• Learning Arctic Biology •
Want to learn about Arctic terrestrial biology?
Video: Tina Dahl and Marcos Poricres
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360° Virtual Field Guides
Explore a variety of locations and learn about its biology, history and more. All in 360 degrees!
ArtsApp - Digital Key
A digital key for Svalbard’s flora, with specific keys for vascular plants and grasses.
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Microbiology in the Arctic
Since the turn of the previous century, when Arctic explorers began to return samples of microbes for culture and study, our understanding of the microbiology
Invertebrate lifecycles in the Arctic
Arctic regions are characterized by long cold winters and short cool summers. In order to establish invertebrates require more than to be able to tolerate
Arctic – a young biome with a dramatic history
The location of the Arctic within the Earth system combined with its particular climate history, have provided unique settings for the current flora and fauna
Adaptations for Arctic conditions
Cold tolerance For the invertebrates on Svalbard winter lasts for almost 10 months of the year (Convey et al. 2018). In the majority of winters
Bedrock, soil development and soil disturbance
Glaciation have shaped biodiversity through time, but glaciations also greatly affects habitat and ecosystem development within landscapes. Mountain slopes above the marine limit are covered
LGM and postglacial migration
During the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), biodiversity was significantly reduced throughout the Arctic (Willerslev et al., 2014); however, the extent of this biodiversity loss varied. The
Arctic invertebrate habitats
Invertebrates in Svalbard can be found just about anywhere, flying, under rocks, in the soil, crawling on the vegetation, in the streams and ponds, even
Arctic Freshwater Habitats
The arctic freshwater environment experienced dramatic climatic shifts during the Holocene (10,000 years ago to present) and Pleistocene, which has had enormous effects on the
Mutualistic fungi
Mutualistic fungi live on other organisms, however in contrast to parasitism, mutualism benefits all involved organisms. The fungi get nutrition, mainly carbohydrates, from their partners,
Viruses
What is a virus? Viruses are infectious agents that replicate exclusively within a living cell. Viruses can infect all types of organisms, from animals and
Bryophytes as environmental indicators
Many bryophyte species are very sensitive to certain environmental conditions – both naturally occurring and imposed by anthropogenic activity. Bryophytes are used as indicators and
Parasitic fungi
Parasitic and pathogenic fungi obtain their nutrition from other living organisms, and have a negative effect upon the individuals – hosts – they are parasites
Diversity of bryophytes
Bryophytes are the second most diverse group among land plants after the flowering plants (Magnoliophyta, ~350 000 described species; Glime 2007). Defining the number of species of
Life cycle of bryophytes
Like other plants, bryophytes change between two generations with different morphology and function (heteromorphy). Unlike vascular plants, in bryophytes the haploid gametophyte (1n) is the dominating generation.
What is a fungus?
The fungal kingdom (Fungi) is related to the animal kingdom. They separated approximately 1.5 billion years ago. Like animals and plants, fungi are eukaryotes, which
Ecosystem role of bryophytes
Bryophytes have many important ecosystem functions in the Arctic. These include: Regulation of hydrology In many habitats, bryophytes control soil and vegetation hydrology (Beringer et
Useful learning resources
bioCEED resource for learning statistics, tutorials for the statistical computing language R and more!
How do you start with academic writing? This is the prefect resources for those who are about to write their first thesis/poster/essay etc. or looking for new tips when it comes to academic writing.
Svalbox is all about Svalbard geology. Svalbox aims to compile and acquire key data sets and publications to provide an interactive 3D geoscientific database of Svalbard.
The UNIS Executable Books page provides an overview of all eBooks available and/or used for teaching at the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS).
