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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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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
Arctic plant habitats
Habitats develop in relation to regional climate, snow-distribution, hydrology, soil chemistry, disturbance and nutrient input. These factors vary across the landscape, creating different habitats. At
Archaea
Compared to Bacteria and Eukaryotes, Archaean diversity, physiology and ecology is still very little explored. Many Archaea are extremophiles – living in extreme environments –
Colonisation of Svalbard by the invertebrate fauna
The invertebrate fauna of Svalbard is relatively young. There is no evidence that invertebrates survived the last glacial maximum in situ. The islands were covered
Bryophyte adaptations and constraints
Bryophytes are very resilient and have a unique ability to recover from long-lasting extreme environmental conditions (La Farge et al. 2013, Procter et al. 2007). Bryophytes
Fungi in the Arctic Environment
Fungi are heterotrophic organisms feeding by osmotrophy. Their ecology can be divided into saprotrophs, parasites and mutualists. However, transitions exist between all these groups. Most
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
Inventory of Svalbard species
The endemic aphid Acyrthosiphon svalbardicum on Dryas octopetala. Image from Blomstrandhalvøya, Kongsfjord, towards Stuphallet. Photo Steve Coulson A provisional inventory of the terrestrial and freshwater
Biogeography of bryophytes
History The Pleistocene is the world’s recent period of repeated glaciations between 2.5 million to 11700 years ago. More than 20 cycles of glaciation occurred
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,
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
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
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
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
Fungi in Svalbard
A large number of mushroom species grow in Svalbard. Most are small, some are poisonous, while others are edible and tasty. Fungi have most of
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).
