Is alloparenting helpful for Mednyi Island arctic foxes, Alopex lagopus semenovi?

The Arctic Fox Alopex lagopus semenovi population on Mednyi Island is completely isolated and subsists largely by scavenging on seabird colonies, which have remained abundant and spatio-temporally predictable for many years. We compared population data at the beginning of 1976/1978 and some time after 1994–2005, finding an 85% decline in fox numbers due to disease, to assess the effect of population size on social structure. A total of 81 groups of known size and composition was observed during this 29-year period. Overall, helpers (usually non-lactating yearling females) occurred in 25.7% of groups, and in 32.4% of groups there were two or three lactating females. Female engagement in alloparental behaviour decreased, but not statistically significantly, after the decline in population density. Total food availability was apparently constant throughout the study period, and therefore, the amount available per individual was much higher later in the study. Both communally nursing females and helpers brought food and helped to guard the litter. However, the benefits of communal rearing were unclear. While cubs were left without guards significantly more rarely in the groups with an additional adult, the number of cubs weaned per lactating female was greater in groups with one (3.93 ± 1.60), as opposed to two or three (3.06 ± 0.92), lactating females. Survival of cubs to 1 year of age in the groups with two lactating females and/or with helpers was lower than that in the families with one lactating female without helpers (22.2% vs 32.2%). Fewer second-generation litters were born to foxes produced by composite families than to those produced by pairs. Reproductive adults producing by pairs had, on average, 1.23 (±1.72) second-generation litters. In groups that initially included additional adults, the average number of second-generation litters per reproductive female was 0.21 (±0.49) and 0.46 (±0.81) litters per male. Thus, according to three measures, increased group size had no apparent positive impact on reproductive success. The increased parental investment and enhanced guarding of the cubs in the larger families could be beneficial under conditions of high population density and a saturated biotope to which the island fox population was presumably adapted before the population crash in the late 1970s.     

铅稳定同位素在示踪环境污染中的应用

根据Pb同位素的地球化学特点,分析了Pb同位素在示踪环境污染中的理论基础.从国内外大量研究实例出发,总结了近年来Pb同位素在示踪工业Pb污染的应用现状,肯定了Pb同位素在示踪Pb工业污染中的地位和作用.结合我国首次北极考察海洋大气气溶胶铅稳定同位素的初步研究,笔者认为研究环境系统有关对象(如大气、海水、冰雪和沉积物等)的Pb同位素组成,通过其Pb同位素混合模型计算和源区参数计算,可有效示踪Pb工业污染的来源、分布和远距离传输规律.      

白令海峡及其附近海域气溶胶中金属元素含量特征

北极考察沿线气溶胶中金属元素质量浓度随纬度变化,其分别受到来自中国大陆粉尘及中国、日本、韩国、俄罗斯以及北美地区工业排放气溶胶的不同程度的影响.富集因子的计算结果表明,楚科奇海、日本海和白令海等海域元素的富集因子很接近. Fe,Co,Ni,As,Sb,W,Mo ,Mn和Ca与地表的风化关系密切,为地壳源元素;Ca,Mg总体为海洋源元素,主要来自海洋;Pb,Zn,Cd,V 和Cr相对地壳和海洋均为富集元素,主要可能来自矿产冶炼、工业排放、燃煤和燃油等人为污染源.北极楚科奇海、白令海、日本海、西太平洋、东印度洋、南大洋及我国中山站邻近海域海洋气溶胶中的微量重金属质量浓度均值对比表明,西太平洋气溶胶中的各种金属元素的平均质量浓度均远远高于其他地区.总体上看,北半球气溶胶受陆源性物质和人为污染源影响比南半球严重,其中楚科奇海较日本海和白令海严重,南半球气溶胶质量浓度则依纬度的升高而逐渐降低.气溶胶月总沉降通量具有明显的区域性,其大小排序为:西太平洋>楚科奇海>白令海和日本海>东印度洋>南大洋>中山站邻近海域.      

On the origin of elevated levels of persistent chemicals in the environment

In general, contamination levels tend to be highest close to sources of a chemical and decline with increasing distance as a result of dilution, dispersion and degradation. However, contrary to this, circumstances have been described when contamination levels are higher further away from sources than at the sources themselves. Examples are elevated levels of persistent, hydrophobic, organic chemicals in the Arctic, in mountain regions and in forest soils. In order to address the questions of why and when such an inversion of environmental levels is occurring, this paper seeks to identify, name and categorise principles of general validity leading to such behaviour. By compiling and analysing various causes of elevated contamination levels in the environment, three main categories became apparent, 1. equilibrium partitioning effects, 2. effects resulting from changes in phase composition, volume or temperature, and 3. dynamic or kinetic effects. These principles are illustrated with several examples. The case can be made that understanding, quantifying and predicting these causes could provide a general conceptual framework for studying the fate of chemicals in the environment.     

Assisted species migration and hybridization to conserve cold-adapted plants under climate change

Temperature rise due to climate change is putting many arctic and alpine plants at risk of extinction because their ability to react is outpaced by the speed of climate change. We considered assisted species migration (ASM) and hybridization as methods to conserve cold-adapted species (or the genes thereof) and to minimize the potential perturbation of ecosystems due to climate change. Assisted species migration is the deliberate movement of individuals from their current location to where the species’ ecological requirements will be matched under climate projections. Hybridization refers to crossbreeding of closely related species, where for arctic and alpine plants, 1 parent is the threatened cold-adapted and the other its reproductively compatible, warm-adapted sibling. Traditionally, hybridization is viewed as negative and leading to a loss of biodiversity, even though hybridization has increased biodiversity over geological times. Furthermore, the incorporation of warm-adapted genes into a hybrid may be the only means for the persistence of increasingly more maladapted, cold-adapted species. If approached with thorough consideration of fitness-related parameters of the source population and acknowledgement of the important role hybridization has played in shaping current biodiversity, ASM and hybridization could help save partial or whole genomes of key cold-adapted species at risk due to climate change with minimal negative effects on ecosystem functioning.     

