The work of researchers on Antarctica has a wide variety of subjects, from polar sea to sea ice and from krill to whales. This research is a Statutory Research Task (WOT) we perform for the Dutch ministry. This task follows from the Netherlands' consultative membership in the Antarctic Treaty, the international agreement for shared government of the Antarctic continent and Southern Oceans. Additional support is obtained from the Netherlands Polar Program of the Netherlands Science Foundation and from foreign host countries that kindly support logistics in our cooperative projects.

News about Antarctica

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  Antarctica: balancing conservation and tourism in a fragile frontier

  23 December 2024
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  From idea to breakthrough: twenty years of SUIT changes polar research

  18 November 2024
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  Surface water sampling reveals large numbers of juvenile krill undetected by conventional monitoring methods

  16 September 2024
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  Rare whale species observed during recent Antarctic expedition

  26 August 2024
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  Diet young polar cod more varied than previously assumed

  02 August 2024

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Projects about Antarctica

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  ANTARC-SHIP: Fostering environmental stewardship among Antarctic tourism governance actors and institutions

  The aim of the ANTARC-SHIP project is to examine to what extent, and how, environmental stewardship can be assessed, enhanced, and facilitated among...
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  Fungi in boreal peatlands and polar regio

  Fungi play a significant role in terrestrial ecosystem functioning as the main decomposers of the organic matter in soils and peatlands. Arctica and...

Alfred Wegener Institut

• Life in and underneath sea ice

Read the book

• Important Bird Areas in Antarctica

Publications

• Values in Antarctica: identification and vulnerability to anthropogenic impacts

  Makanse, Y. , Summerson, Rupert , Donoso, Alfonso (2022)

• Oral Presentation: Proactively Managing Diversification of Antarctic Tourism

  Makanse, Yousra (2022)

• Two decades of flask observations of atmospheric (O2/N2), CO2, and APO at stations Lutjewad (the Netherlands) and Mace Head (Ireland), and 3 years from Halley station (Antarctica)

  Nguyen, Linh N.T. , Meijer, Harro A.J. , Van Leeuwen, Charlotte , Kers, Bert A.M. , Scheeren, Hubertus A. , Jones, Anna E. , Brough, Neil , Barningham, Thomas , Pickers, Penelope A. , Manning, Andrew C. , Luijkx, Ingrid T. (2022) Earth System Science Data (2022), Volume: 14, Issue: 2 - ISSN 1866-3508 - p. 991-1014.

• Reviews and syntheses: A framework to observe, understand and project ecosystem response to environmental change in the East Antarctic Southern Ocean

  Gutt, Julian , Arndt, Stefanie , Barnes, David Keith Alan , Bornemann, Horst , Brey, Thomas , Eisen, Olaf , Institute, Hauke , Griffiths, Huw , Institute, Christian , Hain, Stefan , Hattermann, Tore , Held, Christoph , Hoppema, Mario , Isla, Enrique , Janout, Markus , Le Bohec, Céline , Link, Heike , Mark, Felix Christopher , Moreau, Sebastien , Trimborn, Scarlett , Van Opzeeland, Ilse , Pörtner, Hans-Otto , Schaafsma, Fokje , Teschke, Katharina , Tippenhauer, Sandra , Van De Putte, Anton , Wege, Mia , Zitterbart, Daniel , Piepenburg, Dieter (2022) Biogeosciences (2022), Volume: 19, Issue: 22 - ISSN 1726-4170 - p. 5313-5342.

• Allometric relationships of ecologically important Antarctic and Arctic zooplankton and fish species

  Schaafsma, Fokje L. , David, Carmen L. , Kohlbach, Doreen , Ehrlich, Julia , Castellani, Giulia , Lange, Benjamin A. , Vortkamp, Martina , Meijboom, André , Fortuna-Wünsch, Anna , Immerz, Antonia , Cantzler, Hannelore , Klasmeier, Apasiri , Zakharova, Nadezhda , Schmidt, Katrin , Van de Putte, Anton P. , van Franeker, Jan Andries , Flores, Hauke (2022) Polar Biology (2022), Volume: 45, Issue: 2 - ISSN 0722-4060 - p. 203-224.

