The 3D lab

Landmark

Posted on September 11, 2016 by lembrechtsjonas

Everywhere you go in the area around Abisko, this impressive landmark jumps to the eye: the Lapporten.

The ski lift that brings you up on Nuolja

This U-shaped valley overlooking the large valley of the Abiskojokka (the Abisko river) and the Abisko National Park, stands as one of the best-known views of Lapland.

View on Lapporten when entering from Norway

It is shaped in this pretty characteristic way by glaciers and freeze-thaw cycles, some of the most destructive – yet slow – natural forces in the north.

It is a true landmark, and most likely even used for ages by the Saami-people as a landmark while they are out to herd their reindeer. Now it marks the National Park, the views at the start of the world-famous Kungsleden multiday mountain hike and, for me, the fieldwork season in the north.

Working with a view, our experiment on Nuolja

But why always here, you might ask? What brings me and all these other scientists back to Abisko year after year?

There is of course the accessibility: close to Kiruna Airport, good road, impressive accommodation for being in such a remote region. It all makes it a whole lot easier to study the Arctic from here.

But there is another factor at play: there is just so much known already about this place. Abisko is the Arabidopsis of the North, the lab rat of the Arctic. Having this hundreds years of research to build upon is just useful and exciting.

Lapporten has been watching so many generations of scientists already, and I am maybe even a bit proud to be one of them.

Posted in Sweden | Tagged Abisko, Hiking, Landscape photography, Landscapes, Lapland, Nature photography, Photography, Scandinavia, Science, Sweden, Travel | 6 Comments

Defeated

Posted on September 5, 2016 by lembrechtsjonas

Like the fellowship of the ring trying to cross the Redhorn Pass, where Saruman sent a snowstorm to throw them back, that’s how we felt today.

Dramatic autumn sceneries in Laktatjakka valley

Our personal Mount Caradras was the Laktatjakka valley, the valley of doom, where a permanent cloud seems to be stationed day in day out. While in the rest of Lapland the sun got plenty of playtime today, we quickly walked into the mist. At 900 meters already, the snow started to fall, while we had to go up to a 1200.

Goodbye beautiful sunny weather (in the valley in the far back), we are ready to enter the cloud!

We tried, I have to say, we tried our very best, but the mountain was too strong. Winter caught up to us in the most dramatic way. I did not want to overdo it, though, there is no reason to freeze of your fingers for a few plots, so better safe than sorry. Luckily, hiking was still perfectly doable- the snow was not that bad, but identifying plants if they are covered in a layer of fresh snow, that is just not the best idea.

Aiming higher, but the snow was not gonna get less

You will have to forgive me though that photographic proof of our adventure is limited, I was just not feeling the urge to take out my camera with the snowflakes beating down at us!

Posted in Sweden | Tagged Fieldwork, Hiking, Landscape photography, Landscapes, Mountains, Nature, Outdoors, Scandinavia, Snow, Sweden, Winter | 7 Comments

Berrymania

Posted on September 3, 2016 by lembrechtsjonas

Sweden is the land of the berries. That statement inevitably pops up in your head if you roam through the Scandinavian mountains in September.

The bunchberry or dwarf cornel (Cornus suecica). Should be edible, but I did not try to eat it yet…

Cloudberries, blueberries, lingonberries, raspberries, stone brambles, bilberries, bunchberries, they got them all, hundreds, or even thousands of them.

They are not all as tasty, though, but it seems impossible to walk a hundred meters without seeing the blueberries, the uncrowned king of the Scandinavian berrymania.

The high season for blueberry-mania; the berries are fat and everywhere

My personal favourite is once and for all the cloudberry, but unfortunately they have been impossible to find up till now. Unlike the bluebbery, they do not grow in these vast fields, yet more lonely in the bogs.

Nothing like a good field of blueberries (Vaccinium myrtillus) to colour your autumn red

The good news for us: looking at plants is our most important job here during our ecological fieldwork in Abisko in the high north. And if that includes some berry-work, so be it… We cannot let these precious things go to waste, can we?

Posted in Sweden | Tagged Autumn, Berries, Food, Fruit, Hiking, Mountains, Nature, Outdoors, Photography, Plants, Scandinavia, Traveling | 7 Comments

Autumn is awesome

Posted on September 2, 2016 by lembrechtsjonas

At least when the sun is shining…

That’s what I call a color palette: yellow birch forest meets blue lake Torneträsk in Abisko.

Currently, we are hiding inside for the autumn rains and the poor 6 °C they come with. Yet when the sun is out to lighten up all the colors, the Arctic world seems to be on fire. We have 8 days of autumn fieldwork here in Abisko, Sweden, and the weather already promised to be, well, interesting.

Hiking trail above lake Torneträsk in Abisko

Unfortunately, we cannot hide for long. The work needs to be done, the time is limited. We will have to face the rains and the freezing cold this afternoon, and start our struggle with wet papers and even more soaking wet willow shrubs.

The arctic birches are at the height of their yellowness

But hey, we keep our spirits up, as long as you have hot tea to take in the field, all will be fine. But your support for our cold task is very much welcomed!

Fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium) can turn whole areas beautifully red

Posted in Sweden | Tagged Abisko, arctic, Autumn, Colors, Forests, Hiking, Landscape photography, Landscapes, Mountains, Nature, Outdoors, Sweden | Leave a comment

Charging the batteries

Posted on August 29, 2016 by lembrechtsjonas

The end of August is the best season to see the heather flowering

A few more days of charging the batteries here in Belgium before we head up back north to the colds of the Arctic.

There seems to be an unfortunate negative correlation between the weather in Belgium and the weather in the north of Scandinavia. Now Belgium and the rest of Western Europe are enjoying a lengthy period of beautiful summer weather, but as usual the northern Scandes seem to be left out of it.

This mostly likely means I gonna have to put my head in the clouds again next week, as the low-hanging clouds seem to be omnipresent on our mountain. Yet you never know for sure what the weather will bring, so I’ll just keep my hopes up high!

No reason though to deprive myself of sun and warmth while I’m still down here at home. And where better to celebrate summer than between the big beeches and oaks of the Meerdaal forest, one of Flanders’ oldest forests?

GR-route through the Meerdaalwoud

Red admiral butterfly

Posted in Belgium | Tagged Belgium, Forests, Hiking, Landscape photography, Meerdaalwoud, Nature, Nature photography, Outdoors, Summer, Travel | Leave a comment

JFK

Posted on August 27, 2016 by lembrechtsjonas

Sunset from JFK New York, last week, on our way back from the ESA ecological conference in Florida. I guess they call this a #trowback…

I have had time to think about all I learned in America, and my main conclusion shouldn’t surprise anybody who recalls the size of that meeting (more than 3000 scientists!):

There is just so much ecological science going on!

And with that realisation came a second one: I do want to put in all effort needed to keep my personal ecological knowledge broad. I don’t want to be squeezed in further and further in one tiny corner of ecology – as exciting as it might be, I want to contribute to its core.

That’s part of the goals for this autumn. But first things first: a trip to the mountains next week!