Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

Biodiversity and Climate Induced Lifecycle Changes of Arctic Spiders  (B-CILCAS)

Outline
Spiders are important general predators of insects and other arthropods in all ter¬restrial ecosystems worldwide. Arctic spider biodiversity has been addressed selectively, but not yet comprehensively. Nevertheless, it has been demonstrated that the assessment of spider diversity allows to conclude on the diversity of all arthropods in a given habitat. In addition, spiders, especially lycosids (wolf spiders), are valid model organisms for the monitoring of climate change impact on arctic habitats and their microclimate. In fact, spiders adapt their lifecycle frequencies to microclimatic conditions. Since in the arctic lifecycles take up to several years, changes will almost instantly be assessable by analysis of the life stages present. Our aim is to combine an arctic-wide spider biodiversity survey and the monitoring of climate induced lifecycle changes in a set of model species at several circum-arctic locations. For the first aim, surveys will be conducted at a selected set of locations, to assess data across the arctic, partly linked to existing stations. In addition, we try to extend our resolution by including students of the whole arctic via the GLOBE project. Collected specimens will be identified by spider taxonomy experts, and characterized using molecular markers for a subset of samples, to address genetic diversity. On the long-term, dynamics of species and genetic biodiversity, shall be addressed. This will allow to estimate speed of speciation in the arctic and the time of isolation between distant populations. We will extend existing field metho¬dologies, e.g. pitfall trapping, by establishing complementary new ones, which allow direct monitoring of microclimate changes in arctic habitats. Major methodologies: (1) pitfall trap and hand collection, classic taxonomy. (2) morphometric and statistic lifecycle analysis. (3) Long term RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) based remote sensing of microchip tagged spiders in semi-closed experimental plots. (6) Microclimate measurements. (5) Manipulated test plots (artificial heating, etc.). (6) Genetic analysis of distant populations, latitudinal and longitudinal. For most activities, instant setup at several circum-arctic locations is possible. The RFID-technique will have to be tested first at one location. At a later phase, a standard¬ized setup can be implemented into a variety of circum-arctic locations. All data will be linked to microclimate data as well as general climate data and will be made available to the general public via databases and scientific publications.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
Theme 1: The current status of spider biodiversity in several arctic locations will be addressed, which has not been done comprehensibly before ; Theme 2: A first terrestrial invertebrate model for climate change impact will be established, linking the global climate change level to the microhabitat and species level, helping to understand the levels in-between. Theme 4: New ecological field methodologies will be implemented into arctic research, allowing faster and more precise data acquisition. Theme 6: Through the connection to the GLOBE programme, we try to sensitise indigenous arctic students and their social environment for the ecological interrelations of their own ambiance

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
Some of the field activities, data management and public dissemination will be coordinated with existing programmes and field stations: ARCDIV Net (contact person: Inger G. Alsos, Norway), ITEX (cp: Greg Henry, Canada), CAT-B (cp: Philip Wookey, Scottland), CBMP (cp: Mike Gill, Canada), BioBasis (cp: Toke Th. Høye & Jens J. Böcher, Denmark), Abisko Field Station (cp: Bente Jessen Graæ), Arktisk Station of Copenhagen University on Disko (cp: Rasmus Ejners). The following persons will be included in the taxonomic identification process during biodiversity assessment: Olga A. Khrulyova (Russia), Valery A. Gnelitsa (Ukraine), Sergei L. Esyunin (Russia), Holger Frick/Wolfgang Nentwig (Swiss), Theo Blick (Germany). For microclimate analysis coordination: Arkady V. Alfimov (Russia). For educational dissemination we will link to the GLOBE project (cp: Elena B. Sparrow, Alaska)

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
Ellesmere (Canada); Disko (Greenland); Zackenberg (Greenland); Wrangel Island (Russia); Kolyma River (Russia); Toolik (Alaska); Svalbard (Norway).

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: 04/07 – 09/07      04/08 – 03/09      
Antarctic: n/a

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
Existing field stations, Transportation to remote experimental stations

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
No: in order to reduce environmental impact, we will relay on existing infrastructure. Infrastructure for RFID monitoring will be removed by the end of the investigations.

How is it envisaged that the required logistic support will be secured?
Another national polar operator
National agency
Other sources of support

Depending on the location of the field stations used, various national polar operators or other operators (e.g. Parks Canada) are to be considered.

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
No - No national endorsement of IPY proposals has yet been made in Germany and most of the other participates countries. We will seek for national and international (e.g. EU) funding after IPY approval.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURE

Is the project a short-term expansion (over the IPY 2007-2008 timeframe) of an existing plan, programme or initiative or is it a new autonomous proposal?
Yes

The programme is new, but will link to existing programmes to gain from synergistic effects. We aim in establishing a long-term circum-arctic project.

How will the project be organised and managed?
The coordination infrastructure will be provided by Stuttgart University, including webspace and IT-infrastructure for online data management. The organization of field work will be done by the project participants, but the project coordinator in conjunction with the team of collaborators will ensure consistent sampling methodology and data treatment (using methodology standards and checklists). Regular international project meetings will be organized to allow close collaboration of all participants.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
Due to the link to the GLOBE programme, we will reach students of all age-ranges from several arctic regions, both with an educational curriculum on the biology of arctic spiders and their importance for arctic ecology and the opportunity to perform student field projects. The project will include several master and PhD projects at the participating institutions. The general public, both in arctic countries and in countries of participating co-workers will be informed by extensive communication efforts, like we have done it in progenitor projects.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
Data will be public domain, presented as soon as available through an internet database, which shall be linked to the CBMP

How is it proposed to fund the project?
National foundations and agencies of the countries of the collaborators as well as international funding (EU).

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
By connecting to the GLOBE initiative, we directly involve indigenous people, not only students, but hopefully also their social environment.

PROPOSER DETAILS

Dr Mikael Nickel
Stuttgart University
Biological Institute
Department of Zoology, Pfaffenwaldring 57
70569 Stuttgart
Germany

Tel: +49 711 6855084
Mobile: no
Fax: +49 711 6855096
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation