Dwelling in the deep

Installation, glass, hare’s tail, metal, water, 25x25x80 cm, 2020, Small Projects, Tromsø

During experiments where scientists have manipulated the heating of areas with permafrost, it has been shown that large amounts of carbon dioxide and nitrogen are exposed deep in the ground, deep below the active soil layer that thaws and freezes every season. When the permafrost during the active layer thaws, soil volume that was previously unavailable becomes available to plant roots. Different plants fight for nitrogen in the soil, and some grow stronger than others. A species that has done just this in the areas where a faster thawing of permafrost has been induced, is hare’s tale (Eriphorum vaginatum). In a study done on Storflaket, about 7 km from Abisko Scientific Research Station, it turned out that its roots dug 4.4 times further into the thawed soil. This means that the hare’s tale’s roots colonize soil that has never been available to it before, and that it can take up nitrogen deeper down than most other species. The extent to which plant roots can reach and interact with this layer of hitherto isolated carbon dioxide and nitrogen and what consequences this has, is still a mystery.