Monday, June 9th, 2025
By Miguel Leal
Arctic coastal biodiversity is increasingly under pressure due to human activities and climate change. Yet, the exact implications are still poorly understood. A recent publication by POMP researchers explores how we can improve our understanding of the impact of human activities on Arctic biodiversity and provides a roadmap to address the current knowledge gaps.
Led by POMP researcher Jakob Thyrring and a team of international experts, the research points to the lack of sufficient biodiversity data and long-term monitoring programmes to accurately predict ecological changes and species range expansions that can result from human activities. Among others, these include shipping, mining and pollution.
To address these shortcomings, researchers propose a roadmap emphasising the need for urgent, coordinated international action, as well as standardised experiments across Arctic ecosystems. Additionally, it also highlights the benefits of integrating indigenous knowledge and citizen science with academic scientific efforts.
Published in Trends in Ecology & Evolution and featured as the journal’s cover story, this work is an important milestone for polar environmental research. Stay tuned to our website for further updates on research advancements from POMP. To access the full article, click here.
POMP project (Polar Ocean Mitigation Potential; Grant Agreement 101136875) has been approved under HORIZON-CL6-2023-CLIMATE-01-3: Ocean and coastal waters carbon- and biodiversity-rich ecosystems and habitats in Europe and the Polar Regions.