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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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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
Microbial eukaryotes
Microbial eukaryotes are an evolutionary diverse group that gathers various eukaryotic organisms of often microscopic sizes, such as protist and fungi. Protists, comprise a large
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
Archaea
Compared to Bacteria and Eukaryotes, Archaean diversity, physiology and ecology is still very little explored. Many Archaea are extremophiles – living in extreme environments –
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
Pollinators and their importance in the Arctic environment
Globally, most flowering plants reproduce sexually and are pollinated by insects or other animals rather than abiotic pollen vectors such as wind. Plant-pollinator interactions are
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,
Saprotrophic fungi
Saprotrophic fungi degrade dead organisms or their remains, such as litter or dung. Depending on their mode of breaking down cellulose or lignin, we recognise
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
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.
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
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
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
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).
