25 March 2025 | 13:30 - 15:30 (MDT)
Open Session - HYBRID
Room: UMC Third Floor - 382
Organisers: Gabriela Schaepman-Strub (Dept. of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Switzerland); Amy Breen (University of Alaska Fairbanks, USA)
Zoom link to the Open Session (password-protected)
The password needed to connect to the session will be distributed the day prior to the start of the sessions to all registered conference participants. Further guidelines on how to participate virtually in the ASSW 2025 can be found on the ASSW 2025 website.
Session Description:
The aim of this session is to reflect on urgent questions we would like to answer during the 5th IPY, what results and data are existing from previous efforts and how to link those to new measurements during the 5th IPY and beyond. This session will therefore serve to recap current knowledge and data and reflect on how to move towards measurement standards and protocols that can be applied by taxonomic and non-taxonomic specialists to secure long-term records of terrestrial biodiversity and ecosystem functions. Reporting on existing results of past efforts and reflecting on gaps and future sampling needs, methods across biological organization and scales and designs are especially welcome. We invite everybody interested in the coordination of IPY terrestrial microbial, bryophyte, lichen, and vascular plant diversity assessments and synthesis to submit contributions, and to start coordination of these efforts, across disciplines and knowledge systems.
Instructions for Speakers: Oral presentations in this session should be at most 10-minutes in length, with an additional 2 minutes for questions (unless more detailed instructions are provided by session conveners). See more detailed presenter instructions here.
Oral Presentations:
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unfold_moreStandardised sampling protocols for non-standardised species: lessons from a messy species complex, the dwarf birches — Maria Dance
Maria Dance 1; Marc Macias-Fauria 2
1 School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, The University Centre in Svalbard, Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Scott Polar Research Insitute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; 2 School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UKFormat: Oral in-person
Abstract:
Genetic diversity is an important component of biodiversity that is essential for species’ long-term adaptation to climate change (Hoffmann & Sgrò, 2011). The genetic diversity of northern plants is expected to decline as a result of climate-induced range shifts (Alsos et al 2012). Standardised protocols that sample the full range of genetic diversity of a species are therefore crucial to long-term monitoring of Arctic biodiversity. However, taxonomically and genetically complex species pose a challenge, particularly for collectors with less taxonomical expertise.
An international collaboration conducted panarctic sampling for a project investigating the genetic response of dwarf birch to past and current climate change. The dwarf birches (Betula nana and Betula glandulosa) exhibit a morphological continuum due to hybridisation in their area of range overlap (Ashburner & McAllister, 2013; Elven et al., 2011; Furlow, 2004). Samples were collected according to a standardised protocol, usually alongside primary fieldwork projects.
Our results illustrate some of the unexpected challenges and opportunities of this sampling approach: hybrids between Betula glandulosa and unknown species were unintentionally collected and analysed which were not useful for the study objectives. Yet unintentional sampling of B. nana—B. glandulosa hybrids enabled a robust reconstruction of their joint population history during glaciations, and shed light on the full genetic diversity of the two species.
We also propose solutions for IPY assessment and long-term monitoring of genetic diversity: favouring inclusive sampling of a species complex over targeting individual species, preserving specimens for taxonomic revisions, and using both scientific literature and Indigenous Knowledge.
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unfold_moreDNA and drones could facilitate rapid estimates of plant diversity in Arctic tundra landscapes during the IPY 2032-33 — Jakob J. Assmann
Jakob J. Assmann 1; Debora S. Obris 1; Erin Cox 2; Gilda Varliero 3; Beat Frey 3; Gabriela Schaepman-Strub 1
1 University of Zurich; 2 Polar Knowledge Canada; 3 Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSLFormat: Oral in-person
Abstract:
Climate change and industrial development are changing the Arctic tundra. However, baseline data of plant diversity are missing for much of the biome, especially at higher latitudes and for non-vascular plants. These data-gaps limit our understanding of changes in plant diversity and their drivers, as well as the identification of priority locations for conservation efforts.
With the upcoming International Polar Year (IPY) 2032-33 in mind, we developed and tested a new protocol for the rapid assessment of tundra plant species richness at the landscape-scale.
