Article
Environmental Sciences
Leon Nill, Inge Grunberg, Tobias Ullmann, Matthias Gessner, Julia Boike, Patrick Hostert
Summary: This study successfully estimated the fractional cover of shrubs and other surface components in the Arctic tundra using satellite observations and synthetic training data. The results showed an increase in shrub cover and a decline in herbaceous plant and lichen cover, indicating a replacement and homogenisation of Arctic vegetation communities. The proposed method provides new opportunities for quantitatively estimating the fractional cover of tundra vegetation and advancing our understanding of shrub expansion.
REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Ruud Rijkers, Mark Dekker, Rien Aerts, James T. Weedon
Summary: Rapid warming in the Arctic could lead to increased soil decomposition rates and create a carbon-driven feedback loop, affecting future climate change. To accurately predict the role of soil microbes in this process, it is crucial to understand the temperature responses of soil bacterial communities and incorporate them into biogeochemical models. Our study evaluated the temperature adaptation of soil bacterial communities from 12 sites in the Arctic region, finding significant differences and identifying the highest daily average soil temperature as the best predictor for the optimal growth temperature (T-opt) of these communities. Incorporating this mechanism into soil biogeochemical models will help reduce uncertainty in assessing the vulnerability of soil carbon stocks in the Arctic.
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Julie Lattaud, Cindy De Jonge, Ann Pearson, Felix J. Elling, Timothy Eglinton
Summary: GDGTs are widely used for reconstructing environmental changes, with GDGT-0 potentially serving as a tracer for past methane cycle variations. Research on sediment cores from the Mackenzie River Delta suggests that GDGT-0 is produced by acetoclastic methanogens and heterotrophic Archaea, while methane oxidation appears to be dominated by bacteria.
ORGANIC GEOCHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
B. Juhls, A. Matsuoka, M. Lizotte, G. Becu, P. P. Overduin, J. El Kassar, E. Devred, D. Doxaran, J. Ferland, M. H. Forget, A. Hilborn, M. Hieronymi, E. Leymarie, J. Maury, L. Oziel, L. Tisserand, D. O. J. Anikina, M. Dillon, M. Babin
Summary: The increasing air temperatures and permafrost thaw in Arctic river watersheds are directly impacting the aquatic environment and changing the quantity and quality of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) transported into the Arctic Ocean. In this study, the strong seasonal dynamics of the Mackenzie River plume and the distribution of terrigenous DOC on the Beaufort Sea Shelf were shown for the first time using in situ and Satellite Ocean Colour Remote Sensing (SOCRS) data. The performance of different algorithms for atmospheric correction and colored dissolved organic matter retrieval were evaluated, and the established DOC-CDOM relationship allowed estimations of DOC concentrations from SOCRS.
REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Eric Lede, Tristan Pearce, Chris Furgal, Melanie Wolki, Graham Ashford, James D. Ford
Summary: This paper examines the impact of climate change on the Paulatuk community in the Arctic, emphasizing the importance of multiple stressors in climate change adaptation and the complex effects of these stresses on the community.
REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE
(2021)
Article
Microbiology
Elisse Magnuson, Nadia C. S. Mykytczuk, Andre Pellerin, Jacqueline Goordial, Susan M. Twine, Boswell Wing, Simon J. Foote, Kelly Fulton, Lyle G. Whyte
Summary: The study identified a possibly new species or subspecies Thiomicrorhabdus sp. in the gypsum springs on Axel Heiberg Island in the Canadian high Arctic. These bacteria thrive in extreme cold and high saline environments, primarily active in CO2 fixation and oxidation of sulfide. Metaproteomic and metatranscriptomic analysis revealed the sulfur isotope transformation process and showed their functions in the unique polar saline habitat.
ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Camille de la Vega, Claire Mahaffey, David J. Yurkowski, Louisa Norman, Elysia Simpson, Sophie Smout, Steven H. Ferguson, Rachel M. Jeffreys
Summary: The warming Arctic has caused borealization, leading to changes in food web structure in both high-Arctic and mid-Arctic regions. The rate of this change varies with latitude, with the high-Arctic experiencing a more recent shift compared to the mid-Arctic. This differential response to ecological changes may be due to the timing of borealization in Canadian Arctic.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Limnology
Manuel Colombo, Julie LaRoche, Dhwani Desai, Jingxuan Li, Maria T. Maldonado
Summary: Particulate Mn in the ocean has significant impacts on the cycling of trace elements and organic matter due to its adsorptive capacity and oxidation potential. In the Canadian Arctic Ocean, high concentrations of non-lithogenic particulate Mn were found in certain water masses, indicating the importance of this phenomenon in specific regions.
LIMNOLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Fisheries
Felix Tremblay-Gagnon, Sarah Brown-Vuillemin, Katherine Skanes, Hannah Polaczek, Wojciech Walkusz, Dominique Robert, David Deslauriers
Summary: The study characterizes the diet of Greenland halibut in the Labrador Sea and Davis and Hudson Straits, and examines the predator-prey relationship between this species and northern shrimp. It is found that diet composition changes with the size of the halibut, with smaller individuals mainly feeding on invertebrates and larger individuals primarily feeding on fish. The study also highlights the influence of location on feeding patterns and suggests that changes in oceanographic conditions could impact the abundance and distribution of shrimp, potentially affecting the competition and predation dynamics in the ecosystem.
JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Oliver Muller, Lena Seuthe, Bernadette Pree, Gunnar Bratbak, Aud Larsen, Maria Lund Paulsen
Summary: Seasonal changes in the Arctic lead to substantial differences in marine bacterial communities between winter and summer, influenced by both external factors such as light availability and internal biological interactions. Manipulating the microbial food web through size fractionation revealed interactions between mutualistic phytoplankton and bacteria, as well as substrate-dependent phytoplankton and Flavobacteria, impacting the community composition during different phases of the annual cycle.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Muhammed Mustapha Ibrahim, Liming Guo, Fengying Wu, Dongming Liu, Hongxue Zhang, Shuangquan Zou, Shihe Xing, Yanling Mao
Summary: Agricultural soils are a significant source of anthropogenic CO2 emissions, and finding sustainable materials to capture CO2 in these soils is crucial. This study produced biochar-based MgO and sepiolite-nanocomposites that showed potential for CO2 capture, leading to reduced CO2 emissions and increased organic carbon mineralization.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Bruno L. Gianasi, Jesica Goldsmit, Philippe Archambault, Christopher W. McKindsey, Oleksandr Holovachov, Kimberly L. Howland
Summary: Free-living marine nematodes in Arctic coastal waters were surveyed, revealing low diversity and varying composition among different ports and zones. The study also found a negative correlation between nematode abundance and sea ice duration in subtidal zones. This research provides baseline information for monitoring and taxonomic inventories in high latitude coastal areas.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Zhuangzhuang Qian, Kongxin Zhu, Shunyao Zhuang, Luozhong Tang
Summary: Successive cultivation of short-rotation eucalyptus plantations causes serious decline in soil quality in China. This study investigated the effects of different green manure species on soil nutrient cycling and bacterial communities in eucalyptus plantations. The results showed that the Pennisetum purpureum (PP) treatment had the highest soil respiration rate and increased bacterial diversity significantly. The PP treatment also increased bacterial groups associated with the nitrogen cycle, resulting in rapid nutrient turnover. Overall, PP green manure is the optimal amendment for rapid nutrient supply in degraded eucalyptus plantations over the short term.
LAND DEGRADATION & DEVELOPMENT
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Gesa Meyer, Elyn R. Humphreys, Joe R. Melton, Alex J. Cannon, Peter M. Lafleur
Summary: Climate change in the Arctic is causing shifts in vegetation communities and carbon fluxes, highlighting the importance of considering shrub plant functional types in models to accurately simulate energy and CO2 interactions. The revised model captures the impact of shrubs on energy and CO2 fluxes in Arctic tundra ecosystems, but still shows overestimation in certain areas.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Rerni Amiraux, Jean-Francois Rontani, Fabrice Armougom, Eleonore Frouin, Marcel Babin, Lise Artigue, Patricia Bonin
Summary: The study compared the diversity of bacterial communities attached to sea ice and under-ice sinking particles, finding that CTI-active bacteria exposed to hypersaline stress are attached to algal POM just above bottom sea ice and released into the water column following brine drainage. In contrast, bacteria exhibiting 10S-DOX-like lipoxygenase activity are suggested to come from the bottommost layer of sea ice, potentially detoxifying algae-produced free fatty acids.
