E-book Addressing the Arctic Science Process (E&P)

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1 Steering Group: Chair: Terry Callaghan Vice-Chairs: Benjamin Vinegla, Warwick. F. Vincent Torben Christense Membership: Potentially: 2 per country. Currently: 16 countries, 24 members

2 Geographic Scope Principal area: Lands and fresh water within the area north of the latitudinal treeline with arctic climate and arctic vegetation. Several adjacent areas where highly relevant for certain disciplines and projects: boreal oceanic tundra (e.g. the Aleutian Islands, North Atlantic islands), alpine tundra that is continuous with the arctic tundra (e.g. the central highlands of Iceland, the Scandes Mountains, the Polar Urals), the forest tundra, and drainage basins to the south that connect with freshwater and marine areas of the Arctic.

3 Recent Activities Miniconference on Interactions between sea ice, near coastal processes Mini Conference: Nuuk, Greenland, Sep 2011 OUTCOMES: Publcation that incorporates an integrated view of arctic carbon cycling, with an emphasis on connections and trends with the marine environment that previously have been overlooked or underexposed. Joint conference on Understanding biodiversity changes and causes Workshop, Hvalsø, Denmark, Oct 2011 OUTCOMES: Identification of synergies and potential areas of collaboration between Arctic experts in terrestrial biodiversity research and monitoring Microbial genomics of the arctic cryosphere: Early career support. Conference, Dublin, Ireland, Oct 2011, OUTCOMES: Thematic virtual poster session in cooperation with APECS.

4 Examples of IASC-Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Programme (CBMP) collaborative activities Hvalsø, Denmark: Oct Joint CBMP-IASC-InterAct Meeeting. Collaboration on international monitoring networks. InterAct is outgrowth of ScanNet (Swedish, T. Callaghan). Workshop report coming. Circumboreal Vegetation Map (CBVM): Endorsement and help with coordination of international workshops. International Arctic Vegetation Database (CAFF Concept paper): Endorsement and international workshops to design and implement the plan. -- Both example of circumpolar database efforts.

5 Next Steps Biodiversity: Action plan for research on the factors that shape biodiversity in the Arctic: a draft proposal on invasive species is already in preparation. Facilitate building capacity for species identification, for making a biodiversity inventory and an improved biodiversity monitoring program. Trace Gas Fluxes: Action plan to improve the measurement and monitoring of greenhouse gas emissions and other feedbacks to climate Focus initially on the lability of carbon in arctic soils and permafrost to give input to the IPA carbon mapping project Understading of landscapes in rapid transition:

6 International Arctic Vegetation Database High-spatial-resolution Arctic-wide models require Pan Arctic databases International Arctic terrestrial policy issues require international databases to address them. These needs are not met by national agencies. Arctic-wide approaches to mapping, data management, and information systems for land areas are needed. Circumboreal Vegetation Map (CBVM) An International Arctic Vegetation Database a foundation for Panarctic biodiversity studies CAFF Strategy Series Report No. Concept Paper

7 Russian logistics: Possible IASC connections Help in addressing: Language communication barriers. Invitations and visas. Permits: Up to seven different permits were required for some areas. Camp and research logistics. Better approach to deal with transferring money to Russian institutions for logistic costs. Possible solutions: Russian counterpart to CH2MHill for helping with logistics in Russia. The organization needs to be able to work across agencies in U.S. and Russia. Encourage young U.S. Arctic scientists to learn Russian.