Ecology

Conservation biologist Kay Van Damme has spent two decades studying biodiversity on the island of Socotra in Yemen.Credit: Søren Solkær

In 1999, Kay Van Damme joined a United Nations-led multidisciplinary expedition to the Socotra archipelago, a Yemeni island group in the Arabian Sea, to explore freshwater ecosystems. Influenced by the area’s rich and unique biodiversity, Van Damme began to run annual expeditions to underground lakes on the main island, Socotra, as well as to its aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems above ground. In 2010, he earned a PhD on the evolutionary relationships of freshwater crustaceans from Ghent University in Belgium. Over the years, with the island facing the environmental challenges of climate change and a civil war that has been under way since 2014, Van Damme started applying his knowledge to conserving endangered aquatic insects and crabs, as well as the remarkable local trees. Now, alongside undertaking fieldwork on Socotra, where he works directly with local communities, Van Damme is a postdoctoral researcher at Ghent and at Mendel University in Brno, Czech Republic.What’s so special about Socotra?Socotra’s biodiversity treasures are the result of millions of years of secluded evolution. The archipelago separated from southern Arabia during the Miocene epoch (23 million to 5 million years ago). About 37% of its plant species, 90% of its reptiles and 98% of its land snails don’t exist anywhere else. It is the only Yemeni natural site on the UNESCO World Heritage List, to which it was added in 2008.Islands are often called living laboratories of evolution. Studying these habitats is important for natural history and biogeography. In addition, understanding how highly vulnerable endemic birds, plants and invertebrates have survived on these islands could help to save species in other places.How has your fieldwork changed over the years?Continuous exposure to the amazing nature and Socotra’s islanders have had a strong impact on me. The last forest of umbrella-shaped dragon’s blood trees (Dracaena cinnabari) seems out of this world, a relic of Miocene times, when this vegetation type was more widespread around the world. There’s a strange mix of ancient and recent geological features, ranging from granite mountains to coastal sand dunes and enormous limestone caves, harbouring vulnerable and isolated lifeforms.

Socotra hosts the last forest of dragon’s blood trees (Dracaena cinnabari) in the world.Credit: Kay Van Damme

Seeing the uniqueness of Socotra’s biodiversity and its fragility in the face of climate change, I feel my responsibility has grown to include more than exploration and classification. Gradually, my efforts converged on biodiversity conservation, and my fieldwork has become more strategic: doing biodiversity field surveys to assess threats to endemic species. I help Yemen’s environmental protection agency with conservation planning, including establishing and improving protected areas. We do activities in schools and with the Indigenous Soqotri people to ensure that conservation efforts are integrated into the community, while discussing their concerns about their environment and the impacts of climate change.Which species do you focus on, and why?As co-principal investigator of a conservation project funded by the Franklinia Foundation in Geneva, Switzerland, I work with colleagues from Socotra, Mendel University and the Sapienza University of Rome on protecting the dragon’s blood trees and ten endemic species of frankincense tree (Boswellia). Meanwhile, I chair a UK-based charity called the Friends of Soqotra, which runs biodiversity-conservation and environmental-awareness projects. Together with local communities in north Socotra, we have replanted mangrove trees (Avicennia marina) that had disappeared decades before. I also focus on a magnificent damselfly, the Socotra bluet (Azuragrion granti), and a colourful freshwater crab (Socotrapotamon socotrensis), which are included in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species.