• How Might World Heritage Status Support the Protection of Sacred Natural Sites? : An Analysis of Nomination Files, Management, and Governance Contexts

  Verschuuren, B. , Ormsby, Alison , Jackson, Wendy (2022) Land (2022), Volume: 11, Issue: 1 - ISSN 2073-445X

• Increasing numbers of killer whale individuals use fisheries as feeding opportunities within subantarctic populations

  Amelot, Morgane , Plard, Floriane , Guinet, Christophe , Arnould, John P.Y. , Gasco, Nicolas , Tixier, Paul (2022) Biology Letters (2022), Volume: 18, Issue: 2 - ISSN 1744-9561

• Global patterns and drivers of soil total phosphorus concentration

  He, Xianjin , Augusto, Laurent , Goll, Daniel S. , Ringeval, Bruno , Wang, Yingping , Helfenstein, Julian , Huang, Yuanyuan , Yu, Kailiang , Wang, Zhiqiang , Yang, Yongchuan , Hou, Enqing (2021) Earth System Science Data (2021), Volume: 13, Issue: 12 - ISSN 1866-3508 - p. 5831-5846.

• Seasonal variation in the positional distribution of fatty acids in bovine milk fat (Supplementary Tables)

  Yener, Sine , Pacheco-Pappenheim, Sara , Heck, Jeroen , van Valenberg, Hein J.F. (2021)

• Fungal planet description sheets : 1182-1283

  Crous, P.W. , Cowan, D.A. , Maggs-Kölling, G. , Yilmaz, N. , Thangavel, R. , Wingfield, M.J. , Noordeloos, M.E. , Dima, B. , Brandrud, T.E. , Jansen, G.M. , Morozova, O.V. , Vila, J. , Shivas, R.G. , Tan, Y.P. , Bishop-Hurley, S. , Lacey, E. , Marney, T.S. , Larsson, E. , Le Floch, G. , Lombard, L. , Nodet, P. , Hubka, V. , Alvarado, P. , Berraf-Tebbal, A. , Reyes, J.D. , Delgado, G. , Eichmeier, A. , Jordal, J.B. , Kachalkin, A.V. , Kubátová, A. , Maciá-Vicente, J.G. , Malysheva, E.F. , Papp, V. , Rajeshkumar, K.C. , Sharma, A. , Sharma, A. , Spetik, M. , Szabóová, D. , Tomashevskaya, M.A. , Abad, J.A. , Abad, Z.G. , Alexandrova, A.V. , Anand, G. , Arenas, F. , Ashtekar, N. , Balashov, S. , Bañares, A. , Baroncelli, R. , Bera, I. , Yu Biketova, A. , Blomquist, C.L. , Boekhout, T. , Boertmann, D. , Bulyonkova, T.M. , Burgess, T.I. , Carnegie, A.J. , Cobo-Diaz, J.F. , Corriol, G. , Cunnington, J.H. , Da Cruz, M.O. , Damm, U. , Davoodian, N. , Desantiago, A. , Dearnaley, J. , De Freitas, L.W.S. , Dhileepan, K. , Dimitrov, R. , Di Piazza, S. , Fatima, S. , Fuljer, F. , Galera, H. , Ghosh, A. , Giraldo, A. , Glushakova, A.M. , Gorczak, M. , Gouliamova, D.E. , Gramaje, D. , Groenewald, M. , Gunsch, C.K. , Gutiérrez, A. , Holdom, D. , Houbraken, J. , Ismailov, A.B. , Istel, L. , Iturriaga, T. , Jeppson, M. , Jurjević, Z. , Kalinina, L.B. , Kapitonov, V.I. , Kautmanová, I. , Khalid, A.N. , Kiran, M. , Kiss, L. , Kovács, , Kurose, D. , Kušan, I. , Lad, S. , Læssøe, T. , Lee, H.B. , Luangsa-Ard, J.J. , Lynch, M. , Mahamedi, A.E. , Malysheva, V.F. , Mateos, A. , Matočec, N. , Mešić, A. , Miller, A.N. , Mongkolsamrit, S. , Moreno, G. , Morte, A. , Mostowfizadeh-Ghalamfarsa, R. , Naseer, A. , Navarro-Ródenas, A. , Nguyen, T.T.T. , Noisripoom, W. , Ntandu, J.E. , Nuytinck, J. , Ostrý, V. , Pankratov, T.A. , Pawłowska, J. , Pecenka, J. , Pham, T.H.G. , Polhorský, A. , Pošta, A. , Raudabaugh, D.B. , Reschke, K. , Rodríguez, A. , Romero, M. , Rooney-Latham, S. , Roux, J. , Sandoval-Denis, M. , Smith, M.Th. , Steinrucken, T.V. , Svetasheva, T.Y. , Tkalčec, Z. , Van Der Linde, E.J. , van der Vegte, M. , Vauras, J. , Verbeken, A. , Visagie, C.M. , Vitelli, J.S. , Volobuev, S.V. , Weill, A. , Wrzosek, M. , Zmitrovich, I.V. , Zvyagina, E.A. , Groenewald, J.Z. (2021) Persoonia: Molecular Phylogeny and Evolution of Fungi (2021), Volume: 46 - ISSN 0031-5850 - p. 313-528.

