Project Report

Overseas Fellowship Program Participant：FY2024 Short-Term Program
Soshi Osaki(Waseda University)

The growing season of High Arctic plants is short and cold. Recently, the Arctic ecosystems have been experiencing rapid global warming, which has caused longer snow-free seasons. How do the High Arctic plants respond to such significant environmental changes? This study aims to predict the impact of a more extended snow-free season on the productivity of the High Arctic plants under future climate warming. For this purpose, I measured the time-cause changes in photosynthetic activity of three common deciduous High Arctic plants (Salix polaris, Oxyria digyna, and Bistorta vivipara) (Fig. 1).

This year, snow melt was observed in early June in Longyearbyen (78° 13’ N, 15° 38’ E), Spitsbergen, Svalbard, where I visited for the field research. If the weather is typical, the first snowfall will be observed between early and mid-September. Therefore, the period available for growth and reproduction is almost only three months for the plants in this region.

The difficulties in the field research were that High Arctic plants are tiny and dwarf to survive harsh Arctic environments (Fig. 2), so measuring photosynthesis by inserting a leaf into a chamber was nerve-wracking. The herbivores such as reindeers and geese were threatened during field research because they frequently tried to eat my measuring plants (Fig. 3).

This time was my second time conducting research in the Svalbard, yet I still feel the unique challenges of Arctic research. On the other hand, I realised many things through actual investigation and observation, which constantly stimulated my curiosity. I believe it was a very fruitful study.

Finally, I would like to thank all people who have supported me.