbard. Short lecture on the use of the NORPERM Ongoing research projects & graduate students By initiating a substantial number of research projects, CENPERM aims to position itself as an important player in addressing specific research problems at the Postdoc, PhD and Master levels. The broad perspective on permafrost research and related field CARPE DIEM: Carbon and silica in peat diatoms and environmental change Paleo-environmental reconstructions from palsas and pounus in Zackenberg, NE Greenland SOLEX: Solar forcing of climate and ecosystems exploring causes and effects from North to South PhDs (fully or partially funded by CENPERM) I n - t ac t core s a m pling , Z ac ke nbe rg. P hot o B . E lbe r ling 28 CENPERM Annual Report 2012 Anders Bjørn Møller: West Greenland kitchen-middens: future thawing, drainage and erosion followed by climate changes, start Jul. 2012. Supervisor: Bo Elberling/Jørgen Hollesen. Anders Boding Bjørnsson: Assessing and mapping the current and potential farming potential in South Greenland associated w International collaborators & funding The ongoing research activities at CENPERM are connected 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 Danish grants Carlsberg Foundation: Preserving the cultural heritage of Greenland in a changing climate. Grant holder: Jørgen Hollesen. Period: 2013-2014. DKK 684,582 Carlsberg Foundation: SOLEX: Solar forcing of climate and ecosystems exploring causes and effects from North to South. Grant holder: Villum Kann Rasmussen foundation: Natural emissions of volatile organohalogens in Arctic and Subarctic terrestrial systems A study of the Arctics role in the atmospheric organohalogen budget (ARCTICVOX). Grant holder: Ole Stig Jacobsen, Christian Albers, Anders Risbjerg Johnsen, Lasse Gudmundsson. CENPERM staff Researchers Albers Andersen Christiansen Elberling Ernstsen, Friborg Grogan Hansen Jacobsen Jacobsen Jansson Johnsen Kroon Michelsen Pedersen Priemé Rinnan Romanovsky Ro-Poulsen Schuur Sigsgaard Stibal Tiedje Christian Thorbjørn J. Hanne Hvidtfeldt Bo Verner Brandbyge Thomas Paul Birg CENPERM staff Mikkelsen Schollert Valolahti Westergaard-Nielsen Andreas Bech Michelle Hanna Andreas PhD student PhD student PhD student PhD student Technical staff Gammeltoft Gudmundsson Jacobsen Juul Madsen Moser Nielsen Pedersen Petersen Sivert Stockmarr Sylvester Jens Lasse Pia Inge Mathias V Marine core sampling, Sermilik. Photo T. J. Andersen CENPERM Annual Report 2012 35 36 CENPERM Annual Report 2012 On the Greenland ice sheet , Sermilik . Photo B . Elberling ANNUAL REPORT 2012 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