• Learning Arctic Biology •
Want to learn about Arctic terrestrial biology?
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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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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
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
Definition of the Arctic and main study system
The Arctic is named after the northern star constellation “Arktos”—Greek for “bear”. It consists of the Arctic Ocean and surrounding landmasses. Depending on the definition
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.
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
Collecting and observing invertebrates
There are many ways to catch invertebrates. Given the wide range of invertebrate types no one method is perfect and different techniques must be used
Soil-invertebrate decomposers
Decomposition, the breakdown of soil organic matter (SOM) and the release of nutrients and fixed nitrogen, is an essential process in soil nutrient cycling and
Succession gradients
In Arctic marginal environments, successional pattern deviates from the classical model for directional change and replacement of species (Matthews 1978; Svoboda & Henry, 1987). Under
What are bryophytes?
Evolutionary origin Bryophytes belong to the embryophytes, which include all land plants. Evidence from structural, biochemical, and molecular data supports the view that bryophytes and all
Archaea
Compared to Bacteria and Eukaryotes, Archaean diversity, physiology and ecology is still very little explored. Many Archaea are extremophiles – living in extreme environments –
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
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,
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
Bryophyte habitats
Bryophytes are found throughout the world from the harsh environments of Antarctica to the lush conditions of the tropical rainforests. Despite their small size, they
Systematics of fungi
Modern fungal systematics is based upon genetic analysis. However, and structure of the hyphal cells are also important. Below you will find an overview 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).