The missing pieces for better future predictions in subarctic ecosystems: A Torneträsk case study

Arctic and subarctic ecosystems are experiencing substantial changes in hydrology, vegetation, permafrost conditions, and carbon cycling, in response to climatic change and other anthropogenic drivers, and these changes are likely to continue over this century. The total magnitude of these changes results from multiple interactions among these drivers. Field measurements can address the overall responses to different changing drivers, but are less capable of quantifying the interactions among them. Currently, a comprehensive assessment of the drivers of ecosystem changes, and the magnitude of their direct and indirect impacts on subarctic ecosystems, is missing. The Torneträsk area, in the Swedish subarctic, has an unrivalled history of environmental observation over 100 years, and is one of the most studied sites in the Arctic. In this study, we summarize and rank the drivers of ecosystem change in the Torneträsk area, and propose research priorities identified, by expert assessment, to improve predictions of ecosystem changes. The research priorities identified include understanding impacts on ecosystems brought on by altered frequency and intensity of winter warming events, evapotranspiration rates, rainfall, duration of snow cover and lake-ice, changed soil moisture, and droughts. This case study can help us understand the ongoing ecosystem changes occurring in the Torneträsk area, and contribute to improve predictions of future ecosystem changes at a larger scale. This understanding will provide the basis for the future mitigation and adaptation plans needed in a changing climate.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s13280-020-01381-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

中国第四次北极科考航线上黑碳和臭氧的变化特征

利用2010年7月1日至9月20日中国第四次北极科学考察的大气成分在线观测资料,对考察航线上黑碳气溶胶(BC)、臭氧(O3)和B波段紫外辐射(UVB)的分布特征进行了分析.结果显示,这些要素总体上随纬度的增加而递减,其最大值出现在我国东部海域,最低值出现在北冰洋.进入白令海后,BC浓度变化相对平稳,白令海和北冰洋的BC平均浓度分别为15.6ng·m-3和10.5ng·m-3.白令海的平均O3体积分数比北冰洋高,分别为18.9×10-9和15.7×10-9.但在75°N以北海区O3体积分数有所升高,在80°N以北达到17.0×10-9,这一现象可能与海冰密集度和冰上光化学过程有关.UVB辐照度在中低纬地区有显著的日变化,由于在北冰洋航行期间处于极昼期,其变化幅度较小.UVB受天气影响明显,尤其是遇上气旋的阴雨天气,UVB强度较弱.     

Detecting and Coping with Disruptive Shocks in Arctic Marine Systems: A Resilience Approach to Place and People

It seems inevitable that the ongoing and rapid changes in the physical environment of the marine Arctic will push components of the region’s existing social-ecological systems—small and large—beyond tipping points and into new regimes. Ongoing changes include warming, freshening, acidification, and alterations to food web structure. In anticipation we pose three distinct but interrelated challenges: (1) to explore existing connectivities within components of the marine system; (2) to seek indicators (if they exist) of approaching regime change through observation and modeling; and (3) to build functional resilience into existing systems through adaptation-oriented policy and to have in hand transformative options when tipping points are crossed and new development trajectories are required. Each of the above challenges is scale dependent, and each requires a much deeper understanding than we currently have of connectivity within existing systems and their response to external forcing. Here, we argue from a global perspective the need to understand the Arctic’s role in an increasingly nonlinear world; then describe emerging evidence from new observations on the connectivity of processes and system components from the Canada Basin and subarctic seas surrounding northern North America; and finally posit an approach founded in “resilience thinking” to allow northern residents living in small coastal communities to participate in the observation, adaption and—if necessary—transformation of the social-ecological system with which they live.     

Photolytic degradation of methyl-parathion and fenitrothion in ice and water: Implications for cold environments

Here we investigate the photodegradation of structurally similar organophosphorus pesticides; methyl-parathion and fenitrothion in water (20 °C) and ice (−15 °C) under environmentally-relevant conditions with the aim of comparing these laboratory findings to limited field observations. Both compounds were found to be photolyzed more efficiently in ice than in aqueous solutions, with quantum yields of degradation being higher in ice than in water (fenitrothion > methyl-parathion). This rather surprising observation was attributed to the concentration effect caused by freezing the aqueous solutions. The major phototransformation products included the corresponding oxons (methyl-paraoxon and fenitroxon) and the nitrophenols (3-methyl-nitrophenol and nitrophenol) in both irradiated water and ice samples. The presence of oxons in ice following irradiation, demonstrates an additional formation mechanism of these toxicologically relevant compounds in cold environments, although further photodegradation of oxons in ice indicates that photochemistry of OPs might be an environmentally important sink in cold environments.     

Arctic Climate Tipping Points

There is widespread concern that anthropogenic global warming will trigger Arctic climate tipping points. The Arctic has a long history of natural, abrupt climate changes, which together with current observations and model projections, can help us to identify which parts of the Arctic climate system might pass future tipping points. Here the climate tipping points are defined, noting that not all of them involve bifurcations leading to irreversible change. Past abrupt climate changes in the Arctic are briefly reviewed. Then, the current behaviour of a range of Arctic systems is summarised. Looking ahead, a range of potential tipping phenomena are described. This leads to a revised and expanded list of potential Arctic climate tipping elements, whose likelihood is assessed, in terms of how much warming will be required to tip them. Finally, the available responses are considered, especially the prospects for avoiding Arctic climate tipping points.