The Socotra bluet (Azuragrion granti), a type of damselfly, is threatened by drought, pollution and soil erosion.Credit: Kay Van Damme

What are the biggest threats to these ecosystems? Overgrazing by domestic goats, loss of traditional land-management techniques and the effects of climate change. Violent cyclones and droughts in Socotra affect both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. For instance, cyclones destroyed considerable proportions of unique woodlands of frankincense and dragon’s blood trees in 2015 and 2018. Likewise, threats to freshwater species include drought; landslides due to vegetation loss; pollution; and invasive species, such as a predatory fish called the Arabian toothcarp (Aphanius dispar).The most effective solution to these threats is for the local communities to get involved in leading the conservation work on the ground. For every tree felled by weather, scientists should work with locals to replant another.How have you gained the trust of the local community?I work with our local team, which continues the fieldwork, and with the Soqotri people, who own the land areas. I have great respect for their immense environmental knowledge. We have long conversations with them during visits, asking what is needed. In Socotra, there is no stronger conservation expertise than that which has been applied for centuries by the Soqotri people. For instance, by understanding the quality of a frankincense tree’s incense and the timing of flowering, they have shown us new hybrid species. Our nursery of young frankincense seedlings is maintained by an older Soqotri woman called Mona, who has traditional knowledge of how to take care of them.How does the ongoing civil war affect your fieldwork?In comparison to the mainland, Socotra has remained relatively safe for fieldwork. However, the political landscape of the island is variable and complex. This requires us to be flexible when discussing conservation issues with local decision makers, who are sometimes replaced more than once during a project.

Van Damme (centre) collaborates with community leaders — Saleh Al-Tamek, chair of a local conservation group (left), and natural-heritage specialist Haifaa Abdulhalim — to protect threatened species of mangrove tree.Credit: Marketa Jakovenko

We constantly assess risks and maintain clear communication between research team members and local communities and their leaders about where we are at which moment, and for what purpose. In such circumstances, scientists should know the local terrain and weather conditions extremely well, avoiding unnecessary risks and checking in frequently by mobile phone with their local teams.Do you have any advice for early-career conservation scientists? Local community leaders have the power to facilitate fieldwork or obstruct it. And because not all leaders prioritize nature conservation, there are some practical tips for building mutual trust with them to help form long-standing partnerships. Focus on constant communication with leaders, respect their culture and environmental knowledge, and cooperate with them in protecting the interests of local people, especially during natural disasters.Have you made any non-scientific discoveries about Socotra?My soul has been touched by Socotra’s people. Their kindness towards others is essential to their culture. They speak an endangered Semitic language that has survived through oral tradition, such as poetry and songs. Soqotri people are excellent orators and communicate using good humour. I brought my parents to Socotra to see what has stolen my heart — they understood.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. More

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Rio Conservation and Sustainability Science Centre, Department of Geography and the Environment, Pontifical Catholic University, Rio de Janeiro, BrazilBernardo B. N. Strassburg, Alvaro Iribarrem, Carlos Leandro Cordeiro, Renato Crouzeilles, Catarina C. Jakovac, André Braga Junqueira, Eduardo Lacerda & Agnieszka E. LatawiecInternational Institute for Sustainability, Rio de Janeiro, BrazilBernardo B. N. Strassburg, Alvaro Iribarrem, Carlos Leandro Cordeiro, Renato Crouzeilles, Catarina C. Jakovac, André Braga Junqueira, Eduardo Lacerda, Agnieszka E. Latawiec, Robin L. Chazdon & Carlos Alberto de M. ScaramuzzaPrograma de Pós Graduacão em Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, BrazilBernardo B. N. Strassburg, Renato Crouzeilles & Fabio R. ScaranoBotanical Garden Research Institute of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, BrazilBernardo B. N. StrassburgSchool of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, AustraliaHawthorne L. BeyerForest Ecology and Management Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The NetherlandsCatarina C. JakovacInstitut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, SpainAndré Braga