Assessing the state of biodiversity in Arctic rivers and lakes

In 2019, CAFF published the State of the Arctic Freshwater Biodiversity Report, which provided a first circumpolar synthesis of the state of knowledge about biodiversity in Arctic freshwater ecosystems. CAFF’s Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program (CBMP) Freshwater Group assessed the current status and trends of freshwater biodiversity across the Arctic and identified key threats, knowledge gaps and advice for future monitoring. (Learn more about five freshwater biodiversity trends in the Arctic that you should know.)

Now, the group has released the scientific analyses that underlie the 2019 report in a special issue of the peer-reviewed journal Freshwater Biology. The expert team has undertaken a large international effort to compile and analyze a database of Arctic freshwater monitoring data including contemporary and historical data from more than 9000 stations across the Arctic. The result is a comprehensive compendium of 13 topical papers that address different aspects of ecological changes occurring in Arctic ponds, lakes, streams and rivers both on the regional and circumpolar level.

“Arctic freshwater systems are already highly threatened by climate change and human development, but until now we have been unable to assess these changes extensively due to a lack of coordinated monitoring. Our assessment, for example, shows that we can expect long-term shifts in the population of some key species, altered nutrient levels and changes in the overall water quality. These changes can have large implications for the biodiversity and food webs of Arctic freshwaters”, Prof. Willem Goedkopp from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and co-author of the special issue.

In addition, the special issue includes a systematic review of published Indigenous Knowledge, which adds valuable insights to assessing and conserving Arctic freshwaters further. While Indigenous Peoples possess a vast and unique knowledge of Arctic freshwater systems, the authors note that few attempts have been made to summarise existing records of this knowledge.

“This special issue represents a milestone that provides key insights to biodiversity trends and factors altering Arctic freshwater ecosystems. It will be an important resource for researchers, policy makers, as well as Indigenous Peoples and local communities, to support future assessments of ecosystem change and the conservation of these ecosystems that are extremely important for biodiversity and affect in many ways human well-being”, states CAFF Chair, Dr. Mia Rönkä.

The special issue “Ecological Change in Arctic Freshwaters” of Freshwater Biology was published in January 2022 and is freely accessible on the journal’s website: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/13652427/2022/67/1