Dispersal of pollen and invertebrates by wind in contrasting Arctic habitats of Svalbard

Abstract

Although Svalbard archipelago is considered as a natural laboratory for the environmental studies in the High Arctic, the knowledge on the transport and diversity of bioaerosols (aeroplankton) in the atmosphere is poorly recognized. To improve our knowledge about the aeroplankton over the Svalbard, we conducted a short-term study in the central part of the archipelago with a special focus on two important, but understudied in this region, airborne components: pollen grains and invertebrates. Aerobiological traps, three impact-type samplers and 12 pitfall-type water traps, were operated for a week of July 2022 at three sites located near Longyearbyen, the largest settlement of Svalbard. These sites, that is, Platåfjellet, Longyearbreen Glacier, and glacier valley, varied in the local sources of biological material and altitude. In total, 11 pollen taxa were isolated from pollen impactors. Most of them (68%) belonged to non-native plants, for example, Alnus sp., Betula sp., Picea abies, or Pinus sylvestris-type pollen. In pitfall-type water traps, we found invertebrates representing Acari (Prostigmata, Endeostigmata and Oribatida), Collembola ( Agrenia bidenticulata), Tardigrada (Eutardigrada) and Rotifera (Bdelloidea). The most taxa-rich site, both for pollen and invertebrates, was Platåfjellet, characterized by open landscape dominated by small cryptogams, mainly lichens and mosses, and sparse patches of vascular plants. Even though our sampling was short-term, we found diverse taxa belonged to native and alien species, indicating that both local and long-range transport shape aeroplankton composition and seeding of Arctic habitats. Long-term aerobiological monitoring in diverse ecosystems of Svalbard is needed to understand spatio-temporal influence of aeroplankton on ecosystems.

Keywords

• arctic
• spitsbergen
• bioareosols
• alien species
• long-range transport