How are plants and pollinators responding to climate change? Project description: Arctic flowering seasons are becoming shorter and shifted earlier in response to climate change, while pollinator species are responding differently to climate across the tundra biome. Mismatches between the flowering season and pollinating insects could be driving the rapid decline of pollinator abundance and… Read more →
Has autopolyploidisation(s) (diploid to tetraploid in particular) created a shift in reproductive parameters? Project description: In this project I aim to investigate consequences of autopolyploidy on phenotypic variation, with focus on reproductive strategy and reproductive output. I will use the circumpolar, arctic-alpine plant species Saxifraga oppositifolia (Saxifragaceae), where two main ploidy levels are known (diploids… Read more →
The aim of this project is to investigate potential changes in biodiversity, community composition and function of microbial eukaryotes with respect to the changing climate in the Arctic Project description: Microbial eukaryotes or single-celled protists are organisms that play a fundamental role in energy flow and the cycling of elements in the marine ecosystem. They… Read more →
The aim of this project is to investigate to which extent bryophyte-dominated communities insulate the ground better than communities dominated by vascular plants. Project description: Bryophytes, i.e. mosses and liverworts, dominate the vegetation in wide areas of the Arctic. Especially on Svalbard where dwarf shrubs are scarce, they form a dominant component of the vegetation.… Read more →
The aim of this project is to process and identify bryophytes and lichens which were sampled along the West coast of Spitsbergen. Project description: Bryophytes and lichens dominate the vegetation in wide areas of the Arctic. Especially on Svalbard where dwarf shrubs are scarce, bryophytes form a dominant component of the vegetation. However, as yet… Read more →
How are high-arctic plants affected by winter basal-ice encasement? Are they trade-offs in plant fitness traits and above-ground biomass production? Project description: Winter rain-on-snow events are increasing frequency, locking the tundra in a thick ice layer. A first experiment, located in Adventdalen, test for effects of warmer winters and summers in a fully factorial study… Read more →
Investigation of nest predation of the purple sandpiper Calidris maritima; this work is part of a joint circumpolar project to measure and predict the cascading impacts of “Indirect Trophic Interactions” in arctic terrestrial vertebrate communities. Project description Temperature loggers will be placed in nests of incubating purple sandpipers in Adventdalen. Should these eggs be lost… Read more →
Bryophytes, i.e. mosses and liverworts, dominate the vegetation in wide areas of the Arctic. Especially on Svalbard where dwarf shrubs are scarce, they form a dominant component of the vegetation. With current climate warming ongoing on Svalbard, we expect shifts in vegetation, from moss-dominated to vascular plant-dominated communities as well as species shifts within these… Read more →
Project description The AB department at UNIS undertakes marine sampling at many different locations around Spitsbergen, usually with the aim of studying phytoplankton and zooplankton ecology. Various abiotic factors are measured and sampled for in addition to the animals themselves. These factors include water temperature and salinity, and concentrations of nutrients present. This data is… Read more →