9
January 2009 - By Jens C Pedersen - With
effect from 1 January 2009 the National
Environmental Research Institute (NERI),
Aarhus University is taking over the coordination
of the climate change effects monitoring
programs in Zackenberg in Northeast Greenland
and in Nuuk in West Greenland from Danish
Polar Centre under the Danish Agency for
Science, Technology and Innovation. At the
same occasion also the scientific management
of the Zackenberg Research Station and the
Polar Centre's Logistics Department is transferred
to NERI. The restructuring of will strengthen
the coordination of monitoring and research
related to climate change effects in Greenland.
The monitoring programs
will be carried out in collaboration between
NERI, the University of Copenhagen and the
Greenlandic research institutes, the Greenland
Institute of Natural Resources and Asiaq.
The programs are implemented with support
from the Danish Ministry of Climate and
Energy, the Danish Ministry of the Environment,
the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology
and Innovation as well as the Greenland
Home Rule. Further, NERI will in the future
be advising the Danish Agency for Science,
Technology and Innovation with regard to
logistics issues in relating to research
projects in Greenland.
Stronger collaboration
The Director of Research
in Department of Arctic Environment at NERI
Jesper Madsen sees good prospects in the
new tasks:
'The perspective is
that we achieve even closer coordination
of the research on climate change effects
in Greenland and in the Arctic as a whole.
At the same time we are strengthening opportunities
for national and not least international
cooperation. Finally, we see a good potential
in relation to collaboration with the forthcoming
climate centre in Greenland'.
Two members of staff
from the Danish Polar Centre, Scientific
Coordinator Morten Rasch and Logistics Coordinator
Jørgen Skafte have been transferred
to NERI. Morten Rasch is responsible for
the scientific management of the Zackenberg
Research Station as well as the scientific
coordination of the programs Nuuk Basic
and Zackenberg Basic. Jørgen Skafte
takes care of logistical advice and other
logistical tasks around Zackenberg as well
as in other remote Arctic areas - including
especially northern Greenland and the Polar
Sea. Additionally, a vacancy is currently
posted at NERI for one more Logistics Coordinator
to be functioning as Logistics Leader of
Zackenberg Research Station.
Started from scratch
When anthropogenic climate
change became the focus of public attention
during the 1980s there was a group of researchers
who took the initiative to establish a research
station in Northeast Greenland's national
park. The Danish Polar Centre took up the
idea and made a research station to one
of its main target areas. Zackenberg, close
to the Sirius Dogsledge Patrol in Daneborg,
was chosen as the best location and in 1995
researchers started the systematic collection
of knowledge on nature and animal life in
Northeast Greenland. With support from especially
the Commission for Scientific Research in
Greenland, the Danish Ministry of the Environment,
Greenland Home Rule, University of Copenhagen,
National Environmental Research Institute
(NERI) and Asiaq the work has now been going
on for more than ten years.
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While nature and animal
life have been followed for many years in
the populated West Greenland, scientists
knew very little about variations from year
to year in nature and animal life in Northwest
Greenland before the establishment of Zackenberg
research Station.
They moreover were not
familiar with the effects of the more long-term
climate variations that have always taken
place and in the future are expected to
increase due to the human-induced climate
change.
International attention
The number of researchers
residing at the Zackenberg field station
varies, but usually 30-40 researchers contribute
to the research and monitoring during the
course of a season.
Each year the scientists
monitor more than 1,500 parameters in the
High Arctic ecosystem, i.e. everything from
discharge and sediment transport in rivers
to the flowering of plants, egg laying periods
of birds and calving of the musk ox. On
top of this a wide range of more in-depth
research projects are carried through.
Results of the first
ten years' work have been published in the
book, 'Changing Climate - Ten Years of Monitoring
and Research at Zackenberg Research Station,
Northeast Greenland', which has been published
in English by Academic Press. Among the
results, two pieces of work should be highlighted
that have especially awoken international
interest. One of the first results of the
monitoring showed that spring in Zackenberg
has advanced by up to one month during the
last approximately ten years. This was published
one year ago in the recognized journal Current
Biology and the news circulated in the world's
press. Another important result, just published,
in Nature, is that the onset of the freeze
in late autumn months squeezes enormous
amounts of the greenhouse gas methane out
of the tundra around Zackenberg.
Dissemination
NERI tells more about
what goes on at Zackenberg in a leaflet
which has published both in Danish and in
Greenlandic. Here details are given of the
most important results and about what can
happen to the natural environment in the
world's largest national park in response
to the expected climate changes - which
are considered likely to be especially severe
in Northeast Greenland. The Greenlandic
version of the leaflet has been distributed
to all municipal offices, libraries, dentists
and health centres in Greenland.
About Zackenberg
Northeast and North
Greenland together with a large part of
Greenland's icecap make up the world's largest
national park, which is as good as free
of all human habitation. The Zackenberg
Research Station is situated centrally in
Northeast Greenland and here one of the
most comprehensive and cross-disciplinary
research programs in the Arctic is coordinated
by the National Environmental Research Institute,
Aarhus University, with the cooperation
of the University of Copenhagen and the
Greenlandic research institutes, Asiaq and
the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources.
The major part of the
more than ten years' work at Zackenberg
has been financed by the Danish Ministry
of the Environment (until 2008), the Danish
Climate and Energy Ministry, and the Danish
Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation
with important contributions from the Greenland
Home Rule and the Aage V Jensen Charity
Foundation.
Kobbefjord
Based on the success
at Zackenberg, the partners involved decided
to establish a corresponding monitoring
programme in The Low Arctic. The study area
is situated in Kobbefjord, approx. 20 km
from Nuuk. The Nuuk Basis program is coordinated
with the monitoring program at Zackenberg,
and was established in 2007 with full implementation
in 2008.
Further information:
Director of Research Department, Jesper
Madsen
Greenland Ecosystem
Monitoring (website for the monitoring taking
place in Zackenberg and Nuuk)
Forskningsstation Zackenberg
- Siriuspatruljens mindre kendte nabo' (DMUNyt
April 2008)
'Klimaændringerne
vil medføre store forandringer i
Nordøstgrønlands natur' (DMUNyt
April 2008. Presentation of the book: High-Arctic
Ecosystem Dynamics in a Changing Climate
- Ten years of Monitoring and Research at
Zackenberg Research Station, Northeast Greenland,
Advances in Ecological Research, Vol. 40,
Academic Press. (Summary of ten years' results
from Zackenberg)
New leaflet with results
from the research station at New leaflet
with resultats fróm the researchsstation
Zackenberg (DMUNyt Dec 2008)
'Rapid advancement of
spring in the High Arctic' (DMUNyt June
2007)
'Nye resultater øger
behovet for længere overvågning
af miljøet i Grønland ' (DMUNyt
Dec 2008, about methane release from the
tundra (in Danish)) 'Large tundra methane
burst during onset of freezing' mras@dmu.dk
Nyt hæfte om resultaterne fra forskningsstation
Zackenberg (DMUNyt dec. 2008)
+ More
Formalin pollution of
watercourses varies according to fish farm
type
7 January 2009 - Formalin
is used as a treatment to combat parasites
in aquaculture. Photo: Dansk Akvakultur
By Steen Voigt - There
are considerable differences in the degree
to which the anti-parasite treatment formalin
is broken down in various types of freshwater
aquaculture and in the final end, therefore,
in the amount of formalin released to adjacent
watercourses. This is demonstrated in a
study undertaken by the National Environmental
Research Institute, Aarhus University, in
collaboration with DTU Aqua.
The experiments, among
other things, reveal that short-term immediate
reduction of the formalin added in a traditional
flow-through fish farm with earth ponds/channels
and simple sedimentation basins is under
10 percent. This is also the case for fish
farms with concrete ponds/channels, generally
with a certain amount of recirculation and
a number of plant lagoons. However, for
fish farms with a high degree of recirculation,
biofilters, sludge cones and plant lagoons,
up to 30 per cent of the initial amount
of formalin added is removed in this way.
Therefore almost one-third of the amount
of formalin added in this type of plant
does not produce the desired anti-parasitic
effect. Furthermore, use of formalin in
these fish farms is, according to the branch
association Dansk Akvakultur, often over
three times as high per kg of fish produced,
as parasite infections are more common in
this type of plant. However, it is this
type of plant that displays the lowest release
of formalin to adjacent watercourses.
The complete set of
results are presented in the report ’Omsætning
af formalin i danske dambrug’ (in Danish).
Senior Scientist Ole
Sortkjær, tel. 8920 1468, os@dmu.dk
Omsætning af formalin
i danske dambrug. Sortkjær, O. &
Pedersen, L-F. 2008. Danmarks Miljøundersøgelser,
Aarhus Universitet 126 s. – Faglig rapport
fra DMU nr. 699.Summary | The entire report
in pdf format (kB) (both in Danish)
Related article:
Parasitbekæmpelse i dambrug mulig
med mindre mængder miljøskadelige
stoffer (in Danish)
