Towards efficient monitoring of arctic bryophyte diversity
Global climate change may lead to significant changes in the arctic tundra vegetation, as data from Rosenbergdalen from the 1980s and 2015 suggest. During SEES 2020, we will resample plots at Rosenbergdalen to extend the inference of changes in the bryophyte vegetation composition through time. New approaches to facilitate the identification of arctic bryophyte species (chemocoding and DNA metabarcoding) will be tested to speed up biodiversity assessment and vegetation monitoring. Soil and air metabarcoding will be used to infer the role of airborne diaspores and the soil diaspore bank as sources of propagules that may germinate when environmental conditions change.
Together with Michael Stech.
The changing vegetation and landscape in Rosenbergdalen
Rosenbergdalen is a valley close to Kapp Lee on the north-east side of Edgeøya. In 1977, the vegetation was intensively mapped with 131 quadrats of 1x1 m2 and a list of 72 plant species by Hester Heinemeijer. In 2015 we re-visited the site and re-mapped 34 of these quadrats and the close environment to study vegetation change. The changes in coverage and species composition were spectacular. In 2020 we want to continue mapping the vegetation at the earlier used quadrats and intensify permafrost measurements of active layer depth variation using scanning equipment and citizen science.
Together with Maarten Loonen, Wouter Rooke, René van der Wal, Mennobart van Eerden, Leo Jalink, Michael Stech, Koos de Vries, Christophe Brochard.