JunqueiraDepartment of Geography, Fluminense Federal University, Niterói, BrazilEduardo LacerdaDepartment of Production Engineering, Logistics and Applied Computer Science, Faculty of Production and Power Engineering, University of Agriculture in Kraków, Kraków, PolandAgnieszka E. LatawiecSchool of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UKAgnieszka E. LatawiecDepartment of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UKAndrew Balmford, Stuart H. M. Butchart & Paul F. DonaldInternational Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Gland, SwitzerlandThomas M. BrooksWorld Agroforestry Center (ICRAF), University of the Philippines, Los Baños, The PhilippinesThomas M. BrooksInstitute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, AustraliaThomas M. BrooksBirdLife International, Cambridge, UKStuart H. M. Butchart & Paul F. DonaldDepartment of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USARobin L. ChazdonWorld Resources Institute, Global Restoration Initiative, Washington, DC, USARobin L. ChazdonTropical Forests and People Research Centre, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sunshine Coast, Queensland, AustraliaRobin L. ChazdonInstitute of Social Ecology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Vienna, AustriaKarl-Heinz Erb & Christoph PlutzarDepartment of Forest Sciences, ‘Luiz de Queiroz’ College of Agriculture, University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, BrazilPedro BrancalionRSPB Centre for Conservation Science, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Edinburgh, UKGraeme Buchanan & Paul F. DonaldSecretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD), Montreal, Quebec, CanadaDavid CooperInstituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal, CONICET and Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, ArgentinaSandra DíazUN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Cambridge, UKValerie Kapos & Lera MilesEcosystem Services Management (ESM) Program, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Laxenburg, AustriaDavid Leclère, Michael Obersteiner & Piero ViscontiEnvironmental Change Institute, Oxford University Centre for the Environment, Oxford, UKMichael ObersteinerDivision of Conservation Biology, Vegetation Ecology and Landscape Ecology, University of Vienna, Vienna, AustriaChristoph Plutzar More

Identification of a regime shift in Beaufort summer sea ice characteristicsFigure 2 shows time series of Beaufort Sea summer sea ice concentration, sea ice age, and sea ice thickness, as well as the ratio of Beaufort ice volume to that of the entire Arctic27. We define the summer to be the months of July, August, and September. A step function has been fit to the time series with a breakpoint determined by a minimization of the root-mean square fit to the data with a significance test of the difference of the means that takes into account the temporal autocorrelation of geophysical time series28; see Methods Section for further information. The first three metrics (Fig. 2a–c) indicate a transition toward less extensive, thinner and younger ice pack occurred around 2007. Furthermore, the Beaufort’s contribution to total Arctic ice volume decreased in 2007 from approximately 10% to 5% (Fig. 2d). We will refer in this study to the period from 2007-present as the “young ice regime,” while the period prior to 2007 will be referred to as the “old ice regime.” All metrics indicate that the summers of 2020 and 2021 (as well as 2013), stand out with ice characteristics above the mean for this new ice regime. This is especially true for the ice volume ratio where values for these past two summers approach those typical of conditions prior to the 2007 transition.Fig. 2: Characteristics of summer (July–September) Beaufort Sea ice.Time series of the: a sea ice concentration (%) from the NSIDC CDR dataset 1979–2021; b sea ice age (years) from the NSIDC dataset 1984–2021; c sea ice thickness (m) from PIOMAS 1979–2021 and d ratio of the volume of Beaufort sea ice to Arctic sea ice from PIOMAS 1979–2021. In all cases, the red lines represent the step function fit with the specified breakpoint that minimizes the root-mean square error in the fit. The statistical significance of the step is indicated in the legend.Full size imageSea ice conditions during 2019/2020 and 2020/2021Figure 3 shows time series of Beaufort Sea ice concentration and thickness for the 2-year period October 2019–September 2021, as well as climatological values for the first 13 years of the young ice regime (2007–2019) and anomalies with respect to these 13 years. The results show that starting in May of both years, concentration and thickness were both higher than the climatology by at least 1 standard deviation. The area-mean thickness anomaly was larger in 2020, while the sea ice concentration anomaly was larger in 2021.Fig. 3: Monthly mean