Dr. Ihor R. Lemischka interview by Catherine Cormier

We have a unique opportunity to observe manifestation of the global warming. Sufficient climate change is visible in Polar Regions. Arctic and Antarctic regions are the most suitable experimental “laboratories” to study marine shelf and adjacent terrestrial ecosystems under conditions of the glaciers retreat. Previously we have explored and documented some Marine and Terrestrial communities in the Antarctic region. That is why we plan to study similar communities of the Arctic region, particularly on Spitsbergen island (Svalbard) , including both surface ecological investigation of marine phyto- and zoobenthos of the adjacent shelf and an ecological survey of some Arctic vascular plants in the context of terrestrial ecosystems persistence. The project is aimed at revealing the impact of climate change on different types of natural communities, obtaining the total profile of natural communities from the land surface to the bottom of adjacent shelf.