ELEMENTA-SCIENCE OF THE ANTHROPOCENE
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ian J. W. Giesbrecht, Suzanne E. Tank, Gordon W. Frazer, Eran Hood, Santiago G. Gonzalez Arriola, David E. Butman, David D'Amore, David Hutchinson, Allison Bidlack, Ken P. Lertzman
Summary: In this study, a hydro-biogeochemical classification system was developed for watersheds draining to the coastal margin of the Northeast Pacific coastal temperate rainforest. Cluster analysis was used to group watersheds into 12 types based on watershed properties, and the classification was validated using streamflow and dissolved organic carbon measurements from rivers. The results showed that watershed types corresponded with differences in streamflow regime, mean annual runoff, DOC seasonality, and mean DOC concentration.
GLOBAL BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Scott Zolkos, Alexander V. Zhulidov, Tatiana Yu. Gurtovaya, Vyacheslav V. Gordeev, Sergey Berdnikov, Nadezhda Pavlova, Evgenia A. Kalko, Yana A. Kuklina, Danil A. Zhulidov, Lyudmila S. Kosmenko, Alexander I. Shiklomanov, Anya Suslova, Benjamin M. Geyman, Colin P. Thackray, Elsie M. Sunderland, Suzanne E. Tank, James W. McClelland, Robert G. M. Spencer, David P. Krabbenhoft, Richard Robarts, Robert M. Holmes
Summary: High levels of methylmercury accumulation in marine biota in the Arctic are a concern. Recent research on Russian rivers shows a decline in particulate mercury concentrations and suspended solids, resulting in a significant reduction in mercury export to the Arctic Ocean.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
S. Hage, V. V. Galy, M. J. B. Cartigny, C. Heerema, M. S. Heijnen, S. Acikalin, M. A. Clare, I Giesbrecht, D. R. Grocke, A. Hendry, R. G. Hilton, S. M. Hubbard, J. E. Hunt, D. G. Lintern, C. McGhee, D. R. Parsons, E. L. Pope, C. D. Stacey, E. J. Sumner, S. Tank, P. J. Talling
Summary: This study investigates the distribution and burial efficiency of organic carbon in a turbidity current system in Bute Inlet, a fjord in western Canada. The results show that about 62% of the supplied organic carbon is buried in the surface sediment of the fjord, with the sandy subenvironments containing the majority of the terrestrial organic carbon burial. in contrast, the muddy subenvironments contain the remaining portion. This study suggests that turbidity currents in fjords are efficient at storing organic carbon supplied by rivers in their near-surface deposits.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-BIOGEOSCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Kyra A. St. Pierre, Brian P. V. Hunt, Ian J. W. Giesbrecht, Suzanne E. Tank, Ken P. Lertzman, Justin Del Bel Belluz, Margot L. Hessing-Lewis, Angeleen Olson, Tyrel Froese
Summary: Coastal waters are biogeochemical hotspots globally, and the Northeast Pacific Coastal Temperate Rainforest (NPCTR) region is no exception. This study investigates the relative contributions of different ecosystems to surface ocean organic matter pools in the NPCTR, using a four-year dataset. The results show that the contributions vary seasonally and spatially, highlighting the need to consider coastal waters as integrated land-ocean meta-ecosystems.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2022)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Benjamin W. Abbott, Michael Brown, Joanna C. Carey, Jessica Ernakovich, Jennifer M. Frederick, Laodong Guo, Gustaf Hugelius, Raymond M. Lee, Michael M. Loranty, Robie Macdonald, Paul J. Mann, Susan M. Natali, David Olefeldt, Pam Pearson, Abigail Rec, Martin Robards, Verity G. Salmon, Sayedeh Sara Sayedi, Christina Schadel, Edward A. G. Schuur, Sarah Shakil, Arial J. Shogren, Jens Strauss, Suzanne E. Tank, Brett F. Thornton, Rachael Treharne, Merritt Turetsky, Carolina Voigt, Nancy Wright, Yuanhe Yang, Jay P. Zarnetske, Qiwen Zhang, Scott Zolkos
Summary: Climate change poses a threat to the global permafrost domain, and protecting permafrost ecosystems is crucial for human rights, biosphere integrity, and global climate. Strengthened emissions reduction targets and support for local communities are necessary to preserve intact ecological communities and carbon sinks within the permafrost domain.
FRONTIERS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Scott Zolkos, Suzanne E. Tank, Steven Kokelj, Robert G. Striegl, Sarah Shakil, Carolina Voigt, Oliver Sonnentag, William L. Quinton, Edward A. G. Schuur, Donatella Zona, Peter M. Lafleur, Ryan C. Sullivan, Masahito Ueyama, David Billesbach, David Cook, Elyn R. Humphreys, Philip Marsh
Summary: Intensifying permafrost thaw has significant impacts on carbon cycling, and determining the fate of carbon across diverse northern landscapes is crucial for constraining the trajectories of permafrost region ecosystem carbon balance.
GLOBAL BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES
(2022)
Review
Ecology
Jasmine E. Saros, Christopher D. Arp, Frederic Bouchard, Jerome Comte, Raoul-Marie Couture, Joshua F. Dean, Melissa Lafreniere, Sally MacIntyre, Suzanne McGowan, Milla Rautio, Clay Prater, Suzanne E. Tank, Michelle Walvoord, Kimberly P. Wickland, Dermot Antoniades, Paola Ayala-Borda, Joao Canario, Travis W. Drake, Diogo Folhas, Vaclava Hazukova, Henriikka Kivila, Yohanna Klanten, Scott Lamoureux, Isabelle Laurion, Rachel M. Pilla, Jorien E. Vonk, Scott Zolkos, Warwick F. Vincent
Summary: This article reviews the understanding of key sentinel responses to climate change in Arctic freshwater systems and provides suggestions for future research. Tracking these responses in Arctic freshwater systems can enhance our understanding of climate-driven ecosystem changes, provide early indicators of broader changes, and improve the protection of freshwater biodiversity and resources.
Article
Soil Science
Maxime Thomas, Arthur Monhonval, Catherine Hirst, Lisa Broder, Scott Zolkos, Jorien E. Vonk, Suzanne E. Tank, Kirsi H. Keskitalo, Sarah Shakil, Steven Kokelj, Jurjen van der Sluijs, Sophie Opfergelt
Summary: In northern high latitudes, rapid warming can enhance permafrost thaw and the transformation of soil organic carbon. However, a significant portion of permafrost soil organic carbon is stabilized by interactions with the soil mineral pool. Understanding mineral-organic carbon interactions is crucial for constraining permafrost-carbon-climate feedbacks.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
C. Bertin, D. Carroll, D. Menemenlis, S. Dutkiewicz, H. Zhang, A. Matsuoka, S. Tank, M. Manizza, C. E. Miller, M. Babin, A. Mangin, V. Le Fouest
Summary: Arctic warming changes the fluxes of nutrients and organic matter from land to sea, affecting air-sea carbon exchange. Using a biogeochemical model, this study examines the role of Mackenzie River discharge in modulating air-sea CO2 fluxes in the southeastern Beaufort Sea from 2000 to 2019. The discharge of six chemical constituents leads to a net CO2 outgassing of 0.13 TgC yr(-1) and a decrease in the coastal carbon sink due to riverine dissolved organic and inorganic carbon. The results indicate that the Mackenzie River influences the capacity of the southeastern Beaufort Sea to act as a sink or source of atmospheric CO2. Accurate representation of land-to-sea biogeochemical coupling is crucial for understanding the Arctic coastal ocean response to the rapidly changing environment.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Megan I. Behnke, Suzanne E. Tank, James W. McClelland, Robert M. Holmes, Negar Haghipour, Timothy I. Eglinton, Peter A. Raymond, Anya Suslova, Alexander Zhulidov, Tatiana Gurtovaya, Nikita Zimov, Sergey Zimov, Edda A. Mutter, Edwin Amos, Robert G. M. Spencer, Andrea Rinaldo
Summary: Arctic rivers are important channels for transmitting signals of change from the changing landscape to the ocean. This study reveals a previously overlooked contribution from aquatic biomass in the particulate organic matter (POM) flux. It also suggests that climate change-induced warming and increasing CO2 concentrations could enhance soil destabilization and aquatic biomass production, leading to increased POM fluxes to the ocean.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
G. McNicol, E. Hood, D. E. Butman, S. E. Tank, I. J. W. Giesbrecht, W. Floyd, D. D'Amore, J. B. Fellman, A. Cebulski, A. Lally, H. McSorley, S. G. Gonzalez Arriola
Summary: The rivers in the northeast Pacific Coastal Temperate Rainforest export 3.5 Tg-C yr(-1) of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) to the ocean. Over 56% of this DOC flux comes from small coastal watersheds, which make up only 22% of the total drainage basin. The average DOC yield from these coastal watersheds is roughly three times higher than that from tropical regions worldwide. These findings suggest that the export of DOC from these watersheds plays a significant role in regional-scale heterotrophy within near-shore marine ecosystems in the northeast Pacific.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
J. Blake Clark, Antonio Mannino, Robert G. M. Spencer, Suzanne E. Tank, James W. Mcclelland
Summary: Long-term increases in Arctic river discharge have been observed, and there are positive correlations between dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration, river discharge, and chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) content in the largest Arctic rivers. The study estimated chromophoric DOC (CDOC) concentrations in six Arctic rivers using data collected from 2009 to 2019. The modeled results showed an increase in DOC and CDOC exports, with CDOC increasing at a faster rate than total DOC.
GLOBAL BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Suzanne E. Tank, James W. McClelland, Robert G. M. Spencer, Alexander I. Shiklomanov, Anya Suslova, Florentina Moatar, Rainer M. W. Amon, Lee W. Cooper, Greg Elias, Vyacheslav V. Gordeev, Christopher Guay, Tatiana Yu. Gurtovaya, Lyudmila S. Kosmenko, Edda A. Mutter, Bruce J. Peterson, Bernhard Peucker-Ehrenbrink, Peter A. Raymond, Paul F. Schuster, Lindsay Scott, Robin Staples, Robert G. Striegl, Mikhail Tretiakov, Alexander V. Zhulidov, Nikita Zimov, Sergey Zimov, Robert M. Holmes
Summary: Rivers are sensitive indicators of watershed changes and regulate ecosystem function across the land-ocean continuum. A study on major Arctic rivers found that alkalinity and associated ion fluxes to the ocean increased significantly, while nitrate and other inorganic nutrient fluxes declined. Dissolved organic carbon fluxes showed no overall trend. This indicates disturbance of multiple land processes, with implications for coastal ocean biogeochemical cycling.
Article
Environmental Sciences
L. M. Thompson, M. Low, R. Shewan, C. Schulze, M. Simba, O. Sonnentag, S. E. Tank, D. Olefeldt
Summary: Climate change and permafrost thaw can affect the mobilization of terrestrial dissolved organic carbon (DOC), mercury (Hg), and neurotoxic methylmercury (MeHg) into aquatic ecosystems. The study found that the peatland catchment had higher concentrations of DOC and dissolved MeHg, but lower concentrations of total Hg compared to the mixed catchment. In the mixed catchment, analyte concentrations increased with discharge, while in the peatland catchment, they were not primarily associated with discharge. The study also suggests that climate change may enhance the production and transport of MeHg in boreal-Arctic catchments, especially during warmer periods.
WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ryan H. S. Hutchins, Suzanne E. Tank, David Olefeldt, William L. Quinton, Christopher Spence, Nicole Dion, Samson G. Mengistu
Summary: Wildfires in northern regions are causing changes in water quality, but the effects are relatively small compared to other factors such as climate and watershed characteristics. Variability in stream water chemistry is driven by watershed-specific properties, overshadowing the influence of wildfires. Future impacts on streams are likely more substantially driven by climate change and altered hydrology than increasing wildfire frequency.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-BIOGEOSCIENCES
(2023)