21 March 2024 | 11:00 - 12:00 (UK)
Open Session - HYBRID
Room: South Hall
Organiser: Daria Shapovalova (University of Aberdeen, UK)
Session Chair: Dr Anna Gebruk (University of Edinburgh)
Event Description:
In this informal session, you can come and meet the members of the Scottish Arctic Network and learn about the latest research conducted across disciplines. The ScAN is an interdisciplinary network of Scotland-based scientists and academics whose expertise and research interests revolve around Arctic matters and Scottish-Arctic collaboration. ScAN currently brings together over a hundred members and its objectives include the improvement of inter-institutional collaboration and communication on Arctic research in Scotland; and facilitating increased international and domestic awareness of Scotland’s contribution to Arctic research. ScAN supports joint funding applications, promotes Arctic-relevant research of its members, holds regular webinars, and supports early career researchers in attending the relevant conferences and more.
Speakers:
Beth Langley - University of Glasgow
Arctic and sub-Arctic Sedimentary Carbon: Cajor Contributions to Global Marine Sediment Carbon Stocks.
Marine sediments constitute an expansive sink of organic carbon and can store carbon for millions of years if undisturbed. The burial of organic carbon in these sediments plays an important role in the global carbon cycle and in regulating atmospheric carbon dioxide over Earth’s history. However, marine sedimentary carbon is vulnerable to climate change and human activities, particularly in the rapidly warming Arctic, which is experiencing heightened anthropogenic pressures. Thus, it is vital to gain a comprehensive understanding of marine sediment carbon stock in this region. Here, we synthesise existing data on organic carbon concentrations from 623 marine sediment cores across the Arctic and sub-Arctic. We spatially predict carbon stocks spanning latitudes from 50 to 90°N and identify high concentrations in coastal regions and hotspots in the Baltic, Kattegat, and Bristol Channel. By quantifying carbon stocks in the top 1m of sediment, we demonstrate that Arctic and sub-Arctic marine sediments are a globally important sink of organic carbon, playing a large contribution to global marine sediment carbon stocks. Our research highlights regions where management and conservation efforts are imperative to safeguard marine sediments from disturbance and continue acting as nature-based solutions to mitigating climate change.
Georg Kodl - University of St Andrews
Microclimates, Soil Moisture, and Vegetation Dynamics in the sub-Arctic Tundra
The Arctic tundra experiences rapid climatic changes altering temperature and precipitation patterns, affecting growing conditions, and profoundly impacting landscape development. Vegetation is sensitive to water availability fluctuations, influencing plant physiology, productivity and soil stability. Arctic warming increases soil moisture stress risk, exacerbated by minor changes in landscape curvature forming microclimates. Depressions retain moisture, offering protection, while ridges lose moisture rapidly due to downslope flow and wind exposure. There is limited understanding of how microclimates will respond to macroclimatic shifts and their subsequent effects on overall land cover change. This study combined high-resolution multispectral UAV data with in-situ soil probes and vegetation surveys to investigate these processes in two distinct tundra regions, Iceland and Finland.
Alona Roitershtein - Robert Gordon University
Put in Context: Place-Based Sustainable Tourism Strategy Evaluation in The Orkney Islands
This doctoral study offers a Place-based Strategy Evaluation Framework (PSEF), that can recognise whether tourism strategy addresses context-specific sustainability needs of a local destination. Using the Orkney Islands as a case study, it focuses on the sense of place of the members of Orkney communities as a foundation for their perceptions of tourism value and sustainability needs in the tourism context. The study contributes to the field of tourism to cold-water islands and archipelagos. It provides a relevant insight into tourism-related challenges that places across the North are facing, and offers a relevant contribution to other Northern and Arctic destinations.