Beaufort Sea ice characteristics from October 1 2019–September 30 2021.Time series (red curves) of the (a) monthly mean sea ice concentration (%) from the NSIDC CDR dataset and (b) monthly mean sea ice thickness (m) from PIOMAS with the climatological monthly mean values shown in black with one standard deviation above/below the mean indicated by the shading. The climatology is based on 2007–2019. In (c) and (d), the corresponding anomalies are shown with the shading representing +/− one standard deviation.Full size imageFigure 4 provides the Beaufort Sea ice thickness and age distributions in summer for (i) the first 13 years of the old ice regime (1979–1991) when the region was dominated by multi-year ice, (ii) the first 13 years of the young ice regime (2007–2019), (iii) the year 2020, and (iv) the year 2021. A kernel smoothing technique29 was used to fit the distributions to the data. The old ice regime was dominated by thick, old ice, with smaller contributions from thin, young ice. In contrast, the young ice regime is dominated by thin, young ice with a long “tail” of thick, old ice. The years 2020 and 2021 are representative of this young ice regime, although with thick and old ice generally ≥1 standard deviation above the mean (An exception is the amount of ice older than ~2 years in 2020, which is very close to the mean). Further analysis (Supplementary Fig. S1) indicates that many years in the young ice regime show small secondary peaks of thick or old ice (such as seen in the 2021 thickness distribution between 1.5 and 2 m). These “long-tailed” thickness and age distributions are similar to that found in summer 2020 in the Wandel Sea1. Thus, it seems that the Beaufort Sea is now dominated by thin, young ice, but a substantial component of thick, old ice remains. In the following sections, we examine the advective origins of this thick, old ice.Fig. 4: Frequency distribution of summer (July–September) sea ice characteristics in the region of interest.a PIOMAS sea ice thickness distribution and b NSIDC sea ice age distribution. Climatological distributions for 1979–1991 (1984–1991 for ice age) and 2007–2019 are shown as well as distributions for 2020 and 2021. The shading represents one standard deviation above/below the 2007–2019 mean.Full size imageImpact of sea ice transport on the observed anomalies during the summers of 2020 and 2021Recent work23,24,25 has emphasized the role that sea ice mass transport plays in determining the characteristics of pack ice in the Beaufort Sea. This transport can be decomposed into contributions from ice motion and from ice thickness; the seasonal climatology of these constituents as well as conditions during 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 are shown in Fig. 5. The climatology (Fig. 5a–d) indicates the presence of a seasonally varying anticyclonic Beaufort Gyre in the western Arctic as well as the presence of the thickest ice along the northern coast of Greenland and the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, i.e., the LIA. The spatial extent of the Beaufort Gyre is largest during the cool season, defined as fall (OND), winter (JFM) and spring (AMJ) when there is transport of ice from the LIA into the Beaufort Sea as well as transport of ice out of the Beaufort Sea into the Chukchi Sea. During summer (JAS), the Beaufort Gyre shrinks to only fill the Beaufort Sea.Fig. 5: Annual cycle in seasonal mean (OND: October–December; JFM: January–March; AMJ: April–June; JAS: July–September) sea ice thickness (shading – m) and sea ice motion (vectors- km/day).Results are shown for climatology (a–d) as well as 2019/2020 (e–h) and 2020/2021 (i–l). The polygon indicates the region along the Beaufort Coast over which statistics were computed. All fields are from PIOMAS.Full size imageThe situation during 2019/2020 (Fig. 5e–h) differs markedly from the climatology. During fall 2019 (Fig. 5e), the Beaufort Gyre was displaced southwestward with a small region of cyclonic ice motion at the boundary between the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. Consistent with the collapse of the Beaufort High during winter 202026, ice motion during this period (Fig. 5f) is generally eastward in the Beaufort Sea and largely cyclonic over the entire Arctic Ocean. This results in ice transport from the Chukchi Sea into the Beaufort Sea and even beyond, i.e., into the LIA. In spring 2020 (Fig. 5g), transport continued from the Beaufort Sea to the LIA, although the Chukchi-to-Beaufort transport abated. By summer 2020, ice motion had reverted toward climatology (Fig. 5h).Conditions during 2020/2021 (Fig. 5i–l) were closer to climatology as compared to 2019/2020, although with some differences. Most notably during fall 2020 (Fig. 5i), the transport of thick, old ice from the LIA was restricted to a narrow region along the coast of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, which