• 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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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
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
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
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
Inventory of Svalbard species
The endemic aphid Acyrthosiphon svalbardicum on Dryas octopetala. Image from Blomstrandhalvøya, Kongsfjord, towards Stuphallet. A provisional inventory of the terrestrial and freshwater invertebrate fauna is
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
Biogeography of invertebrates
The biogeography of the invertebrate fauna of the Arctic is poorly known but can be generally described as a Holarctic fauna but with local endemics
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
What enviroment do microbes encounter in the Arctic?
Environmental conditions in the Arctic are highly variable in space and they can fluctuate seasonally. As for all living organisms, Arctic microbes are affected by
Bacteria
Bacteria are the major drivers of the Earths biogeochemical cycles, and therefore very important components of the ecosystems. There are estimations showing that more than
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
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
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,
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
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).
