Tromsø Museum

Long-distance plant dispersal to North Atlantic islands: colonization routes and founder effect

Wed, 15 Apr 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Alsos, Inger Greve; Ehrich, Dorothee; Eidesen, Pernille Bronken; Solstad, Heidi Merethe; Westergaard, Kristine Bakke; Schonswetter, Peter; Tribsch, Andreas; Birkeland, Siri; Elven, Reidar; Brochmann, Christian
Long-distance dispersal (LDD) processes influence the founder effect on islands.We use genetic data for 25 Atlantic species and similarities among regional floras to analyse colonization, and test whether the genetic founder effect on five islands is associated with dispersal distance, island size and species traits. Most species colonized postglacially via multiple dispersal events from several source regions situated 280 to .3000 km away, and often not from the closest ones. A strong founder effect was observed for insect-pollinated mixed maters, and it increased with dispersal distance and decreased with island size in accordance with the theory of island biogeography. Only a minor founder effect was observed for wind-pollinated outcrossing species. Colonization patterns were largely congruent, indicating that despite the importance of stochasticity, LDD is mainly determined by common factors, probably dispersal vectors. Our findings caution against a priori assuming a single, close source region in biogeographic analyses. Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP); dispersal vector; founder effect; genetic diversity; islands; long-distance dispersal (LDD); postglacial; species traits.

The status and trends of seabirds breeding in Norway and Svalbard

Sun, 01 Mar 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Fauchald, Per; Anker-Nilssen, Tycho; Barrett, Robert; Bustnes, Jan Ove; Bårdsen, Bård-Jørgen; Christensen-Dalsgaard, Signe; Descamps, Sebastien; Engen, Sigrid; Erikstad, Kjell E; Hanssen, Sveinn Are; Lorentsen, Svein-Håkon; Moe, Børge; Reiertsen, Tone; Strøm, Hallvard; Systad, Geir Helge
This report presents the updated sizes, trends and spatial distributions of the breeding populations of 17 seabird species breeding in Norway and Svalbard. The analyses are based on available census and monitoring data from SEAPOP; the Norwegian monitoring and mapping program for seabirds. In addition, the report presents results from a species-specific literature review of the most important prey items and drivers of population change. The report documents large-scale decadal changes in the seabird communities along the coast of Norway and Svalbard. A division of the populations into five geographical regions (North Sea & Skagerrak; Norwegian Sea; Barents Sea; Bjørnøya; and Spitsbergen) was used as a basis for the analyses of population dynamics from 1980 to present. 13 of the 35 regional seabird populations assessed have declined by more than 50% the last 25 years. 5 regional populations increased by more than 100% in the same period, while 8 populations showed large decadal fluctuations. Several populations were not assessed due to the lack of census and/or monitoring data. In order to improve the dataset, it is recommended that a census of breeding seabirds from Vesterålen to the Swedish border is completed. Declining populations were found in all regions and included all major ecological groups (i.e.; Pelagic surface-feeding (Ps), Pelagic diving (Pd), Coastal surface-feeding (Cs), Coastal benthic- feeding (Cb) and Coastal diving (Cd) seabirds). Populations with more than a 50% decline the last 25 years were: Common Gull (Cs), Lesser Black-backed Gull (Ps) and Atlantic Puffin (Pd) in the North Sea & Skagerrak; Great Cormorant (Cd), Common Eider (Cb), Black-legged Kittiwake (Ps) and Common Guillemot (Pd) in the Norwegian Sea; Herring Gull (Cs), Great Black-backed Gull (Cs), Black-legged Kittiwake (Ps) and Brünnich’s Guillemot (Pd) in the Barents Sea; Northern Fulmar (Ps) and Glaucous Gull (Ps) on Bjørnøya; and Brünnich’s Guillemot (Pd) on Spitsbergen. The populations of European Shag and Great Cormorant have shown large fluctuations with a notable increase in the population of Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis in North Sea & Skagerrak. Common guillemot has been increasing in the Barents Sea since the collapse in the population in the 1980s, however the population in the Norwegian Sea has been steadily declining since the early 1980s. Atlantic Puffin is declining in the North Sea and Norwegian Sea, but the population in the Barents Sea is stable or is increasing slightly. The datasets were too small to assess several of the large gull species in the Norwegian Sea. However, extensive monitoring in the North Sea & Skagerrak and recent censuses in the Barents Sea suggest declines by more than 50% in several of the gull populations in these areas. Black-legged Kittiwake has declined in all regions except for Bjørnøya. The large colonies of Brünnich’s Guillemot on Spitsbergen have declined from 1.15 million pairs in 1988 to 522 000 pairs in 2013. The colony on Bjørnøya (about 100 000 pairs) has in the same period been stable or declined slightly, while the small populations on the Norwegian mainland have almost disappeared. Northern Gannet has been increasing in Norway since the establishment of this species on Runde in the 1940s. The species has expanded northward and has recently established a small colony as far north as Bjørnøya. The review of diet studies highlighted the importance of the young age-classes of cod fish, the importance of pelagic forage fish species and in particular the importance of sandeel. Norway, Svalbard Seabirds, Population dynamics, Breeding population size Monitoring, cens Norge, Svalbard sjøfugl, populasjonsdynamikk, hekkebestander overvåking, kartlegging