appears to be linked to the presence of thick ice in the eastern Beaufort Sea. As discussed previously23, this strong transport continued into winter 2021 (Fig. 5j), although its width increased and thus broadly impacted the northeastern Beaufort Sea. There was also strong westward transport out of the Beaufort into the Chukchi Sea.Figure 6 shows the anomalies in sea ice motion, mass convergence, and thickness for the winters of 2020 and 2021 as well as the anomalies in sea-level pressure and 10 m wind fields for the same periods. The contrast in ice motion and sea ice thickness between the two winters is striking. During winter 2020 (Fig. 6a), anomalous cyclonic ice motion is evident as well as anomalously thick sea ice against Banks Island caused by convergence forced by eastward motion at this time (Fig. 6c, which actually started in fall 2019, Fig. 5f). Convergence also extends from the eastern Beaufort into the western LIA, where it acts to counter the long-term thinning trend; the result is enhanced negative ice thickness anomalies. This is supported by a comparison with winter 2021 (Fig. 6b, d), when thickness anomalies were much more negative and ice motion in the western LIA was closer to climatology, i.e., weakly divergent. Comparison of ice motion and thickness fields in the winters of 2020 and 2021 (Supplementary Fig. S2) demonstrates that the differences between these 2 years extend all the way from the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas into the western LIA.Fig. 6: Anomalous nature of the winter (JFM) sea ice and atmospheric circulation during 2020 and 2021.Sea ice thickness (shading – m) and sea ice motion (vectors- km/day) anomalies with respect to climatology (2007–2019) for: a 2020 and b 2021. Sea ice mass convergence (shading – m/month) and sea ice motion (vectors- km/day) anomalies with respect to climatology (2007–2019) for: c 2020 and d 2021. Sea-level pressure (contours – mb), 10 m wind (vectors- m/s) and 10 m wind speed (shading-m/s) anomalies with respect to climatology (1979–2021) for: e 2020 and f 2021. The polygon indicates the region along the Beaufort Coast over which statistics were computed. Sea ice fields are from PIOMAS. Atmospheric fields are from ERA5.Full size imageThe atmospheric circulation anomalies for these two winters highlight the role that sea-level pressure plays in forcing ice motion. During winter 2020 (Fig. 6e), the collapse of the Beaufort High26 resulted in lower sea-level pressures across the Arctic Ocean associated with a minimum 16 mb lower than climatology centered over the Barents Sea. Associated with this collapse, a cyclonic surface wind anomaly was present across the Arctic Ocean with a particularly high amplitude across the western boundary of the Beaufort Sea. In contrast, winter 2021 (Fig. 6f) was characterized by higher sea-level pressure over the Arctic Ocean with a maximum anomaly of 8 mb over the Barents Sea. As a result of this pressure perturbation, wind speeds were higher over the Arctic Ocean but did not reach the magnitudes observed during winter 2020.Quantifying the role of ice transport in anomalous Beaufort Sea ice conditions during the winters of 2019/2020 and 2020/2021Ice area and volume fluxes provide a way to quantify the transport of sea ice30. Figure 7 shows the cumulative fluxes across the boundaries of the Beaufort Sea (as defined in Fig. 1) from October 1 through the following June 1 for 2019/2020, 2020/2021, as well as a climatology for the first 13 years of the young ice period 2007–2019. Positive values indicate a flux into the region. Daily PIOMAS ice motion and ice thickness data were used to calculate these fluxes. The ice area fluxes were also computed using the NSIDC ice motion data31 with similar results obtained (Supplementary Fig. S3).Fig. 7: Variability in the PIOMAS sea ice fluxes into the region of interest.Cumulative: a ice area (105km2) flux and b ice volume flux (102km3) through the northern boundary of the region of interest. Cumulative: c ice area (105km2) flux and d ice volume flux (102km3) through the western boundary of the region of interest. The net cumulative: e ice area (105km2) flux and f ice volume flux (102km3) through the northern and western boundaries of the region of interest. Results are shown for climatology (2007–2019) as well as for 2019–2020 and 2020–2021 with the shading representing +/− one standard deviation above/below the climatological mean. Positive fluxes are into the region of interest.Full size imageWe first consider the northern boundary. The ice area and volume fluxes across this boundary are relatively small in the climatology (Fig. 7a, b), with interannual variability that includes some years in which the fluxes are negative, i.e., from the Beaufort Sea toward the LIA. During the period from October to January in 2019/2020 as well as in 2020/2021, ice area