The final meeting of the Arctic EcoSens project took place via Zoom on April 20-21. Unfortunately, we were unable to meet in Petrozavodsk as planned, but the 18 presentations highlighted the diverse and interesting work conducted over the last 3.5 years. The project investigated sensitivity of Arctic coastal ecosystems to petroleum pollution, and involved field work, experimental studies, molecular and geochemical analyses, community analysis, and sensitivity modelling.
New research results in fields such as taxonomy, microbiomes, transcriptomics, host-parasite ecology, petroleum impacts on capelin early life-stages, coastal plant and fjord benthos communities, hydrocarbon geochemistry, and coastal sensitivity and risk analysis, and input to management bodies were presented. Many biotic parameters were assessed in reference to petroleum-based stressors. Key findings include improved taxonomic studies of Spionid polychaetes, contrasting impacts of oil on capelin and polar cod, the first baseline description of north Norwegian fjord communities, and fine-scale assessment of the Barents Sea coastline identifying high-risk areas for spill management.