Arctic Sweden, SWEDARCTIC 2008

Arctic Sweden - Cooperation on mountain tundra research during the International Polar Year

Research initiatives in the subarctic Swedish mountain range will be organised and emphasised during the summer of 2008 as part of the International Polar Year 2007-2008. All the research activities will be suffused with awareness of the mountain environment, cooperation with the Sami, reindeer herding and the affected local communities.

Nature, climate and man in interaction

The research projects involved in Arctic Sweden have largely to do with climate changes, both natural changes and those attributable to man. The projects are interdisciplinary in nature, and will address issues in which time is clearly an important factor. For instance, earlier research areas will be revisited to study any changes in relation to historical scientific documentation, and modern research methods will be applied in these areas and to older research data.

The research is divided into four themes

Theme I
– Effects of climate on glacier development
Theme II
– Relationships between plants and animals in the mountain tundra environment, and connections to historical human use of such areas
Theme III
– The effects of climate change on the sensitive ecosystems in the mountain range
Theme IV
– Changes over time in the presence of animals, human utilisation of natural resources and geological processes will be studied using modern geo-chemical methods.

From Helags to Treriksröset

The research activities will be conducted in the Swedish mountain range extending from Härjedalen to Lapland in July and August 2008. The Vindelfjällen Research Station is located in Ammarnäs. The station and village will serve as the starting point for numerous inventories and specimencollecting expeditions from Tärnafjällen in the south to Björkfjället in the north. A base camp will also be established for about three weeks during Artic Sweden at Lake Luspasjaure, which lies on the border between Norrbotten and Västerbotten, for archaeological excavations and data-gathering for studies of plant and animal life.

The Abisko Scientific Research Station is located in Abisko near Lake Torneträsk. The station serves as the starting point for advanced research in its environs, and offers laboratories and workrooms. In-field communication solutions and coordinated helicopter transports create links to the station's satellite stations and other mountain areas, thus making the Torneträsk area a unified and consolidated area for research purposes. The field activities during the summer of 2008 will build in part upon the research coordination already established in projects such as Back to the Future and ENVISNAR.

A small field camp will serve as a movable research platform, with each campsite providing a jumping-off point for specimen collection and research work in its vicinity, with helicopter support. This approach makes it possible to inventory large areas in a short time, and allows the researchers to reach relatively remote locations quickly.

The Swedish Polar Research Secretariat's contributions will consist of planning and coordinating the research, helicopter support, field camps, communication solutions and outreach activities.

Timetable Summer 2008 – Arctic sweden

14 July-22 August
Ammarnäs and Vindelfjällen Research Station
Theme II

14 July-3 August
Padjelanta movable field camp
Themes II + IV

21 July-15 August
Abisko Scientific Research Station
Themes I + III

28 July-18 August
Luspasjaure base camp
Theme IV

4 August-24 August
Sarek movable field camp
Themes I + II + IV

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