Arctic Biology

25 August 2011

Lorna Little is like a Polar ping pong ball, going back and forth between the Sub Antarctic and the High Arctic to investigate plant reproduction. Here is her field report from summer 2011.

13 July 2011

They are no bigger than 2mm and yet their total biomass in Svalbard is probably bigger than the biomass of all Svalbard polar bears together! New research can tell us more about how, when and from where the springtails arrived in Svalbard.

11 May 2011

Marine organisms in the Arctic Ocean have a daily rhythm cued on by light – even in the dark season when it is pitch black outside and the ocean has a thick ice cover preventing light from penetrating into the water. But how light sensitive are these organisms – and what light sources affect their behavior? Experiments at UNIS is part of a PhD project aiming at finding out just that.

20 December 2010

More than 10.000 marine species live in the European oceans. But there is no comprehensive pattern of relationship between latitude and marine fauna biodiversity. More coordinated research efforts are needed to fully understand the marine biodiversity and develop proper management mechanisms, according to a recently published paper.

10 November 2010

UNIS biologists have had a strong focus on rare plant species during field work over the last few years. The increased knowledge has resulted in several changes in the red list status for vascular plants in Svalbard.

18 October 2010

Svalbard plants have precious little time to grow and reproduce during the short and cold summer season. Survival strategies include color, as colorful flowers are believed to be warmer and be more attractive to insects to secure pollination. But how come is 48 % of the Svalbard flora white? A PhD project aims at finding the answer.

1 August 2010

When thinking of animals in Svalbard perhaps the first to spring to mind are the ‘cuddly’ ones, the polar bear, reindeer, fox or perhaps the sea birds. But, whereas there are three species of terrestrial mammal on Svalbard and only 28 species of birds breed regularly on the archipelago, there are over 1,100 species of terrestrial or freshwater invertebrate! And this is only a start.