Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

Trends of Old and Emerging Organic Contaminants in the Antarctic and Arctic Ecosystems: a bipolar and circumpolar approach  (COntaminants in Polar Ecosystems (COPE))

Outline
Rationale Contaminants have been detected both in the Antarctic Ecosystem (AAE) and in the Arctic Ecosystem (AE). It has been illustrated that in polar regions, concentrations of more or less volatile contaminants may be elevated due to the cold-condenser effect. Global warming may enhance this effect. Hence, it is likely that contaminants, like organochlorines, may pose a risk to organisms in polar regions. For the AE this has been shown, see for instance the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP), in which some partners of the current consortium participate. For an assessment of the extent of contamination in the polar regions, and associated risks, information is needed on levels in biota, combined with spatial and temporal trends. Integrated bipolar research, using similar methods, will be highly beneficial to both regions. The AAE has very little anthropogenic influence and may therefor act as reference for the AE, while for the Arctic region more toxicity data is available, which may be extrapolated to the Antarctic region. Goals The main goal is to determine risks that contaminants pose to polar regions. This is focussed on differences between regions (AE and AAE) as well as variation within regions. Critical species and food webs will be identified in combination with contaminants of high concern, including new emerging compounds. Furthermore, effects of global climate change on contaminant accumulation in polar regions will be addressed (global distillation effect). To reach these goals, different aims have been proposed. 1) Trends between and within AAE and AE For the AAE this will be the first opportunity to apply a circumpolar sampling scheme. Within the AE, data are available to address spatial trends (see AMAP), the current project will be used to fill in existing gaps. Within the project similar techniques (species, samples types etc.) will be applied in the AE and AAE, which allows a proper comparison between polar regions. 2) Emerging contaminants New chemicals are being released into the environment. To assess the potential for chemicals to accumulate in the AAE and AE, a full spectrum scan of organic contaminants will be performed including brominated flame retardants, perfluor-contaminants and other emerging contaminants of concern. 3) Food web transfer Higher animals are exposed through food uptake, so it is essential to assess the potential of bioaccumulation via food web transfer. For the AE more insight is available in this topic (including modelling), and bipolar research will enable to extrapolate this to the AAE.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
Theme 1. The project is aimed to determine the current contamination status in polar regions, and thus determine an interaction of human society (source) with these polar regions (sink). Theme 2. The project is focussed at the process of accumulation of contaminants in polar ecosystems. This may enable us to project the current status, on future scenarios on how release of contaminants in human occupied areas may affect the contamination status of polar regions. Theme 3. Contamination of polar regions directly relates these regions with the rest of the globe, and thus the project is directly focussed on interactions between polar regions and human society.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
Since it is a bipolar project the project will be conducted at a super-national level. Currently partners from Canada, Norway, USA, Australia, Italy and The Netherlands are involved.

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
Antarctic ecosystem Antarctic Peninsula: Palmer Station surroundings Antarctica: Davis Station, Hop Island (Rauer Island group, (Ingrid Christensen coast) Antarctica: McMurdo Sound surroundings) Antarctica: Terra Nova station Antarctica: Troll Station (Dronning Mauds Land) Arctic Ecosystem European Arctic: Svalbard Archipelago and surrounding seas Canadian Arctic : Lancaster Sound and Hudson Bay.

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: Summer 2007            
Antarctic: Austral summer 2007/2008            

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
Research vessels for transport to AE and AAE, helicopters for transport to specific locations/colonies, research vessels for biota sampling. This will be addressed in the proposals for the national agencies, and will be optimised and shared with other research projects. Chemical analyses will be performed in ‘at home’ laboratories.

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
No infrastructure is envisaged.

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

Logistics will need to be arranged through the national operators and through the national funding agencies. At this stage it is not feasible to identify the required specifically at national level. This will be addressed in the appropriate proposals, and will be optimised and shared with other research projects.

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
Yes, it has been endorsed by the Dutch National IPY committee.

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?
New

A consortium that is experienced in polar regions will conduct the project. Although data of ongoing activities may be available to the project, it involves new activities. Some partners are also active in the AMAP initiative and as such experience and information from that Programme is available to the consortium.

How will the project be organised and managed?
The consortium consists of experienced researchers, well renown in their field. During the phase of proposal development the leadpartner of the EoI will oversee that each national project meets the objectives of the EoI. At the start of the project a kick-off meeting will be organised at which the scientific and practical ambitions are addressed. Each partner will be responsible for the realisation of his or her own project. At the end of the project a meeting will be organised by the lead partner at which the integration of the total research effort of the consortium will be addressed.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
Education: it is envisaged to include universities (for instance Univ. Centre Svalbard, Wageningen University) Outreach: Focus will be placed on outreach to local Inuit communities in the Arctic region. Decision-makers will be targeted (Stockholm convention, REACH-EU). This will be finalised in the full proposal, in co-operation with the IPY EOC-subcommittee.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
In general data will be open to the public after finalising the project. The individual partners will manage data of the sub-projects, but these data will also be available to all other partners. The Lead Partner will be responsible for the integration of the data for the umbrella project.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
Each sub-project will need to seek funding by the national programmes. This will need to go trough the designated proposal routines. If funding of one partner may fail, it is envisaged that, when possible, samples may be collected, within ongoing project, while the analyses will be conducted by another partner.

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
There is only room for 6 partners, but this constortium includes 7 partners. Name 7 Dr. Martine. van den Heuvel-Greve Organisation National Institute for coastal and marine management/RIKZ, Middelburg, The Netherlands.

PROPOSER DETAILS

Dr Nico Van den Brink
Alterra, Wageningen UR
Box 47
Wageningen
NL-6700AA
Netherlands

Tel: +31-317-477872
Mobile: no
Fax: +31-317-424988
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation