Arctic Marine Biology:
The research within this group is on Arctic marine ecology in general. Current
projects involve studies of pelagos, benthos and sympagos, and the main focus
is on invertebrates at lower trophic levels.
CLEOPATRA: Climate effects on planktonic food
quality and trophic transfer in Arctic Marginal Ice
Zones
This Norwegian IPY-project, led by UNIS, studies the
Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ), which is the key productive
area of Arctic shelf seas. The ongoing warming of Arctic
regions will lead to a northward retreat of the MIZ,
and to an earlier opening of huge areas in spring. This
may result in a temporal mismatch between the phytoplankton
spring bloom and zooplankton reproduction.
Less ice will also reduce the ice algae production that
may be an important food source for spawning zooplankton
prior to the phytoplankton spring bloom. Quantity and
quality of primary production in seasonally ice-covered
seas is primarily regulated by light and nutrients. Excess
light, however, is potentially detrimental for algae
and can reduce algal food quality. A decrease in the
relative amount of essential polyunsaturated fatty acids
(PUFAs) in algae due to excess light may affect the reproductive
success and growth of zooplankton, and thereby the transport
of energy to higher trophic levels, such as fish, birds,
and mammals.
For more information, contact Janne Søreide, Post Doc
in Marine Biology
Also see www.iceedge.no/cleopatra
KLEPTO:
Stealing bivalves from a diving duck: kleptoparasitism of common eiders by glaucous gulls
This project, mainly financed by Svalbards Miljøvernfond, focuses on the interaction between foraging eiders and the glaucous gull in the waters near Longyearbyen. We study how the kleptoparasitic behaviour of the glaucous gulls, their stealing of food from the common eider, relates to time of the season as well as the flock dynamics and behaviour of the eiders.
For more information, see this field report or contact Øystein Varpe
Arctic Terrestrial Biology:
The terrestrial group works on a variety of zoological,
botanical and microbiological projects related to the
Arctic. Topics include plant population and community
processes, genetic variation in plants, climate impact
and plant-animal interactions, as well as general ecology,
dispersal and cold tolerance in invertebrates.
Geographic scale dispersal
Atmospheric
dispersal and survival at altitude
There are many records of flightless invertebrates being
sampled from various altitudes. However, since the
majority of sampling methodologies return dead insects
it is not often possible to know if the invertebrate
was alive at the moment of sampling. This is obviously
essential information if the contribution of the aerial
fauna to the colonization of the Arctic is to be fully
understood.
The project will involve recreating the conditions (temperature,
humidity and pressure) and determine the survival period
for a range of suitable invertebrates.
For more information, contact Steve Coulson, Associate
Professor in Terrestrial Biology. More information about Coulsons current projects can be found here.
Invertebrate biogeography of Svalbard.
SPIDER - Svalbard Photographic Invertebrate Database and Educational Resource. Here you will find an information source concerning the terrestrial and freshwater invertebrate fauna of Svalbard. What is an 'invertebrate'? Invertebrate is a general term for all animals without backbones, for example insects, spiders and worms.
www.svalbardinsects.net
There are some 1,100 species of invertebrate recorded from the archipelago including 230 species of insect and 19 species of spider but they are often hard to observe. The aim of this webpage is to provide information about this fascinating group of animals, for example, what is here? How did it get here? How does it survive here?
This is an ongoing project and the site will be continually developed. It is hoped these pages will be of interest to both locals and visitors to Svalbard.
Acknowledgements:- Svalbard Environmental Protection Fund project number 08/04 and the University Centre on Svalbard (UNIS).
Long distance dispersal of soil invertebrates
via bird transport
The role of migrating birds in the transport of soil
microarthropds into the Arctic has received new interest
following a series of publications detailing the common
occurrence of such invertebrates in the plumage of a
wide range of birds, including birds from Svalbard.
This project will aim to quantify this dispersal in
collaboration with Prof. Lebedeva from the Kola Science
Centre, Rostov-on-Don in Russia.
For more information, contact
María Luisa Ávila Jiménez, PhD student, terrestrial biology.
Extended survival of invertebrates on sea water
immersion
It is known that invertebrates have a high tolerance
to immersion in sea water or freezing in ice. However,
the limits of this response and variation between species
and individuals are unknown. This will be characterized
using a variety of long term experiments.
For more information, contact Steve Coulson, Associate
Professor in Terrestrial Biology. More information about Coulsons current projects can be found here.
Landscape scale dispersal and biogeography
Local biogeography – the invertebrate fauna
of east coast of Svalbard incl. Nordaustlandet
It is hypothesized that the invertebrate fauna on the
cold east coast of Svalbard will be influenced by immigration
pathways from the east and north east with the prevailing
winds and ocean currents in contrast to the south and
south westerly currents and winds that dominate the mild
west coast. There are extremely few records of the invertebrate
fauna from the east coast, almost all coming from the
vicinity of Longyearbyen, Ny-Ålesund and a few from and
it is expected that the east coast / Nordaustlandet community
will include new species.
This project will aim to detail the invertebrate communities
on the east coast, including several localities on Nordaustlandet
and Edgeøya. Data will be used to propose the source
populations for the faunas and better improve our knowledge
of the invertebrate fauna of Svalbard. Samples will
be preserved for genetic analysis. Collaboration with
the botanists investigating similar problems in plant
dispersal (Dr. Inger Alsos/UNIS) will enable the genetic
work to proceed.
For more information, contact María Luisa Ávila Jiménez, PhD student, terrestrial biology.
Short distance dispersal and local population
heterogeneity
The genetic profiles of Collembola and mite populations
will be determined to establish the population heterogeneity
and estimate local migration patterns. Movement patterns
of Collembola, including their responses to temperature
and density dependence will be assessed. Computer models
to describe local movement will be developed in collaboration
with AYRNA research group, Dep. Informatics and Numerical
Analysis, University of Córdoba (Spain).
For more information, contact María Luisa Ávila Jiménez, PhD student, terrestrial biology.
Nunatak fauna of West Spitsbergen
Samples have been taken from the summit of c. 50 nunataks
in West Spitsbergen in collaboration with the Norwegian
Polar Institute. These will be analyzed to determine
community composition. Genetic analysis techniques
will be employed to determine the degree of isolation
of these peaks and the age of the local populations.
For more information, contact María Luisa Ávila Jiménez, PhD student, terrestrial biology.
Aerial dispersal of invertebrates
It is appreciated that in Polar regions the dispersal
of flightless invertebrates may be importance. The
aerial rain of invertebrates will be determined using
a variety of water and sticky traps and will be undertaken
in collaboration with the botanists at UNIS studying
seed dispersal. Sites will be located in a variety
of locations and close to meteorological stations to
enable the effect of wind speed and direction to be
determined.
For more information, contact Steve Coulson, Associate
Professor in Terrestrial Biology. More information about Coulsons current projects can be found here.
Establishment
The controls of the establishment of invertebrate
species on Svalbard
Although many species of invertebrate may be able to
successfully disperse to Svalbard, fewer may be able
to establish. Invertebrates and plants must be pre-adapted
to the physical environment (extreme variation in day
length, short cool summer and long cold winter). Species
must have the ability to tolerate the environment in
order to survive and adapt to the conditions. The ability
of a range of mainland Norway plant and invertebrate
species to establish on Svalbard will be tested using
ventilated greenhouses to enable the effect of the natural
environment (e.g. day length and light wavelength) on
the flora and fauna to be determined.
¨
For more information, contact Steve Coulson, Associate
Professor in Terrestrial Biology. More information about Coulsons current projects can be found here.
The effect of multiple freeze thaw cycles on
the survival of an overwintering freeze tolerance insect
It is often stated that freeze avoiding species dominate
in central Europe as these species can survive the multiple
freeze thaw events characteristic of such regions better
than freeze avoiding species. Recent evidence for one
freeze tolerant species from Svalbard suggests that this
species has a very high tolerance of multiple freeze
– thaw cycles. This will be investigated in collaboration
with Drs Peter Convey and Roger Worland at the British
Antarctic Survey in Cambridge and other hypotheses for
the restricted distribution of freeze tolerance invertebrates
explored.
For more information, contact Steve Coulson, Associate
Professor in Terrestrial Biology. More information about Coulsons current projects can be found here.
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