Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

CANADA #64: Latitudinal Sensitivity of Soil to Anthropogenic Impacts  (Latitudinal Sensitivity of Soil to Anthropogenic Impacts)

Outline
Soils form the basis of all terrestrial ecosystems. Yet, we do not know if polar soils are more or less sensitive than their temperate counterparts. As polar communities struggle to balance economic, environmental and cultural needs, there is an urgent need to characterize the sensitivity of Polar Regions to anthropogenic inputs. The purpose of this project is to evaluate the following hypothesis: H1: POLAR SOILS ARE MORE SENSITIVE TO POLLUTANTS THAN TEMPERATE SOILS. To assess the sensitivity of soils to pollutants we will use boric acid, a common reference toxicant, and diesel, a common hydrocarbon pollutant. The carbon and nitrogen cycle will be the focus of our efforts as these nutrients are critical to ecosystem sustainability. We will determine a concentration which inhibits 10 percent of carbon respiration, methane oxidation, ammonia oxidation and denitrification across a latitudinal gradient of soils. We will use substrate induced respiration to test the sensitivity of carbon cycling. Methane oxidation is a sensitive indicator of pollutant impact and given the potential of methanotrophs to mitigate methane release from the permafrost, assessing the sensitivity of these organisms to pollutants is important. Ammonia oxidation and denitrification are key elements of the nitrogen cycle and easily assessed. Soils will be collected along latitudinal transects within Canada and Australia. Three samples of seven different soil types will be sampled along a latitudinal gradient in both Canada and Australia (Table 1). The Canadian soils will be sampled along a transect commencing at Devon Island, Nunavut traveling to Churchill, Manitoba, across to Northern Saskatchewan and Alberta and ending near Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. This transect was selected to minimize logistical costs and take advantage of existing research stations in Canada. Similarly, the southern transect will begin at Casey Station in Wilkes land, pass through MacQuarie Island, Tasmania and South Australia. After assessing the sensitivity of these 42 soils, we will evaluate our second hypothesis: H2: Species richness of eukaryotes, prokaryotes and archae involved in carbon and nitrogen biogeochemical cycles decreases in polar regions. This hypothesis speaks directly to our ecotoxicological assessment and seeks to explain differences we observe along the latitudinal gradient. We will assess species richness using polymerase chain reaction and assess richness using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. Primers exist to assess the diversity of methanotrophs, nitrifiers and denitrifiers. A nested primer approach will be used to assess common and important heterotrophic groups such as actinomycetes and the proteobacter division. Eukaryotic diversity will be assessed in a similar fashion.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
This project assesses the status and change of polar ecosystems by assessing their sensitivity to anthropogenic impacts. This research has important social implications because sustainable polar development is essential to maintain the cultural and environmental legacy of northerners. This research explicitly explores the link between the polar and temperate regions by directly comparing the sensitivity of these two systems to pollutants. Finally, the creation of a Polar Soil Archive will provide a much needed legacy for Canadian polar science because such an archive does not currently exist. This archive would be of interest to individuals interested in biological processes occurring in the polar regions and will provide an easily accessible database.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
Ian Snape, Australian Antarctica Division

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
CDN Soils Geographical Locations Australian Soils Location Regosolic Cryosol (3) Nunavut/Yukon Regosolic Crysol (3) Wilkes Land Orthic Cryosol (3) Nunavut/Yukon Orthic Crysol (3) Wilkes Land Brunisolic Cryosol (3) Nunavut/Yukon Luvisol (3) MacQuarie Island Histolic Cryosol (3) Manitoba Histol (3) MacQuarie Island Podsol (3) Alberta Podsol (3) Tazmania/South Australia Luvisol (3) Saskatchewan Luvisol (3) Tazmania/South Australia Brunisol (3) Saskatchewan Brunisol (3) South Australia

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: 07/06 – 09/06      07/07 – 09/07      07/08-09/08
Antarctic: 01/07-03/07      01/08-04/08      01/09-03/09

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
The logistical requirements for the Canadian portion of this project will require fixed wing support from the Polar Continental Shelf Project to visit locations in Nunavut. The logistical requirements of the Australian portion of this project are part of the Australian Division’s long term commitment to responsible care of the Antarctic environment. It should be noted that the logistical requirements project fall within the current activities of both research groups and thus, there would not be significant additional strain associated with this project on polar logistical capabilities.

