Scientists study greenhouse gases and their influence on climate change in the Arctic

The scientific center for study of the Arctic is participating in the joint program of the Federal Research Centre "Fundamentals of biotechnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences". It is a part of the three-year project of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research and the Norwegian Research Community "Microbial methane filter in the Arctic: resilience and response to climate change".

The project is devoted to research of the most important component of a cycle of methane in the Arctic – microbial methane-oxidizing filter that serves as a natural barrier reducing emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The first phase of the work was conducted in July last year. The employees of the Federal Research Center Svetlana Belova and Olga Danilova with a researcher of the center for study of Arctic Irina Gagarinova laid sites for upcoming field studies on the territory of Nadymskiy district, also they took samples and measured concentration of greenhouse gases. The main task of this stage of the work was in detailed acquaintance to the area of field researches in Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, selection of ecosystems for future monitoring of methane flows. In July of this year the second stage of the research was conducted. The scientists of the Russian Academy of Sciences conducted wide screening of different ecosystems of Nadymskiy district. This is determination of composition of gases in a surface layer of soil, a type of an ecosystem, description of vegetation, determination of coordinates and measurement of humidity, temperature and acidity of soil. In places of measuring of concentration of greenhouse gases the specialists took samples from top layers of swamps with domination of sphagnum mosses and reindeer lichen, dwarf shrub tundra and reindeer moss forest tundra. They prepared the taken samples to further determination of activity of processes of methane oxidation in the newly taken samples of moss, lichen, peat and soil in the laboratory of wetland ecosystems at the Federal Research Center. In total the participants of the second phase completed eighteen studies at nine sites. The results of the project will provide an opportunity to evaluate a cycle of greenhouse gases and their influence on climate change on the territory of Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and in the Arctic, as the press service of the governor of Yamal informs.