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Video's about Antarctica

The Petrels

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Ice net SUIT

During the expeditions, the researchers are fishing with the ice net SUIT (Surface and Under Ice Trawl - SUIT). With this gear, the top layer of the water under the ice can be examined.

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With the receding sea-ice in the Arctic, an increase in human activities
such as shipping, oil and gas exploration, fisheries and tourism is
expected in this region. Wageningen University & Research conducts
impact assessments of these activities. This is needed to identify
relevant mitigation measures to minimise impacts of these activities and
to give advice to governments, industry and NGOs on sustainable
developments in the Arctic.

News about Arctic research

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  From idea to breakthrough: twenty years of SUIT changes polar research

  18 November 2024
• 

  Rare whale species observed during recent Antarctic expedition

  26 August 2024
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  Diet young polar cod more varied than previously assumed

  02 August 2024
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  Leeuwarden centre of Antarctic scientific consultation

  08 July 2024
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  The reasons behind the rapid warming of the North Pole

  03 May 2024

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Projects about the Arctic

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  Arctic Marine Litter Project

  Take a moment to visualise the Arctic: icebergs, snow-capped mountains, polar bears, walruses...But the truth is quite the opposite. Many of the...
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  Sustainable Arctic Resource Use

  This project aims to analyse the use of information in natural resource governance and management in the Arctic region.

Publications

• Dietary starch, non-starch polysaccharides and their interactions affect nutrient digestibility, faecal waste production and characteristics differentially in three salmonids : Rainbow trout, Atlantic salmon and Arctic charr

  Prakash, Satya , Maas, Roel M. , Bergersen, Anneke , Kals, Jeroen , Kokou, Fotini , Schrama, Johan W. , Prabhu Philip, Antony J. (2025) Aquaculture (2025), Volume: 595 - ISSN 0044-8486

• The pollution fast-track to the Arctic: how southern wintering areas contribute to organochlorine loads in a migrant seabird breeding in the Arctic

  Bustnes, Jan Ove , Bårdsen, Bård-Jørgen , Moe, Børge , Herzke, Dorte , van Bemmelen, Rob S.A. , Tulp, Ingrid , Schekkerman, Hans , Hanssen, Sveinn-Are (2025) Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (2025) - ISSN 0730-7268 - p. 1-9.

• Wildfires offset the increasing but spatially heterogeneous Arctic–boreal CO2 uptake

  Virkkala, Anna Maria , Rogers, Brendan M. , Watts, Jennifer D. , Arndt, Kyle A. , Potter, Stefano , Wargowsky, Isabel , Schuur, Edward A.G. , See, Craig R. , Mauritz, Marguerite , Boike, Julia , Bret-Harte, M.S. , Burke, Eleanor J. , Burrell, Arden , Chae, Namyi , Chatterjee, Abhishek , Chevallier, Frederic , Christensen, Torben R. , Commane, Roisin , Dolman, Han , Edgar, Colin W. , Elberling, Bo , Emmerton, Craig A. , Euskirchen, Eugenie S. , Feng, Liang , Göckede, Mathias , Grelle, Achim , Helbig, Manuel , Holl, David , Järveoja, Järvi , Karsanaev, Sergey V. , Kobayashi, Hideki , Kutzbach, Lars , Liu, Junjie , Luijkx, Ingrid T. , López-Blanco, Efrén , Lunneberg, Kyle , Mammarella, Ivan , Marushchak, Maija E. , Mastepanov, Mikhail , Matsuura, Yojiro , Maximov, Trofim C. , Merbold, Lutz , Meyer, Gesa , Nilsson, Mats B. , Niwa, Yosuke , Oechel, Walter , Palmer, Paul I. , Park, Sang Jong , Parmentier, Frans Jan W. , Peichl, Matthias , Peters, Wouter , Petrov, Roman , Quinton, William , Rödenbeck, Christian , Sachs, Torsten , Schulze, Christopher , Sonnentag, Oliver , St. Louis, Vincent L. , Tuittila, Eeva Stiina , Ueyama, Masahito , Varlagin, Andrej , Zona, Donatella , Natali, Susan M. (2025) Nature Climate Change (2025), Volume: 15, Issue: 2 - ISSN 1758-678X - p. 188-195.

