Extreme event impacts on terrestrial and freshwater biota in the arctic: A synthesis of knowledge and opportunities

Abstract

Extreme weather events are increasing in frequency and intensity across the Arctic, one of the planet’s most rapidly warming regions. Studies from southern latitudes have revealed that the ecological impacts of extreme events on living organisms can be severe and long-lasting, yet data and evidence from within the terrestrial Arctic biome appear underrepresented. By synthesizing a total of 48 research articles, published over the past 25 years, we highlight the occurrence of a wide variety of extreme events throughout the Arctic, with multiple and divergent impacts on local biota. Extreme event impacts were quantified using a myriad of approaches ranging from circumpolar modelling to fine-scale experimental studies. We also identified a research bias towards the quantification of impacts related to a few extreme event types in the same geographic location (e.g. rain-on-snow events in Svalbard). Moreover, research investigating extreme event impacts on the ecology of arthropods and especially freshwater biota were scant, highlighting important knowledge gaps. While current data allow for hypotheses development, many uncertainties about the long-term consequences of extreme events to Arctic ecosystems remain. To advance extreme event research in the terrestrial Arctic biome, we suggest that future studies i) objectively define what is extreme in terms of events and ecological impacts using long-term monitoring data, ii) move beyond single-impact studies and single spatial scales of observation by taking advantage of pan-Arctic science-based monitoring networks and iii) consider predictive and mechanistic modelling to estimate ecosystem-level impacts and recovery.

Development of a multi-scale monitoring programme: approaches for the Arctic and lessons learned from the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Programme 2002-2022

“…• Explore the use of technology to improve monitoring, including making use of freely available technology, best practices, and tools from others; • Consider how to further facilitate implementation of CBMP across Arctic research stations taking the impacts of extreme events into account (Van Beest et al, 2022); and • Include IK and co-production in future programme development. To effectively do so requires addressing Indigenous Peoples concerns directly and involve them in developing and conducting monitoring and assessments.…”

Long‐term phytoplankton dynamics in two High Arctic lakes (north‐east Greenland)

“…These mixotrophic species might be considered as bioindicators for ongoing environmental change in High Arctic lakes, where phosphorus is a limiting factor for most phytoplankton (Arvola et al., 2011). In the future, differences might become more obvious, as annual temperatures continue to increase (AMAP, 2021; Rantanen et al., 2022) while extreme snowfall events may occasionally disrupt these warming trends (Schmidt et al., 2019; van Beest et al., 2022).…”

Summer drought weakens land surface cooling of tundra vegetation

“…For that, we need higher temporal coverage throughout the growing season of radiometrically stable thermal imagery in combination with in situ measurements, to support future studies on how the response of vegetation to drought regulates disturbances like wildfires or permafrost thaw in the Arctic tundra. However, the logistics of field observations and drone imagery are a limiting factor for research on Arctic extreme events, with few published studies based on observational or opportunistic investigations (van Beest et al 2022). Future spaceborne TIR missions like TRISHNA, LSTM, or SBG (Gerhards et al 2019, Buffet et al 2021 with frequent revisits and higher spatial resolution could become a gamechanger in research on droughts in difficult-to-access regions.…”

“…Simultaneously, this region experienced an unusually high number of wildfires that burned approximately 170 000 ha (Talucci et al 2022). The Arctic tundra is increasingly exposed to such extreme events, yet little is known about their impacts on plant communities (Walsh et al 2020, van Beest et al 2022.…”