The Arctic terrestrial system
Topic overview
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The Arctic Terrestrial System
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 of the Arctic, between 14.5 million and 30 million km2 of the Earth’s landmass, (1/6th) belonging to the Arctic. The Arctic has been inhabited by humans for close to 20,000 years.
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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 high climatic stress competition is reduced, and directional, non-replacement succession becomes more common, where initial species remain, but new species are added through the succession (Svoboda & Henry, 1987; Jones & Henry,
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Nutrient input
In nutrient enriched areas, organic soils of over 10 cm depth may accumulate, illustrating the impact of nutrient flow from the marine environment to the often nutrient limited terrestrial habitat (Odasz, 1994). Bird cliff meadows are luxuriant communities developing in drier areas under bird cliffs, as seabirds may introduce large amounts of marine‐derived nutrients to
Bedrock, soil development and soil disturbance
Glaciation have shaped biodiversity through time, but glaciations also greatly affects habitat and ecosystem development within landscapes. Mountain slopes above the marine limit are covered with glacial drift and local scree and colluvium. Valley floors that were below the marine limit by the end of last glaciation are covered by marine littoral and fluvial sediments. Marine
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Current status of freshwater systems in Svalbard
There has recently been published a summary of the available knowledge of freshwater systems in Svalbard. With permission from the authors (John E. Brittain, Ann Kristin Schartau and Martin-A. Svenning), we present the English summary. Pictures are added by us. The full report is in Norwegian, and available here. Freshwater systems on the Svalbard archipelago
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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 to evolve, colonise, develop and interact. The overall species diversity and richness decreases when moving from the Equator to the Arctic and accentuates when moving from the low to the
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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 during the Pleistocene, punctuated by warmer interglacial periods. The last glaciation lasted from approximately 110 000 to 12000 years ago, reaching its maximum around 20 000 years ago. The last ice
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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 presence of biota today. The freshwater ecosystems are strongly influenced by annual physical variations and limitations, namely temperature, solar radiation and nutrients. Arctic freshwater systems, with both flowing and standing
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