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Arthropod Resurvey (2000-2026) along a receding Arctic Glacier foreland (GLAC-ART)
Call year: 2026
Status: active
IADC_id: 828
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Project description:
Over the last two decades, the Arctic has warmed at more than twice the global average, leading to profound ecological and cryospheric changes. Arthropods, despite representing a fundamental structural and functional component of glacial and proglacial ecosystems, remain critically understudied in the context of rapid climate change. By resampling a previously surveyed glacier foreland (Midtre Lovénbreen foreland surveyed in 2000), the GLAC-ART project aims to quantify changes in species composition over space and time, and to assess how the ongoing climatic change influences biodiversity persistence and turnover. The project develops into two main objectives: 1) conduct the first temporal comparison of arthropod community changes along the Midtre Lovénbreen foreland in response to climate change. This will be achieved by comparing data from a previous survey conducted in 2000 with new samples collected during the 2026 field campaign proposed here. 2) Perform the first cross-latitudinal comparison of biodiversity changes between the high-Arctic environments of Svalbard and the mid-latitude regions of the European Alps. All data will be collected using standardized, replicable protocols to ensure comparability with the 2000 reference survey and cross-latitudinal datasets from the Alps. Eight plots along the Midtre Lovénbreen foreland will host 18 pitfall traps each to capture common and rare species. Traps will be checked regularly over the 15-day campaign. At each plot one soil sample of about 1 kg will be collected for physical and chemical analyses. Each specimen and soil sample will be georeferenced, with metadata including environmental variables, sampling effort, and methodological details. GLAC-ART outcomes are expected to produce high-impact scientific publications, as this project will be the first to provide both a temporal assessment of arthropod responses to glacier retreat in the high Arctic and a cross-latitudinal comparison of biodiversity dynamics under climate change. Results will be shared through open access publications, including authorship for all the participants involved, and presented at national and international conferences. All data will be deposited in public repositories, and the collected specimens stored at the MUSE - Science Museum of Trento (Trento, Italy) ensuring long-term accessibility for the scientific community.
National/International Cooperation:
Several institutions will participate in the GLAC-ART project. Specifically, the University of Milan (UNIMI, Italy) will collaborate with the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS, Svalbard), the MUSE-Science Museum of Trento (MUSE, Italy), and the University of Turin (UNITO, Italy).
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