The purpose of the marine monitoring programme in West Greenland is to establish long time series of physical, chemical and biological key parameters making it possible to evaluate how the marine plant- and animal distribution, composition and production will be affected by the ongoing climatic change and human exploitation. It furthermore, provides long-term data to be used by other research projects such as Ecogreen.

Predictions indicate that the temperature increase resulting from global warming will be 2–4 times higher in the arctic than at lower latitudes within the next century. This prediction together with the human exploitation of the natural resources in the region accentuates the need for an ecosystem-based management of the arctic ecosystems.

The knowledge of the interaction between climate, marine resources, human influence and the institutional framework is very limited, and the knowledge base for an ecosystem-based management of the Greenland marine environment is therefore inadequate.

MarineBasis is operated by Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Nuuk.

MarineBasis manual

For further information please contact MarineBasis manager Thomas Juul-Pedersen thpe@natur.gl