We sampled three 300 m x 300 m landscapes in Nunavut, Canada using a combined systematic and random sampling design. For each landscape, we collected botanical observations and soil samples and acquired multispectral drone imagery. We extracted soil DNA and carried out metabarcoding using off-the-shelf equipment and next generation sequencing provided by commercial providers.
We found that detailed botanical observations were needed to detect rare plant species, but eDNA metabarcoding allowed for the fast detection of a large proportion of the plant richness in the landscapes. The footprint of the eDNA signal varied across taxa and detection rates were lower for bryophytes, suggesting the need to further refine these components of the workflow.
Using post-hoc subsampling, we optimised the protocol for short time-windows (3-4 hours) such as those found during helicopter and ship-based campaigns. Our findings demonstrate the potential for eDNA metabarcoding to accelerate plant diversity surveys in the tundra. The simplicity of the soil sampling may also enable citizen and non-expert collections.
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unfold_moreThe influence of Arctic herbivory on mycorrhizal fungi communities and soil carbon dynamics: An Herbivory Network collaboration — Robert G. Björk
Cole G. Brachmann, Martin Ryberg, Brendan R. Furneaux, Anna Rosling, Tinghai Ou, Alf Ekblad, Isabel C. Barrio, M. Syndonia Bret-Harte, Hannu Fritze, Laura Gough, Robert D. Hollister, Ingibjörg S. Jónsdóttir, Oula Kalttopää, Elin Lindén, Päivi Mäkiranta, Johan Olofsson, Rauni Partanen, Kirsten A. Reid, Aleksandr Sokolov, Svetlana Abdulmanova, Maija S. Sujala, Maja K. Sundqvist, Otso Suominen, Craig E. Tweedie, Amanda Young, and Robert G. Björk 1
1 University of GothenburgFormat: Oral in-person
Abstract:
The Arctic, one of the most soil carbon (C) rich biomes of the world, is warming much faster than the global average which is changing vegetation and biotic interactions. Shrub expansion constitutes one of the most striking climate-driven vegetation changes, with herbivores having the potential to inhibit this expansion. As most plants form symbiotic relationships with mycorrhizal fungi, herbivores may impact mycorrhizal fungi communities and subsequently influence soil C and nutrient cycling. But how this affects the Arctic’s C storage is still uncertain.
We collected soils from 15 herbivore exclusion experiments across the Arctic and sequenced mycorrhizal fungi communities to assess the impact of herbivory on Arctic soils. Simultaneously, we measured decomposition rates and stabilization under deciduous (Betula nana) and evergreen (Empetrum nigrum) shrubs in two of the exclusion experiments. Herbivore exclusion had a generally weak effect on the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi community across the Arctic, however, pH differences among sites were related to changes in AM composition. Ectomycorrhizal fungi were the most diverse group and most strongly influenced by climatic and edaphic factors, while herbivore impacts were observed predominantly at individual sites. Herbivores had the strongest impact on C stabilization under Betula shrubs by regulating the primary source of organic material either via shifting the plant input and/or the microbial community. Thus, shifts in mycorrhizal fungi communities and composition of shrubs, along with herbivory, have implications for C dynamics in Arctic soils. However, not to the extent that it could mitigate potential climate-driven C losses from Arctic ecosystems.
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unfold_moreThe Arctic Holocene Biodiversity Database: considering palaeo-data in Arctic biodiversity assessments — Andrew Martin
Marc Macias Fauria 1; Andrew Martin 2
1 Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, Oxford University Polar Forum, University of Oxford; 2 Scott Polar Research Institute, University of CambridgeFormat: Oral in-person
Abstract:
Palaeo-ecological data provide invaluable information on long-term ecological dynamics, offering the possibility of examining baselines under new lights that when done with observational data alone. Thousands of paleo-ecological studies have been conducted in the Arctic, providing information on biodiversity over the last millennia. However, this wealth of information has not yet been considered by the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program (CBMP) within the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna. The body of palaeo-data on Arctic biodiversity is dispersed, displaying unstandardised, multiple taxonomies, recording biological entities over a wide range of taxonomic resolutions, and dated employing varied methods and standards that make chronologies difficult to compare.
