Freshwater diversity in Svalbard: providing baseline data for ecosystems in change

Abstract

This study was a joint campaign among Norwegian and Russian researchers . Both 24 partners were involved in preparing the study design, as well as participating in meetings, 25 fieldwork (2014 and 2015) and analyzing/reporting of collected material. We owe thanks to 26 UNIS (the University Centre in Svalbard), NPI (the Norwegian Polar Institute), the 27 Governor of Longyearbyen and all the people in Barentsburg and Pyramiden for their 28 valuable support during fieldwork. Thanks also to Olga L. Makarova who identified mites. 29The study of ecology and taxonomy of Cyclopoida (Copepoda) was supported by the 30 programme "Scientific bases for the creation of a national depository bank of living 31 Council of Norway projects; "Effect of climate change and related stressors on fresh and 36 brackish water ecosystems in Svalbard [227024]" and "The effect of nutrient input from 37 migrating birds on the succession of freshwater communities of different age in Svalbard 38 [246726]". 39 40 41 This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Polar Biology. The final authenticated version is available online at: http://dx. Abstract 42The high Arctic is in a rapid transition due to climate change, and both direct 43 effects due to warming and an extended growing season, as well as an indirect effect 44 caused by increased bird activity and density (notably geese), strongly affect ponds and 45 lakes. Our study presents the hitherto most comprehensive data on invertebrate 46 freshwater diversity at Svalbard and had three main purposes: to provide a current 47 "baseline" of community composition, to compare current species distribution and 48 occurrence with older data to identify changes that have already occurred, and finally to 49 identify how diversity and community composition are related to the age of localities. 50To address these aims we conducted a survey of freshwater invertebrates in 75 ponds and 51 lakes at Svalbard in August 2014 and 2015. We provide a full report of the species 52 inventory for zooplankton, benthos and meiofauna. We also provide data for species that 53 have likely colonized the sites over the past decades. Finally, our study also clearly 54 demonstrates a diversity gradient related to ecosystem age and/or parameters 55 confounded with age (e.g. productivity), which may hint at the rate of colonization over 56 the time span from the oldest to the youngest localities.57 58 59 This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Polar Biology. The final authenticated version is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1007/s00300-018-2340-3.Few places on the planet have witnessed a more dramatic climate change than the 61 high Arctic, and this is expected to continue for the foreseeable future (IPCC 2013). The 62 loss of sea ice, together with increasing air and water temperatures, has also caused major 63 changes on terrestrial habitats such as of the Svalbard archipelago in the North 64 Atlantic (Bhatt et al. 2010). Climatic recordings on the ...

Zooplankton Diversity and Dispersal by Birds; Insights From Different Geographical Scales

“…Marine seabirds clearly do not serve as vectors of freshwater invertebrates, but may impact diversity negatively by reducing pH (Gonzalez-Bergonzoni et al, 2017). Also, within Svalbard a very strong local sorting is anticipated, reflected by the strikingly lower diversity in cold sites close to glaciers (Walseng et al, 2018).…”

“…The cladoceran Macrothrix hirsuticornis has a holarctic distribution on the northern hemisphere. It is also one of the most common microcrustaceans on Svalbard (Walseng et al, 2018). However, on the Norwegian mainland the species is almost entirely limited to the area between 67,5 and 69,6 northern latitude, except for one record 150 km further south (66,2 N).…”

“…A recent survey of the freshwater invertebrate fauna on Svalbard (Walseng et al, 2018), demonstrated that some microcrustaceans had expanded their distributions. Additionally, a number of new species was recorded on the archipelago (Dimante-Deimantovica et al, 2018).…”

New and previously known species of Copepoda and Cladocera (Crustacea) from Svalbard, Norway – who are they and where do they come from?

“…In this paper we focus on records of new species for Svalbard, the complete species list of the study is included in Table 4 (cf. Walseng et al 2018).…”

“…Geeopsis incisipes (Klie, 1913) Lilljeborg (1900a, b), Ekman (1904), Brehm (1917), Olofsson (1917, 1918), Thor (1930, Bertram (1933), Amren (1964a, b), Halvorsen & Gullestad (1976), Husman et al (1978), , Meijering & Jacobi (1981), Jørgensen & Eie (1993), Sywula et al (1994), Spitzenberger (1996), Coulson (2007), Skaugrud (2009), Zawisza & Szeroczyńska (2011), Coulson & Refseth (2004), Novichkova & Azovsky (2016), Walseng et al (2018).…”