What Freezing Plants in Blocks of Ice Can Tell Us About the Future of Svalbard's Plant Communities

What freezing plants in blocks of ice can tell us about the future of Svalbard's plant communities

How will a warming Arctic affect plant growth on Svalbard? Researchers encased plant plots in a thick layer of ice during the winter and used little greenhouses to heat up those plots in the summer. The surprise? The plants that got the harshest treatment did just fine.

Environmental News Network - What Freezing Plants in Blocks of Ice Can Tell us About the Future of Svalbard’s Plant Communities

How will a warming Arctic affect plant growth on Svalbard? Researchers encased plant plots in a thick layer of ice during the winter and used little greenhouses to heat up those plots in the summer.

What Freezing Plants in Ice Blocks Reveals About the Future of Svalbard’s

In the remote, icy expanses of Svalbard, a groundbreaking long-term ecological study has unveiled surprising resilience in Arctic tundra plant communities. Over five consecutive Januarys beginning in 2016, researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) undertook an ambitious experimental project to simulate winter icing conditions that are forecasted to become more prevalent as climate change ushers in warmer and wett…

What Freezing Plants in Blocks of Ice Can Tell Us About the Future of Svalbard’s Plant Communities

TRONDHEIM, Norway — For five Januarys starting in 2016, researchers and students from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) travelled to a small valley outside of Svalbard’s main city with big jugs of liquid water and an unusual goal: To encase selected plant plots in a thick cover of ice. Their focus was a plant community dominated by the polar willow, a critical year-round food for Svalbard’s reindeer population. They wante…