Science and earth science

Polish Polar Research

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Polish Polar Research | Accepted articles

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Abstract

This study aims to clarify the fundamental arguments underlying Turkish motivation regarding the Antarctic Continent. The article asserts that Türkiye's motivation is grounded in its scientific endeavors, aligned with the principles of the Antarctic Treaty. Study suggests that, upon achieving the status of a Consultative Party, Türkiye, acknowledged as a regional actor, has gained heightened attention for its objectives in Antarctica and its increasing efforts in this domain, particularly over the past decade. The article proposes that if Türkiye, driven by its scientific pursuits in harmony with the ethos of the Antarctic Treaty, attains Consultative Party status alongside its growing influence, it could potentially make substantial contributions to strengthen and perpetuate the Antarctic Treaty System in line with its current understanding.
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Authors and Affiliations

Ferhat Kökyay
1
ORCID: ORCID
M. Hakan Keskin
2
ORCID: ORCID

  1. Nişantaşı University, Maslak Mahallesi, Taşyoncası Sokak, No: 1V ve No:1Y, 34398 Sarıyer, İstanbul, Türkiye
  2. Kent University, Merkez, Cendere Cad. No:24, 34406 Kâğıthane/İstanbulİstanbul, Türkiye
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Abstract

Tourism in Spitsbergen has become the largest employer and most rapidly growing sector, taking over from coal mining. Longyearbyen is a small urban center but it is the central hub where most tourism passes through. The goal of this study is to present the post-COVID behavior of tourists in Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen. Based on a sample of 256 international tourists who visited Longyearbyen in 2022, it was noted that the post-COVID tourists consciously chose this place guided by uniqueness of its nature. The respondents expressed their intention to travel, but factors related to safety and security appeared as key drivers affecting their travel decisions. Protected areas and nature-based tourism are the preferred destinations to visit after the COVID-19. This industry is an important basis for settlement and the number of tourists after COVID-19 is increasing. The study area is particularly vulnerable to environmental threats, the sources and causes of which are often connected with tourism. The presented results are a basis for discussions on the effective environmental tourism policy after COVID-19.
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Authors and Affiliations

Magdalena Kugiejko
1
ORCID: ORCID

  1. Adam Mickiewicz University, Chair of Tourism and Recreation, Bogumila Krygowskiego 10, 61-680 Poznan, Poland
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Abstract

Studies on the diversity and catabolic functionality of fungi in Arctic soils are still scarce. This knowledge gap needs to be urgently addressed, as global warming may have unpredictable effects on cold-adapted fungal species. We isolated two yeast species of the family Filobasidiaceae: Goffeauzyma gilvescens and Naganishia albidosimilis, from soil in central Spitsbergen (Svalbard) and characterised their metabolic properties at two temperatures, 4°C and 20°C, in a laboratory test using Biolog® FF plates. The results of the Biolog® test, which followed the molecular identification of the strains, confirmed that the two species differed in their functional (catabolic) characteristics. The effect of temperature was also highly significant and the metabolic characteristics of two species varied between the two temperatures tested. As expected, among other chemical guilds of substrates on Biolog® plates, carbohydrates were the most used and also the most segregating of the strains studied, especially at 20°C. However, the relative use of almost all substrate groups changed between the two temperatures for both species tested, indicating that temperature can also affect soil microorganisms indirectly by altering their metabolic pathways. As soil microorganisms form a complex trophic and non-trophic network, such changes in metabolism under increasing temperature may also alter relationships between species and between species and the environment. Our study contributes to a better understanding of the microbial ecology of the unique ecosystem of polar soils.
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Authors and Affiliations

Beata Klimek
1
ORCID: ORCID
Przemysław Ryszka
1
ORCID: ORCID
Piotr Zieliński
1
ORCID: ORCID
Federica Carlea
2
ORCID: ORCID
Katarzyna Wojczulanis-Jakubas
3
Dominika Wloch-Salamon
1
ORCID: ORCID

  1. Faculty of Biology, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Kraków, Poland
  2. Université Côte d’Azur, CNRS, INSERM, IRCAN, 06107 Nice Cedex 2, France
  3. Faculty of Biology, University of Gdańsk, Wita Stwosza 59, 80-308 Gdańsk, Poland
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Abstract

