Goose impacts on biological communities in Arctic ponds under contrasting climates

Adding to effects of climate change on arctic freshwaters, migrating birds, particularly geese, are increasingly impacting these high latitude freshwaters. On Svalbard, the impact of increasing goose populations on the freshwater environment has been studied on the western part of the archipelago. However, the increasing goose populations are extending their range towards the eastern parts of the archipelago. Hence, the freshwaters in this more pristine region are at risk from the combined impact of climate change and increasing goose populations. The proposal will address this issue by an inventory of the biodiversity of differentially impacted freshwaters on Eastern Svalbard.