The Arctic Freshwater Biodiversity Monitoring steering committee held a 3-day workshop in Sonnerupgaard, Denmark October 5-8th, 2015. This workshop provided the opportunity for the freshwater expert network to coordinate their efforts on an international level to ensure consistency in assessment and reporting efforts during the creation of the first national State of Arctic Freshwater Biodiversity Reports (SAFBR), due to be completed in 2017. The freshwater expert network consists of nearly 30 scientists from 8 countries representing most the circumpolar member states. The group has a large breadth of expertise, covering both river and lake ecology, from plankton, macrophysics, to invertebrates, through to fish.
The large scope of expertise contributed to interesting discussions on topics such as: key environmental stressors, assessment questions, analytical approaches, incoporating Taditional Knowledge, and country- or regional- specific strengths in data collection.
It was a productive meeting, and provided good insight into the complexities of building international monitoring programs. By the end of the workshop, we had a plan and timeline for moving forward with the freshwater State of the Arctic Report. Thank you to CAFF and the Freshwater Steering Committee for including an APECS member to the workshop.
