ARKHANGELSK, August 12. /TASS/. Biologists, participating in the Arctic Floating University’s expedition, studied cushion plants in the north of Novaya Zemlya to see how the flora adapts to conditions of the high-latitude Arctic, the expedition’s deputy leader on scientific research Anna Trofimova told TASS.
In some of the locations, such studies have been conducted for the first time, she added.
"The purpose of the studies was to make two databases. The first database reflected data on the floral structure in the locations where we went ashore. The second database includes temperature, humidity of those floral forms to trace the adaptation functions of Arctic plants, which use the ‘cushion’ form to form up a necessary microclimate," she said. "We will use results of these studies to expand the fundamental understanding of how plants get adapted in the high-latitude Arctic. In a number of locations, for example, in Murmanets Bay, we have conducted studies for the first time."
Nowadays, the knowledge about plants’ adaptation to extreme conditions of the high-latitude Arctic is very limited and is not systemic. Most studies of the kind have been conducted on the Spitsbergen and in the mainland Arctic. "We measure temperature and humidity at various levels. <…> Inside the ‘cushion’ the temperature is by 1.5-2 degrees higher," a biology student at the Northern Arctic Federal University Darina Kuznetsova told TASS.
On Novaya Zemlya, researchers have received new data on how cushion-shaped plants grow. "Cushions" provide conditions for more active absorption of light energy and increase the photosynthesis efficiency. "This is the life form to keep heat and humidity, that are slightly different from the external environment, as we can see now. In order to survive in these harsh conditions, the plants need a form that can keep warmth and comfort for the growth," the researcher added.
Different types of stoneflies, dryads, polar poppies, mouse-ear chickweeds grow in dense "cushions." Normally, it is just one plant, where additional shoots run from the main shoot, getting tightly intertwined to form a cushion.
According to the biologist, the present scientific data on bio productivity of terrestrial Arctic ecosystems are lacking systematic approaches, and there is little data on the bio productivity’s dynamics. Studies tend to shift towards contactless analyses. Thus, here it is most important that the researchers have been working at field, in different locations.
Scientific herbarium
On the Vaygach Island, biologists have collected about 30 plants for the University’s scientific herbarium. Those were plants in blossom, as the collection must contain only plans with flowers. They have collected samples of sweetvetch, locoweed, buttercup, cuckoo flower, whitlow-grass, etc. The experts will continue to work on the herbarium in Arkhangelsk.
The herbarium has been updated with Arctic flora only rarely, thus the choice of plants was very important. The herbarium is used in classes, and all the species will be available online on an international database. "The interest to the Arctic flora is specific. We will scan some of the species to upload them onto an international platform," she continued. "That means that any scientist from any country may go there and see - ‘this has been collected there, so this is what the flora there is like’."
The Arctic Floating University is a joint project of the Northern Arctic Federal University (NAFU) and the Northern Department for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring (Sevhydromet). This year, the project is ten years old. The partners in 2022 are the Russian Geographical Society, the Ministry for Development of the Far East and Arctic, VTB, Novatek, Norilsk Nickel, Rosneft, and the Arkhangelsk Region’s government.