• Occurrence of Psychrophilomyces antarcticus in the Arctic

  Grum-Grzhimaylo, Olga A. , Bubnova, Ekaterina N. , Grum-Grzhimaylo, Alexey A. , Debets, Alfons J.M. , Aanen, Duur K. (2025) Fungal Ecology (2025), Volume: 74 - ISSN 1754-5048

• Spatio-temporal changes in the macrozooplankton community in the eastern Indian sector of the Southern Ocean during austral summers : A comparison between 1996 and 2018–2019

  Urabe, Ippei , Matsuno, Kohei , Sugioka, Rikuto , Driscoll, Ryan , Driscoll, Sara , Schaafsma, Fokje L. , Yamaguchi, Atsushi , Matsukura, Ryuichi , Sasaki, Hiroko , Murase, Hiroto (2025) Progress in Oceanography (2025), Volume: 231 - ISSN 0079-6611

• Reindeer carcasses modulate vegetation composition and greenness in High-Arctic tundra

  Situnayake, Maya Nisha , By, Marit , Larsen, Oddbjørn , Sombekke, Stijn , Kooistra, Lammert , Blaalid, Rakel , Østnes, Jan Eivind , Selva, Nuria , Pedersen, Åshild , Steyaert, Sam (2025) Arctic Science (2025), Volume: 11 - ISSN 2368-7460

• Historical Bird Atlas and Contemporary Citizen Science Data Reveal Long-Term Changes in Geographic Range of Kenyan Birds

  Nussbaumer, Raphaël , Nussbaumer, Améline , Guchu, Samuel , Hatfield, Richard Stratton , M. Kanga, Erustus , Kung'u, Gladys Nyakeru , Kuria, Anthony , Miller, Eliot , Ndang'ang'a, Paul Kariuki , Njoroge, Peter , Ogada, Darcy , Shema, Sidney , Jackson, Colin (2025) Diversity and Distributions (2025), Volume: 31, Issue: 2 - ISSN 1366-9516

• Microbial activity and CO2 emission from young Arctics Technosols : Effect of material type

  Korneykova, M. , Vasenev, V. , Ivashchenko, K. , Saltan, N. , Slukovskaya, M. , Kozlova, E. , Vasilieva, M. , Sarzhanov, D. , Gunina, A. (2025) Catena (2025), Volume: 252 - ISSN 0341-8162

• Diet of polar cod (Boreogadus saida) from the central Arctic Ocean

  Schaafsma, Fokje , Flores, Hauke , David, Carmen Lucia , Castellani, Giulia , Sakinan, Serdar , Hildebrandt, Nicole , Klasmeier, Apasiri , Schmidt, Katrin (2024)

• Energy content measurements on Arctic zooplankton collected during MOSAiC (PS122)

  Schaafsma, Fokje , Meijboom, Andre , Castellani, Giulia , Sakinan, Serdar , Hildebrandt, Nicole , Schmidt, Katrin , Snoeijs-Leijonmalm, Pauline , Ashjian, Carin , Campbell, Robert G. , Gelfman, Cecilia , Shoemaker, Katyanne , Spahic, Susanne , Flores, Hauke (2024)

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Follow our expeditions

• MOSAiC expedition
• Arctic Marine Litter Expedition
• Svalbard expedition

Film “Knowledge for a sustainable Arctic”

Watch the film!