Here we present the Arctic Holocene Biodiversity Database (AHBD), which results from a systematic mapping exercise that has extracted biodiversity data covering the Arctic and the last 10,000 years. This has involved coding and data extraction from > 4,000 full text publications. The database is available online, features standardised taxonomies and chronologies, and has a YAML data format, making it compatible with other palaeo-ecological databases such as the Neotoma Paleoecology Database. The AHBD features timeseries of Essential Biodiversity Variables at millennial scales. Moreover, it is integrated with a database on abiotic variables obtained from the CHELSA database. This allows placing recent changes in Arctic biodiversity within a long framework.
We discuss the need to consider long-term biodiversity data when compiling information on Arctic biodiversity and the potential to integrate the AHBD with Arctic biodiversity data efforts such as the Arctic Biodiversity Data Service (ABDS).
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unfold_moreHorizon scanning for alien species and their potential distribution in a warming Arctic: a panarctic and a Svalbard case study of vascular plant species — Kristine Bakke Westergaard
Kristine B. Westergaard 1; James D. M. Speed 1; Tor Henrik Ulsted 1; Luis Pertierra 2
1 NTNU University Museum, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway; 2 Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, CSIC Madrid, SpainFormat: Oral in-person
Abstract:
Increasing human activity and changing climate will increase the arrival, potential for establishment and dispersal of alien species in the Arctic. The lack of biosecurity is thus of concern.
To facilitate the development of biosecurity measures for the Arctic, and for the rapidly warming and highly trafficked archipelago of Svalbard in particular, we carried out data-driven horizon scanning exercises to identify vascular plant species that may present the highest risk to biodiversity for current and future climatic scenarios.
For a panarctic assessment, we compiled a list of relevant, potential alien species using the Global Naturalized Alien Flora database as a species pool, excluding any species already present in the Arctic. We then generated climatic niche models to identify species with a potential climatic niche overlap in the Arctic, and our results highlight hotspot regions for biosecurity measures. For Svalbard, we used data from quantitative ecological risk assessments of 27 established or door-knocker plant species and generated ecological niche models to carry out risk assessments of current and future macroclimate suitability. Results suggest that many Arctic alien plant species have a broader macroclimatic niche than they currently occupy, and that there is a large pool of potential new alien species to the Arctic.
Further horizon scanning across species groups, future standardized monitoring of pathways, and early detection are urgent. It is critical for Arctic research planning to follow up international priority actions to improve the knowledge base for well-informed decision making to prevent and control invasive alien species.
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unfold_moreChanges in landscape connectivity and impacts on microbial diversity and freshwater ecosystem functioning — Alizée Le Moigne
Alizée Le Moigne 1; Jérôme Comte 1
1 Institut de la Recherche Scientifique, centre Eau Terre EnvironnementFormat: Oral in-person
Abstract:
Most of the lakes on Earth are located in the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. The particularly fast climate warming in the Arctic is currently promoting both the expansion and shrinkage of lakes depending on the location, altering connectivity among aquatic ecosystems. Changes in connectivity will affect the movement of microorganisms in the landscape, with largely unknown repercussions for the functioning of these sentinel ecosystems. Northern lakes sustain global biodiversity by providing essential habitats to numerous species. They also offer crucial resources to the Arctic inhabitants and play an important role in climate regulation. We are evaluating the consequences of climate-induced changes in the connectivity of Arctic freshwater lakes on microbial communities and the ecosystem functions they support. We focus on 2 continuous permafrost regions : Bylot Island, Nunavut, where lakes are increasing, and Ts’udé Nilįné Tuyeta protected area, North West Territories, where lakes are drying out. We are 1) Assessing the taxonomic and functional diversity of bacterial communities along local connectivity gradients, 2) Comparing bacterial diversity and ecosystem functions at the 2 sites with contrasting regional connectivity and 3) Examining the mechanisms controlling ecosystem functioning. We would like to reflect on how we could upscale local studies on microbial biodiversity and how to link this biodiversity with the functional properties of these dynamic ecosystems.
