Marine invertebrate communities in restoration projects in Svalbard
The CLIMAREST project aims to develop and demonstrate restoration tools and solutions at five demonstration sites across Europe. This part of the project specifically focuses on the Arctic fjords in Svalbard, Norway. The Arctic marine ecosystems are vulnerable to fluctuations in water temperature and salinity and increased coastal erosion. Permafrost degradation (accelerated by global climate change) increases the rate of coastal erosion. This in turn releases particulate matter and pollution that was stored during decades of stable conditions. In addition, several studies conducted in recent decades have demonstrated a decline in species diversity and abundance due to wastewater pollution. Here, we used metabarcoding of marine and intertidal sediments to characterise the biodiversity of aquatic benthic invertebrates, in two systems: 1) to evaluate the effect of an intervention prototype on the Longyearbyen shoreline to prevent erosion, and 2) to investigate the effect of sewage discharge on marine benthic invertebrates in Adventfjorden.