The European Arctic, which includes the Svalbard archipelago, is situated in one of the areas showing most notable changes due to global warming and associated cascade events and processes. The main driving factor, temperature rise, is continuing to cause a large-scale overall decline in ice, from glacier retreating, less coastal land-fast ice to thinning and shrinking of open-sea pack ice. This, together with increased inflow of Atlantic waters, is causing profound changes in the local fauna, food web and biodiversity. In parallel, changes in landscape are also notable, mainly due to increasing coastal erosion and glacial melt. Over the past decades, both the traditional hunting-trapping lifestyle and mining have declined almost to the point of non-existence. At the same time, destination tourism and scientific research have become the major industries, both associated with an increase in the size of the main settlement of Longyearbyen, and thus also service jobs and local administration. Along with the shrinking of the glaciated Arctic landscape, the archipelago exemplifies the broadest level of nature protection in Europe. Strict environmental regulations that restrict and even prohibit human activities in large areas contribute to Svalbard being one of the best formally protected wilderness environments in the entire Arctic. Thus, as Svalbard marine ecosystems continue to change, they also are becoming more accessible to humans, and so also anthropogenic pressures are both changing and increasing in extent. We provide a compilation of both ecosystem components and human activities, together with indications of how these are, in parallel, changing. This forms the basis for future ecosystem and societal valuation assessments.
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Authors and Affiliations

Jan Marcin Węsławski
1
ORCID: ORCID
Jacek Urbański
1
ORCID: ORCID
Joanna Piwowarczyk
1
ORCID: ORCID
Sabine K.J. Cochrane
2
ORCID: ORCID
Janne Søreide
3
ORCID: ORCID

  1. Institute of Oceanology PAN, Powstanców Warszawy 55 Sopot, 81-712, Poland
  2. Akvaplan-niva, Hjalmar Johansens gate 14, Tromsø, Polarcenter 9007. Norway
  3. University Studies on Svalbard, Longyearbyen, 9170, Norway
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Abstract

The glacier environment exhibits a high sensitivity to global climate change, leading to progressive deglaciation and the exposure of previously ice-covered land. The newly exposed terrain provides a valuable opportunity to observe rapid ecosystem changes, such as the accumulation of glacial sediments, the development of soil-forming and progressive alterations in water and biogeochemical cycles. While developing hydrological and hydrogeological models for the Werenskioldbreen proglacial expanding zone, we encountered a significant problem due to insufficient data for parameterizing glacial sediments, which constitute the environment for water flow and storage. This study provides detailed insight into the physicochemical parameters of glacial sediments and classifies them in terms of grain size distribution, hydraulic conductivity, pH and the content of carbon (Corg), nitrogen (Nt) and phosphorus (Pt). We found that the marginal outwash plains of Werenskioldbreen are characterised by gravelly sand, sandy gravel and silty sand (28.6%, 23.8% and 19% of the total sample contents, respectively). The lateral moraine contains sandy clayey silt, silty sandy gravel or sandy gravelly silt (7.1%, 4.8% and 2.4 % of the total sample contents, respectively). The chemical parameters of young glaciofluvial sediments have lower values than those of moraines. Corg ranged from 0.07% to 2.70%. Nt was < 1.00 g kg−1 for 95% of the samples and < 0.5 g kg−1 for 81% of them. Pt was between 0.48 and 1.18 g kg−1. In line with the studies on this subject already published, we confirm that there is clear a relationship between the type of geomorphological form, its age, and the physicochemical parameters of glacial sediments.
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Authors and Affiliations

Katarzyna Stachniak
1
ORCID: ORCID
Krzysztof Janik
1
ORCID: ORCID
Sławomir Sitek
1
ORCID: ORCID

  1. Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Silesia, Będzińska 60, 41-200 Sosnowiec, Poland

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The quarterly Polish Polar Research invites original scientific papers dealing with all aspects of polar research. The journal aims to provide a forum for publication of high-quality research papers, which are of international interest.

We warmly welcome review papers and proposals for thematic Special Issues.

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