Introduction of invertebrates into the High Arctic via imported soils:The case of Barentsburg in the Svalbard

• Published in: Biological Invasions
• Main Authors: Coulson, S.J., Fjellberg, A., Gwiazdowicz, D.J., Lebedeva, N.V., Melekhina, E.N., Solhøy, T., Erséus, C., Maraldo, K., Miko, L., Schatz, H., Schmelz, R.M., Søli, G., Stur, E.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: Arctic; Barentsburg; Svalbard
• Online Access: https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/publications/bb9bf14a-8bef-49db-9804-12f5788f419f; https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-012-0277-y; http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84870839767&partnerID=8YFLogxK

Forty six species of invertebrate were collected from the manure enriched imported soils below the abandoned cow sheds in the Russian mining town of Barentsburg, Svalbard. Of these, 11 (24 %) were new records for Svalbard, including Collembola, gamasid mites, Enchytraeidae and the first identified Lumbricidae. Many of the new records are species not frequently observed in the Arctic. It is hypothesized that these species arrived with the chernozem soils imported to Barentsburg for the greenhouses from central or southern European Russia, or with livestock. The observations presented here are the first records of human invertebrate introductions establishing in Svalbard outside of dwellings. It is not believed that the majority of new species records described present an immediate threat to the ecology of Svalbard but they may, especially Deuteraphorura variabilis, establish in the nutrient enriched floral communities beneath bird cliffs characteristic of Svalbard.