and volume fluxes are positive and growing, at rates near or above the climatological mean, indicating intensifying ice transport into the Beaufort Sea. After January, the 2 years differ. In winter 2020 the cumulative fluxes plateau, indicating near-zero values in contrast to the climatology which continues to grow. Then in spring 2020 the fluxes turn strongly negative, with values of one or more standard deviation below the mean, implying an export of ice from the Beaufort Sea into the LIA. In fact, the cool season 2019/2020 ends with an unusually large net export of ice volume from the Beaufort into the LIA. The following year, we see that the fluxes in winter 2021 continue to intensify at about 1 standard deviation above the mean. Then in spring the cumulative fluxes decline back toward the climatological mean, with end-of-cool-season values near the climatological young ice regime mean of net transport from the LIA into the Beaufort.At the western boundary, climatological ice area and ice volume fluxes are both directed out of the Beaufort Sea and into the Chukchi Sea (Fig. 7c, d). Although interannual variability is higher than that at the northern boundary, the fluxes are typically always negative. This is what makes the 2019/2020 area and volume fluxes so remarkable, in that they are nearly zero through winter 2020, and then turn strongly positive in spring, with values at or exceeding the mean by more than one standard deviation throughout the entire period. These positive fluxes reflect strong ice import from the west (Fig. 5f). In contrast, the fluxes in 2020/2021 became large and negative by early winter (greater than 1 standard deviation from the climatological mean), although this moderates later in the winter and spring. In this year, fluxes were strongly westward, from the Beaufort into the Chukchi Sea.The sum of the fluxes across the two boundaries provides a measure of the net transport into the Beaufort Sea (Fig. 7e, f). The climatology indicates that the net ice area and volume fluxes are negative, indicating a loss of ice from the Beaufort Sea. This reflects the fact that the transport out of the region through the western boundary usually exceeds the transport into the region through the northern boundary. In this context, the net fluxes during 2019/2020 again stand out as remarkable, since they are strongly positive (i.e., net transport into the Beaufort), especially for ice area flux. The net fluxes during 2020/2021 are closer to climatological values, and are well within the range of climatological variability.Impact of cool season ice fluxes on Beaufort Sea summer ice conditionsIn this section, we seek to quantify how the cool-season sea ice transport into the Beaufort Sea impacts ice conditions in the following summer using two metrics. The first metric is Beaufort Sea ice volume (i.e., the product of ice thickness and ice concentration27) on June 1. Even though melt can occur in parts of the study region prior to the beginning of June32, it is nevertheless a useful date for the start of the melt season. Our second metric is Beaufort Sea area-mean ice concentration during September, a measure of ice conditions at the end of the melt season and a closely observed indicator of climate change33,34.In Fig. 8, we correlate the net ice volume flux over the cool season, i.e., the period from October 1 to June 1 of the following year, against the Beaufort Sea June 1 ice volume anomaly, calculated by detrending the time series using a step function in 2007 that takes into account the changes between the new and old ice regimes (Fig. 2). The ice volume flux does not exhibit any trend and so no detrending was done for this time series. The correlation was done for both the old and young ice regimes. For both periods, there is a statistically significant linear relationship showing that larger net cool season ice transport into the Beaufort Sea leads to larger ice volume anomalies on June 1. However, the larger spread in the data for the old ice regime leads to a smaller percentage of the variance explained by ice transport, ~14%, as compared to ~45% for the young ice regime. The statistics are similar if May 1 is used as the end of the cool season, although using April 1 degrades the relationship to statistical insignificance, consistent with the springtime “predictability barrier”35 that arises from late-winter variability in ice-dynamics and ice growth.Fig. 8: Relationship between cumulative cool season ice volume flux into the Beaufort Sea region and June 1 Beaufort Sea ice volume 1980–2021.Scatterplot of the cool season (October 1 – June 1 following year) PIOMAS ice volume flux and June 1 PIOMAS ice volume anomaly. Linear least squares fit to the data for the two regimes are also shown as are the percentage of the variance explained. The ice volume time series has been detrended by step functions with a breakpoint