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
We will create a Polar Soil Archive. This archive will consist of space in the General Purpose building at the University of Saskatchewan. Soil samples will be collected and archival amounts of soil, 5 kg, from each site will shipped to Saskatoon and frozen at -80ºC for future researchers to use. The soils will be divided into 50 g aliquots so that future researchers can obtain samples of this soil for future use. Four -80ºC will be purchased for this express purpose. The new Centre for Northern Studies at the University of Saskatchewan will manage this archive and create a website so that researchers from around the world can contribute to it and request samples from it. In addition to this Polar Soil Archive, genetic sequences obtained from this proposal will be deposited into Genebank and any isolated organisms submitted to the American Type Culture Collection.

How is it envisaged that the required logistic support will be secured?

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
This pre-proposal has been reviewed and is being submitted by the Canadian Steering Committee (CSC). On-going discussions will integrate this pre-proposal into a larger network of related national and international initiatives. The CSC has initially sorted this pre-proposal into: Theme: Ecosystems Sub-theme: Terrestrial Processes

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

This is a new project that builds off of the existing research programs of Siciliano, Eggers and Snape. All three investigators are interested in biogeochemical cycling in the polar regions and the impact pollutants will have on these cycles.

How will the project be organised and managed?
The project’s coordinator will be Steven Siciliano who is a Northern Ecosystem Toxicology Initiative chair in the Toxicology Centre at the University of Saskatchewan. Dr. Ian Snape will coordinate the collection of Australian and Antarctic soils and Steven Siciliano will coordinate the collection of Canadian and eastern Arctic soils. Dr. Eggers will coordinate the western Arctic soil collection. Scientific objectives, protocols and objectives will be discussed and set in Year 1 (2006) at the University of Saskatchewan with a progress meeting workshop to be held at the Australian Antarctic Division in Year 3 (2008) and finally, an integration meeting to be held at a Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry annual meeting in Year 4 (2009). We acknowledge that the International Polar Year will occur only over a two year period but effective project design, data collection at two different poles, data analysis and integration will require at least a four! year period.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
At the conclusion of this project, we have developed an extensive platform on how to assess the impact on polar soil ecosystems. In years 3 and 4 of this project, we will collaborate with Nunavut College and the University of the Arctic to host an Open Learning Event in Iqualuit. This event will be coordinated by the Centre for Northern Studies at the University of Saskatchewan. Its purpose is to 1) inform northerners about the relative sensitivity of their soil environment and 2) transfer techniques used to assess these northern soils to polar land managers.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
The data collected in this project will be held by the Australian Antarctica Division’s data centre which is staffed by professional data miners. An intellectual property agreement will be developed providing all academic scientists with free and unfettered access to these data collections. In collaboration with Environment Canada and the Australian Antarctica Division, we will create a web-based interface in which the Inhibitory Concentrations for diesel and boric acid for each geographical region can be retrieved. After consultation with Aurora Research Institute, Yukon Research Institute and Nunavut Research Institute, the web-pages will be translated into at least two languages prevalent in Canada’s north such as Denee and Inutituk.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
Two post-doctoral fellow and two Ph.D. students will be required to accomplish this project. We have split the latitudinal transect into a southern and northern transect because of the high number of soils required for each transect. These 21 soils from each pole represent a significant amount of work for a single student and thus, two students are required. We would approach NSERC as well as the Australian Government for the stipends of these individuals which is estimated at, 112K per year for a four year period. Travel between the various organizations is estimated to cost approximately 70K per year for a four year period. This travel cost includes the cost of flying researchers from logistical bases in Resolute, NT to Hobart, TZ. Soil freight costs can be substantial and require a second line item in the budget. Materials and Supplies are estimated to be approximately 12K per researcher for an average of 48K per year for a four year period. In Year! 1 we will purchase a second DGGE and thermocycler to allow for higher sample throughput. The Polar Soil Archive will require four -80ºC freezers, 15K each, as well as minor renovations to the General Purpose building to limit access and provide emergency power supplies, 50K. Total $1078

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
None

PROPOSER DETAILS

Dr  S.D. Siciliano
University of Saskatchewan
Department of Soil Science, 51 Campus Drive
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
S7N 5A8
Canada

Tel: 306-966-4035
Mobile: no
Fax: 306-966-6881
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation