This lecture has been cancelled
By invitation from the Natural History Museum, National Center for Biosystematics (NCB), Dr Steve J. Coulson of the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS) will present a lecture on the following topic:
High Arctic invertebrate biogeography, dispersal, establishment and survival: the case of Svalbard
Dr. Coulson is based in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, and works on projects ranging from surveys of Arctic invertebrates to studies of the fundamental processes shaping the Arctic biota http://www.unis.no/35_STAFF/staff_webpages/biology/steve_coulson/Coulson_personal_page.htm.
Abstract
Despite their distinctiveness, diversity, ecological importance and intrinsic interest, the invertebrate fauna of polar regions is often poorly understood. This is particularly true of the Svalbard archipelago where the fauna is only known in any detail from two locations, Isfjord and Kongsfjord. This remains an important gap in our knowledge, especially for a region with 65% of the land mass under environmental protection, either as nature reserve or national park.
Terrestrial ecology in Svalbard is a relatively new science. Records commence in the middle of the 19th century but it is since the establishment of the Ny-Ålesund research station that there has been a rapid growth in the number of published studies. Despite paucity of data, the known terrestrial invertebrate fauna of Svalbard consists of some 1,200 recorded species, including over 250 species of insect and circa 150 species of spiders and mites. This diverse fauna is considered to have established relatively recently, few, if any species, are thought to have survived the last glacial maxima in situ.
Inter-annual environmental variability in Svalbard is considerable. Warm summers may be closely followed by cooler years. Winter ground surface icing associated with brief periods of positive winter temperatures may be catastrophic for the soil fauna as well as the reindeer. Moreover, the Arctic is undergoing a period of rapid environmental change. The 2007 IPCC report highlights the Arctic as being particularly sensitive to climate change due in part to the greater than global average projected temperature rise. Climate models suggest an increased frequency of surface icing and freeze-thaw events. Precipitation, largely as snow, is also expected to increase. Such changes, by altering soil temperatures and modulating the length of the growing season, can precisely determine the distribution of some invertebrate species.
Set against this background the aim of the current projects at UNIS are first to assess the current invertebrate biodiversity and to better understand key factors which enable invertebrates to colonize Arctic regions, in particular remote island groups such as Svalbard. For example, 1) obtain a more complete description of the invertebrate fauna of Svalbard, 2) how colonization of the Arctic occurred, 3) which are the main dispersal pathways for Arctic invertebrates, 4) what is population interconnectivity at both local and geographic scale, 5) which adaptations or pre-adaptations enable species to colonize the Arctic and 6) how robust is the current invertebrate fauna to current climate change scenarios?
This talk aims to, a) provide a flavour of the invertebrate projects at UNIS, now and in the future and, b) present the Department of Arctic Biology.
Arne Bjørlykke
Museumsdirektør
Christian Brochmann
Senterleder