in 2007.Full size imageRegarding conditions at the end of the summer, it seems intuitive that ice retreat might be slowed by the presence of thick ice. Indeed, discussions in the popular press5 have speculated that thick ice contributed to the relatively moderate September 2021 sea ice extent (12th lowest on record and the highest since 2014). On the other hand, it has also been suggested that cool atmospheric conditions during the summer of 2021 contributed to this relative maxima in sea ice extent36.To explore this question, we correlate PIOMAS-derived Beaufort Sea ice volume on June 1 with NSIDC CDR-derived September-mean sea ice concentration37. Given the nature of the underlying time series (Fig. 2), we have used step functions with a breakpoint in 2007 to detrend the data (see Materials and Methods). Although there is considerable spread, Fig. 9 indicates that there is a statistically significant linear relationship, with June 1 ice volume accounting for just under 40% of the variability in ice concentration during September for both the old and new ice regimes. Similar results are obtained if one uses the PIOMAS sea ice concentration during September (Supplementary Fig. S4).Fig. 9: Relationship between June 1 ice conditions and September mean ice concentration 1979–2021.Scatterplot of the June 1 PIOMAS ice volume anomaly and the NSIDC CDR September monthly mean ice concentration anomaly. Linear least squares fit to the data for the two regimes are also shown as are the percentage of the variance explained. Both time series have been detrended by step functions with a breakpoint in 2007.Full size imageA next logical step might be to link these two correlations together and ask, How does cool season ice transport impact end-of-summer ice concentration? Given the above results, assuming that there are no other factors related to cool season transport that impact summer ice melt and the cascade of probabilities, one would expect that the former would explain ~5% and ~16% of the variability in the latter for the old and new ice regimes. The results shown in Supplementary Fig. S5 confirm these assumptions; however, we also find that this relationship is not statistically significant in either regime. More

To date, many kinds of potential predator–prey interactions have been demonstrated between ticks and a wide range of animals, including birds, mammals, and arthropods such as beetles, spiders, and ants1,2,3. Of those, the ants were indicated to be one of the most effective tick predators4,5. More than 27 ant species of 17 genera (Anoplolepis, Aphaenogaster, Camponotus, Crematogaster, Ectatomma, Formica, Iridomyrmex, Meranoplus, Monomorium, Myrmica, Notoncus, Pheidole, Pogonomyrmex, Polyrhachis, Rhytidoponera, Solenopsis, and Tapinoma) have been reported to be effective on different tick species (Amblyomma spp., Boophilus spp., Ornithodoros spp., Ixodes spp., Argas spp., Aponomma hydrosauri, Rhipicephalus appendiculatus, Otobius megnini, and Dermacentor variabilis)2,6,7,8. It is known that ants and other predators can affect ticks in a consumptive or nonconsumptive / behavioral manner and, as a result, may reduce the abundance of ticks in the overlap ranges8,9,10. However, the effects of ants on ticks are closely related to the ant species and the species, developmental stages, and physiological status of the ticks, and as a consequence, the impact of ants on ticks can exhibit fairly high variability2,8. Furthermore, there is no sufficient data on the factors determining the tick-ant relationship11,12.Ant predation has been examined in all developmental stages of ticks, but the proportion of the studies based on the eggs is relatively low compared to the other stages2. In an egg-based study, the eggs of O. megnini, the spinose ear tick, were supplied to five different ant species, and of those, Tapinoma melanocephalum was the only species that fed on the eggs7. Conflicting results have been reported from the studies13,14 carried out to determine the predatory effects of ant species Pheidole megacephala on the eggs of Boophilus (Rhipicephalus) microplus14. Rhipicephalus sanguineus was demonstrated to secrete an acarine allomone when attacked by fire ants, Solenopsis invicta15. This allomone-based ant deterrence is known to protect ticks from being eliminated within the sympatric range. The eggs, intact and cracked, of tick species Amblyomma americanum were not attacked by S. invicta, and it was interpreted that this deterrence might be related to the possible presence of the allomone within the eggs12.This study was carried out to determine whether the ant species Lasius alienus (Förster, 1850) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) has any predatory effect on the eggs of tick species Hyalomma marginatum, H. excavatum, and Rhipicephalus bursa, and if the tick egg wax has any protective properties against possible