Marine ecological processes during the polar night – what do we know and how to proceed?

UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Campus Tromsø, 19th – 20th January 2015

The extended period of Arctic darkness, known as the polar night, may limit organism survival and reproductive success because of the associated food limitation.  Even if the polar night only exist for +/-4 months, depending on latitude, Arctic marine environments may experience complete darkness for up to ten months because of extensive sea ice and snow conditions. A long overwintering period and a brief growing season are likely the main barriers for “temperate/lower latitude” species to keep sustainable populations in the Arctic. The temperate species lack the life history adaptations of high-Arctic species that allow them to cope with such extreme seasonality. However, our knowledge on winter ecology is extremely poor in comparison to ecological processes during the productive summer season. Gathering additional information on polar night ecology and processes is crucial, especially in light of expected impacts of climate change on Arctic marine ecosystems.  We therefore invite you to this Big Black Box workshop to convene an international group of experts to

1) develop one white paper summarizing existing knowledge on winter ecology in the Arctic

2) identify the most critical knowledge-gaps

3) discuss a new international initiative/program focusing on polar night ecology

Deadline for travel funding 16 December 2014

Deadline for signing up 6 January 2015

Information and invitation: PDF

Application for funding: PDF