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unfold_moreMicrobial community dynamics following riverbank erosion across permafrost floodplains in the Yukon River basin — Woodward W. Fischer
Woodward Fischer 1; Katie Huy 2,1; John Magyar 1; Philippa Richter 1; Josh Anadu 1; Yutian Ke 1; Emily Geyman 1; Michael Lamb 1; Isabel Smith 3; Emily Seelen 3,4; Josh West 5; Anna Godduhn 6; Edda Mutter 6
1 Caltech; 2 Stanford; 3 Univ. of Southern California; 4 Univ. Of Alaska Fairbanks; 5 Univ. of Southern California; 6 Yukon Intertribal Watershed CouncilFormat: Oral in-person
Abstract:
Much of the organic-rich permafrost deposits in the Arctic lie in riverine floodplains where thaw due to polar amplification of climate change has accelerated bank erosion, leaving permafrost carbon deposits vulnerable to degradation by microorganisms. As sediments harbored in the riverbank erode, they are subjected to sediment transport processes, interact with the water column, and are eventually re-deposited in barforms on an opposing riverbank. Using a suite of culture-independent amplicon and shotgun metagenomic sequencing of samples collected from the Yukon River and its major tributary the Koyukuk River, we set out to understand microbial community succession associated with this process, and simultaneously provide baseline observations about how bank erosion might impact water quality via the ingrowth of taxa harmful to human and/or ecosystem health. Results revealed few occurrences of potential microbial pathogens, but that permafrost deposits operate as a ‘seed bank’ that generates a pattern of succession toward an aerobic community capable of rapid carbon degradation during erosion and transport—a pattern that may help explain why carbon burial in river floodplains is so efficacious.
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unfold_moreThermal adaptation of terrestrial arthropods to heat stress in polar regions — Simon Bahrndorff
Simon Bahrndorff 1
1 Aalborg UniversityFormat: Oral in-person
Abstract:
Terrestrial arthropods in polar regions are exposed to extreme and variable temperatures. Further, climate change is predicted to be especially pronounced in polar regions. However, available ecophysiological studies on terrestrial ectotherms from polar regions typically focus on the ability of species to tolerate the extreme low temperatures, whereas studies investigating species plasticity and the importance of evolutionary adaptation to periodically high and increasing temperatures are limited. It is clear that very little data are available on the heat tolerance of arthropods in polar regions, but, based on literature, results suggest that large variation in arthropod thermal tolerance exists across polar regions, habitats, and species. Further, our work on terrestrial arthropods in the Arctic suggests unique physiological adjustments to heat stress, such as species ability to respond quickly to increasing or extreme temperatures, but that they cannot cope with high temperatures for long periods of time. We thus suggest that more large scale network approaches are needed addressing the ability of species to cope with stressful high and variable temperatures to understand the consequences of climate change on terrestrial biodiversity in polar regions.
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unfold_moreEcosystem functional types and diversity of the circumpolar Arctic tundra and a case study of the Yamal Peninsula, Russia — Howard Epstein
Howard Epstein 1; Amanda Armstrong 1; Domingo Alcaraz-Segura 2; Martha Raynolds 3; Morgan Tassone 1
1 University of Virginia; 2 University of Granada; 3 University of Alaska FairbanksFormat: Oral in-person
Abstract:
Biodiversity, when viewed through the lenses of compositional, structural, and functional components, provides for a holistic understanding of diversity found within community assemblages and ecosystems. However, advancement in our understanding of how ecosystem functional diversity interacts with structural and compositional diversity is lacking. This study presents a methodology to construct ecosystem functional types (EFTs), or areas of the land surface that function similarly, using the MODIS NDVI record, for the terrestrial circumpolar Arctic. EFTs were derived from the seasonal dynamics of NDVI across the Arctic tundra at 250 m resolution and compared to bioclimate subzones and to structurally and compositionally defined vegetation units of the Circumpolar Arctic Vegetation Map (CAVM). Correspondence analyses of CAVM EFTs to previously delineated CAVM bioclimatic subzones, physiognomic (vegetation) units and floristic provinces indicated convergence across composition, structure, and function; yet also demonstrated substantial functional variability even within bioclimate subzones and vegetation units. Strong latitudinal gradients in ecosystem function are present, with EFT richness ranging from low (34) in northernmost regions to high (45) in southernmost regions. Locally, the mountainous regions of northern Alaska, and eastern and western Siberia had high spatial variability in ecosystem functioning. A case study of the Yamal Peninsula in northwestern Siberia examined the environmental controls on ecosystem functional diversity (EFD), with hydrology and soil factors being the dominant drivers of spatial patterns in EFD. We found overall that EFTs varied widely within individual mapped vegetation units, successfully capturing the functional dimension of biodiversity across the circumpolar Arctic tundra.
