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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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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 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
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
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
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
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
Plant-insect phenology and physiological synchrony
The impact of insect herbivores on Arctic plants is known to be dismissable (Roslin et al. 2013); however, successful Arctic herbivores need to ensure they
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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).