The well-being and sustainability of Arctic and other cold region environments (including alpine and Antarctic regions) and societies rely on marine, coastal, and terrestrial ecosystem services. Sustainable ecosystem services that can support human well-being are also key to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Arctic and cold region societies share unique characteristics and challenges in the process of achieving these SDGs. They include low but often growing human populations and geographical isolation that makes them highly dependent on both national and international trade, but also on subsistence livelihoods. Indeed, these regions benefit from abundant natural resources allowing strong socio-cultural and economic dependence on fishing, hunting, and tourism. Furthermore, Arctic and cold region environments are among the most vulnerable in the world to rapid climate change and are attracting increased industrial interests.

Manuscript deadline: 22 April 2024

In this special issue, the editors welcome contributions that address:

    • The underlying physical, chemical, geological, ecological, and/or social underpinnings of ecosystem services, including climate feedbacks in cold region environments. 
    • The human well-being contributions of ecosystem services in the Arctic, including for food security, health, and revenue.
    • Case studies that address the socio-ecological, economic, or policy implications of achieving the SDGs in the Arctic.
      Improved methodological approaches for assessing (both quantitatively and qualitatively) or scaling ecosystem services or nature’s contributions to people in the Arctic.
    • Studies that draw on multiple ways of knowing, including the inclusion of local and/or Indigenous knowledge, in order to ask questions concerning any aspect of ecosystem services or sustainability in cold region environments.

Your helper

Jen Hall-Bowman is the Managing Editor of INSTAAR’s peer-reviewed academic journal Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research. She can help you with anything related to the journal.

Browse AAAR

Take a look at the current and past issues of AAAR on the Taylor & Francis website. AAAR is fully open-access and available for anyone with a web connection to read.

Submit a paper

AAAR publishes international research on the past, present, and future of cold region environments, including in biogeochemistry, climatology, cryology, ecology, geomorphology, glaciology, hydrology, oceanography, paleosciences, and social sciences. Papers may be unidisciplinary or multidisciplinary, but should have interdisciplinary appeal. The journal accepts research articles, review articles, several types of short communications, and science briefs for its Arctic Answers section. See the Taylor & Francis website for more information on the journal's scope and aims, and for instructions to authors.

Special Issue Editors:

Merritt Turetsky, Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado Boulder
merritt.turetsky@colorado.edu

Anne Jennings, Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado Boulder
anne.jennings@colorado.edu

Todd Brinkman, University of Alaska Fairbanks
tjbrinkman@alaska.edu

Marianne Falardeau, Laval University, Canada
marianne.falardeau-cote.1@ulaval.ca

Astrid Ogilvie, Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, U.S.A.; Stefansson Arctic Institute, Akureyri, Iceland
astrid.ogilvie@colorado.edu