This study was a joint campaign among Norwegian and Russian researchers . Both 24 partners were involved in preparing the study design, as well as participating in meetings, 25 fieldwork (2014 and 2015) and analyzing/reporting of collected material. We owe thanks to 26 UNIS (the University Centre in Svalbard), NPI (the Norwegian Polar Institute), the 27 Governor of Longyearbyen and all the people in Barentsburg and Pyramiden for their 28 valuable support during fieldwork. Thanks also to Olga L. Makarova who identified mites. 29The study of ecology and taxonomy of Cyclopoida (Copepoda) was supported by the 30 programme "Scientific bases for the creation of a national depository bank of living 31 Council of Norway projects; "Effect of climate change and related stressors on fresh and 36 brackish water ecosystems in Svalbard [227024]" and "The effect of nutrient input from 37 migrating birds on the succession of freshwater communities of different age in Svalbard 38 [246726]". 39 40 41 This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Polar Biology. The final authenticated version is available online at: http://dx. Abstract 42The high Arctic is in a rapid transition due to climate change, and both direct 43 effects due to warming and an extended growing season, as well as an indirect effect 44 caused by increased bird activity and density (notably geese), strongly affect ponds and 45 lakes. Our study presents the hitherto most comprehensive data on invertebrate 46 freshwater diversity at Svalbard and had three main purposes: to provide a current 47 "baseline" of community composition, to compare current species distribution and 48 occurrence with older data to identify changes that have already occurred, and finally to 49 identify how diversity and community composition are related to the age of localities. 50To address these aims we conducted a survey of freshwater invertebrates in 75 ponds and 51 lakes at Svalbard in August 2014 and 2015. We provide a full report of the species 52 inventory for zooplankton, benthos and meiofauna. We also provide data for species that 53 have likely colonized the sites over the past decades. Finally, our study also clearly 54 demonstrates a diversity gradient related to ecosystem age and/or parameters 55 confounded with age (e.g. productivity), which may hint at the rate of colonization over 56 the time span from the oldest to the youngest localities.57 58 59 This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Polar Biology. The final authenticated version is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1007/s00300-018-2340-3.Few places on the planet have witnessed a more dramatic climate change than the 61 high Arctic, and this is expected to continue for the foreseeable future (IPCC 2013). The 62 loss of sea ice, together with increasing air and water temperatures, has also caused major 63 changes on terrestrial habitats such as of the Svalbard archipelago in the North 64 Atlantic (Bhatt et al. 2010). Climatic recordings on the ...

The high Arctic, including the Svalbard archipelago in the North Atlantic, has been exposed to direct and indirect drivers of climatic change such as rising temperatures and associated changes in hydrology and nutrient fluxes. In addition, the number of migrating birds, particularly geese, increased remarkably in the Svalbard archipelago during the second half of the last century. The higher number of breeding birds potentially affects water quality and the biota in ponds and lakes. We aimed to investigate the potential influence of increasing goose abundance on trophic state, taxon richness, and species composition of freshwater communities in the high Arctic. We hypothesised that higher goose abundance affects the trophic state of shallow lakes and ponds and their taxon richness and species composition. We conducted a survey of selected ponds at Svalbard along a goose abundance gradient. We used the number of area‐specific goose droppings (range of 0–94 droppings m2) as a proxy of goose presence and measured proxies for productivity as well as taxon richness and composition of phytoplankton and invertebrate communities. Presence and abundance of geese were associated with higher productivity of ponds. Invertebrate and phytoplankton taxon richness correlated (positively) with goose abundance. Both phytoplankton and invertebrate taxon richness increased with increasing nitrogen (N) concentrations. Goose abundance significantly affected phytoplankton species composition, while concentrations of total‐N and total phosphorus (P) did not. Species composition of aquatic invertebrates was most strongly affected by goose abundance, but the effect of total‐N concentration was also significant. Increased goose abundance was associated with bird driven nutrient enrichment, increased phytoplankton and invertebrate taxon richness and changes of these biological communities. Thus, in addition to climate change, the higher abundances of large migratory water fowl in many polar areas may pose a major additional stress to arctic lakes and ponds. In fact, climate change and bird impact may interact, accelerating ongoing environmental change of arctic freshwater ecosystems.

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