A team of scientists from NINA and Akvaplan-niva just carried out the first field campaign for the FROST project, bringing together a large international team of researchers to study Arctic freshwater food webs during winter in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Norway, Sweden, and Finland.
In order to be able to work under the cold conditions and prevent that equipment freezes, an ice-fishing tent was established over the main sampling hole (Photo: Eva Leu/Akvaplan-niva)
The FROST project combines Indigenous knowledge with natural and social sciences to investigate how warmer winters are reshaping Arctic lakes and northern ways of life. Researchers study changes in lake ice, fish health and community well-being to support locally grounded adaptation strategies. Working closely with Inuit and Sámi partners, the project spans 12 research sites across the Arctic.
Arctic lakes are essential to northern communities, providing food, drinking water and cultural identity. By responding to local concerns such as unexpected fish die-offs, altered water quality and reduced winter accessibility, FROST bridges knowledge systems to deliver new insight and practical solutions.
The Norwegian team is represented by Amanda Poste, Vegar Seljestokken and Narve Stubbraaten Johansen from NINA and Eva Leu and Eirik Haugstvedt Henriksen from Akvaplan-niva.
The Norwegian study location
The project's main study location in Norway is Takvatnet, a large lake located 2 hours drive southeast of Tromsø city. Due to an extraordinarily mild autumn, the ice formation at Takvatnet that usually occurs during November, was very late this year. This delayed the first comprehensive after ice-on winter sampling campaign until early January. During four days at temperatures down to effective -30°C the team took samples of the entire food web from viruses to fish, including setting out fishing nets and collecting benthic samples from the coastal and deeper part of the lake. The ice thickness varied between 16 and 30+ cm – however, the low temperatures challenged sampling procedures and required careful planning and execution of the ambitious activities.
Future sampling
In addition to the sampling that will be continued in the coming months, there are sensors placed in the lake that collect continuous background data on physical and biological parameters. Takvatnet is also included in the Norwegian monitoring program for large lakes (ØKOSTOR) and has been studied extensively by researchers from UiT – The Arctic University of Norway that has a field station by the lake. The FROST project is co-led by Milla Rautio from Canada and Kimmo Kahilainen from Finland, and funfed by Norforsk under the Arctic Sustainability call. More info can be found here: https://www.frost-lakes.com/
Contact: Amanda Poste
On the way to the first sampling: Vegard and Amanda (Photo Eva Leu/Akvaplan-niva)
As daylight hours are short, sampling continues in the dark as well – Eva taking a water sampler sample inside the tent (Photo: Amanda Poste/NINA)
To collect fish, nets have been placed out underneath the ice and are collected here: From the left Narve, Eirik and Amanda (Photo: Eva Leu/Akvaplan-niva)
Narve presenting the first catch: Arctic charr. Not many fish went into the nets (Photo: Eva Leu/Akvaplan-niva).
Vegard and Eirik collecting a sample of bottom-living organisms in the littoral zone (Photo: Eva Leu/Akvaplan-niva)
Vegard measuring a CTD profile (Photo: Eva Leu/Akvaplan-niva)
Amanda and Vegard sorting the benthic sample (Photo: Eva Leu/Akvaplan-niva)