Poster Presentations (during Poster Exhibit and Session on Wednesday 26 March):
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unfold_moreKitikmeot bryophyte biodiversity: filling the sampling gap — Erin Cox
Erin Cox 1; Daphnée Sansregret 2; Ian Hogg 3; Catherine La Farge 4
1 Polar Knowledge Canada, University of Alberta; 2 Université Laval; 3 Polar Knowledge Canada; 4 University of AlbertaFormat: Poster virtual
Poster number: 158
Abstract:
The Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut is in a pivotal transition zone between the boreal tree line and Low Arctic, where rapid climate related changes are occurring. This region has been historically unrepresented in plant collections in the Canadian Arctic, particularly for bryophytes. As a prominent component of the Arctic tundra, changes in bryophyte diversity and cover can have a multitude of ecosystem consequences.
Bryophyte sampling was performed on Victoria Island during the summers of 2018-2021 and elsewhere in the Kitikmeot near Kugaaruk (Pelly Bay), Uqsuqtuuq (Gjoa Haven), and Taloyoak (Spence Bay) in 2024. Floristic habitat sampling (FHS) was utilized to attempt maximum capture of species diversity within short time periods.
Collections on Victoria Island have revealed 73 new taxa previously unrecorded for the island including one undescribed species. Additional records from literature (18) and herbarium records (6) not collected in the study bring the current total for Victoria Island to 138 taxa. Despite a similar geology, there was high beta diversity among sites on Victoria Island indicating limited sharing of taxa, likely explained by microhabitat variation. The more recent sampling elsewhere in the Kitikmeot has already produced at least 20 new records of bryophytes for each community.
The fieldwork data generated begins to fill a crucial sampling gap and enhances both herbaria (Canadian High Arctic Research Station Herbarium, CHARS, Cambridge Bay, Nunavut) and genetic records (International Barcode of Life, iBOL). These records provide valuable baseline data for future studies and ongoing monitoring of climate-driven changes.
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unfold_moreState of island spruce forests after 23 years — Olga Lavrinenko
Olga Lavrinenko 1; Igor Lavrinenko 1; Ksenia Simonova 1
1 Komarov Botanical InstituteFormat: Poster virtual
Poster number: 289
Abstract:
Re-study (after 23 years) of relict (isolated from the Holocene) spruce (Picea obovata) islands in the Ortina River basin at N 67°54'-67°56' (Bolshezemelskaya tundra, Russia) was carried out. Mean tree height in watershed islands increased by 1.1-1.9 m (4.3-8.3 cm/year) and mean diameter – by 1.9-3.0 cm (0.41-0.65 mm/year), in river valley these values were higher – 2.8 m (12.2 cm/year) and 3.7 cm (0.8 mm/year). In 2000, spruce trees predominantly had "skirts" of well-developed lower branches. By 2023, the crown of the most trees has become conical with green branches all over the trunk. On all islands spruce has been spreading vegetatively by rooting lower branches and subsequently changing their growth from plagiotropic to orthotropic. As a result, the islands area has slightly increased. Despite the abundance of both male strobiles and female cones, no undergrowth or freestanding young spruce trees were found in the surroundings. This indicates the absence of reproduction by seed for 23 years. The northward advance of forests in watersheds is limited by the lack of quality seeds for sexual reproduction. Landscape photos show the "greening" of surrounding tundra communities. On watersheds, Betula pubescens subsp. tortuosa has actively introduced into tundra communities. In the river valley, the area and height of bushes of Juniperus sibirica, shrubby willows and especially Alnus fruticosa have increased. The current position of spruce sparse forests` northern boundary in the Ortina River valley recorded on the satellite image is at N 67°53ʹ and has not changed over the last 20 years.