Ecosystems

- Arctic soils and springs

- Arctic lakes and rivers

- Subarctic lakes and rivers

- High Arctic ice shelves

- High Arctic fjords

- Arctic seas

Microbes

- Viruses

- Archaea

- Bacteria

- Cyanobacteria

- Protists and food webs

Quick Links

Participating laboratories

Supporting organizations

News and outreach

Metadata access

The International Polar Year (IPY) runs from 2007 to 2009 and is a concerted research program on all aspects of the Arctic and Antarctica, involving more than 10, 000 polar scientists.

One of the IPY programs is MERGE: Microbiological and Ecological Responses to Global Environmental change in the polar regions.

Our research in the MERGE-Canada program is on arctic aquatic ecosystems and their surrounding catchments, with emphasis on the biodiversity of their microscopic life.

"By any criterion - biomass or numbers of individuals - life on Earth is microscopic. It is the new generation of explorers of this ’invisible’ world who are transforming our world view beyond recognition."  Ree, S. 2004. Earth’s real biodiversity is invisible, whether we like it or not. Nature 429: 804-5.

© Copyright 2007 IPY MERGE. All rights reserved.