predation. Ticks lay eggs (each 50–100 µg in weight and 0.5–1 mm in length) with a wax coat 0.5–2.0 µm thick, which is secreted by the female-tick-specific glands and organs such as the Gené’s16,17. Different molecules have been detected in the wax, such as alkanes, fatty acids, steroids, alcohols, and some specific proteins and lipoproteins18,19,20. However, detailed data on the wax content, especially its bioactive components, are not yet available20,21. As for the function of the wax, it has been reported that it reduces water loss, waterproofs the eggs, ensures the proper gas exchange between the eggs and air and holds the eggs together16,18. The wax also provides protection against chemical and physical factors such as cold, heat, proteinase K and pronase, or microbial agents including bacteria, fungi, viruses, and protozoa19,20,21,22,23,24,25.Lasius alienus is one of the most abundant ant species in the Western Palearctic26. Its distribution area can range from natural open habitats, light forests, and forest edges to urbanized areas such as wooded residential areas and gardens. The nests can be encountered mostly in the soil, under stones, or other substances, and the nest densities may reach up to 10–50 nests/100 m2 in some endemic territories. The number of workers (2­4 mm in length) in a colony can be more than 10,000. In the active periods in hot and warm months, workers establish foraging trails on the ground, in trees, and even in dwellings for food27,28. Lasius alienus was reported to gather plant nectar, honeydew secreted by aphids and to consume both dead and small living arthropods28,29,30. However, there is no data in the literature on whether this or any other species in the Lasius genera have a predatory interaction with ticks. Furthermore, the only definitive association of L. alienus with predation on Acarina has been established recently with Dermanyssus gallinae (poultry red mite)31.Considering the fact that the workers of L. alienus can forage effectively in many different places within the wide range distribution area27,28,31, it seems quite possible that several tick species encounter this ant species in their habitat32. This ant can feed by scavenging and predating small insects, and it meets their protein needs by hunting large numbers of small invertebrates, especially during larval feeding periods using the central foraging strategy29. Whichever invertebrates are abundant in their environment, the ants undoubtedly tend to consume more of them, especially if they are easy to hunt and transport27,28,29. Engorged large female ixodid ticks (around 1–1.5 cm depending on the species) lay a single batch of a large number of eggs (hundreds or thousands depending on the species and feeding levels) for several days or weeks at the hiding points such as cracks, crevices, and spaces under stones or various objects on the ground21,33 that the ant can easily reach due to its small size. In ixodid ticks, the female ticks lay eggs at once and die. The next generation continues entirely through the eggs21. Referring to these data, it seems hypothetically possible that any level of predation of L. alienus on the eggs, which are immobile and easy to reach and carry for the ants, can have a direct effect on the tick community in the overlap ranges. At this point, of course, whether the natural distribution areas of the ant and tick species overlap and, potentially, whether there is a possible evolutionary background between them are of the expected determining factors in a possible predation34.The nests of L. alienus can be seen almost everywhere in the soil in its ranging territories, however, the density increases from dry steppe, open pasture and bushlands to cultivated areas, woodlands, and gardens29. In this study, three ixodid tick species were selected that are more or less different from each other in terms of biology, ecology, and therefore the probability of encountering L. alienus in their natural habitat. Of these, H. marginatum is a two-host tick, the immature stages (larvae and nymphs) prefer rabbits, hedgehogs and birds to feed, and the adults (male and female) use particularly cattle as host. The immature stages of mostly three-host tick H. excavatum, wild rodents are the preferable host, and a wide range of large wild animals, cattle and some other domestic animals can be the host for the adults. Both species are known as arid environment ticks, however, in accordance with their different host preferences as well, H. excavatum is more prevalent in the arid open fields, steppe, and bushlands32,35. Both immature and adult stages of two-host tick R. bursa use primarily domestic ruminants to feed. Although there is no detailed data on the natural dynamics of R. bursa, this species is suspected of having a kind of peri-farm natural dynamics32. More

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