Rødvinsseminar: Værvarslingens historie

Wed, 01 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT

Aspaas, Per Pippin

Complete regression and systemic protective immune responses obtained in B16 melanomas after treatment with LTX-315

Wed, 01 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT

Camilio, Ketil Andre; Berge, gerd; Ravuri, Chandra Sekhar; Rekdal, Øystein; Sveinbjørnsson, Baldur

"Rara avis in Ultima Thule": In diem natalem septuagesimum Profestricis Sunnivae des Bouvrie

Thu, 01 Jan 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Aspaas, Per Pippin

Fangstmannsbiografien og heltelitteratur. Med et skråblikk på sjangeren: Wanny Woldstad, Henry Ette, Thorleif Bjertnes og Henry Rudi

Wed, 01 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT

Karlsen, Silje Solheim

The stress hormone corticosterone in a marine top predator reflects short-term changes in food availability

Thu, 01 Jan 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Barrett, Robert; Erikstad, Kjell E; Sandvik, Hanno; Myksvoll, Mari Skuggedal; Jenni-Eiermann, Susi; Kristensen, Ditte Lyngbo; Moum, Truls; Reiertsen, Tone; Vikebø, Frode Bendiksen
In many seabird studies, single annual proxies of prey abundance have been used to explain variability in breeding performance, but much more important is probably the timing of prey availability relative to the breeding season when energy demand is at a maximum. Until now, intraseasonal variation in prey availability has been difficult to quantify in seabirds. Using a state-of-the-art ocean drift model of larval cod Gadus morhua, an important constituent of the diet of common guillemots Uria aalge in the southwestern Barents Sea, we were able to show clear, short-term correlations between food availability and measurements of the stress hormone corticosterone (CORT) in parental guillemots over a 3-year period (2009–2011). The model allowed the extraction of abundance and size of cod larvae with very high spatial (4 km) and temporal resolutions (1 day) and showed that cod larvae from adjacent northern spawning grounds in Norway were always available near the guillemot breeding colony while those from more distant southerly spawning grounds were less frequent, but larger. The latter arrived in waves whose magnitude and timing, and thus overlap with the guillemot breeding season, varied between years. CORT levels in adult guillemots were lower in birds caught after a week with high frequencies of southern cod larvae. This pattern was restricted to the two years (2009 and 2010) in which southern larvae arrived before the end of the guillemot breeding season. Any such pattern was masked in 2011 by already exceptionally high numbers of cod larvae in the region throughout chick-rearing period. The findings suggest that CORT levels in breeding birds increase when the arrival of southern sizable larvae does not match the period of peak energy requirements during breeding. Common guillemot, CORT, food availability, seabird, Uria aalge

Woolfian Border Poetics and Contemporary Circadian Novels

Wed, 01 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT

Ryall, Anka

Spatial and temporal variability in the onset of the growing season on svalbard, arctic Norway - Measured by MODIS-NDVI satellite data

Wed, 01 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT

Karlsen, Stein Rune; Elvebakk, Arve; Høgda, Kjell Arild; Grydeland, Tom

The Meanings of Landscape: Historical Development, Cultural Frames, Linguistic Variation, and Antonyms

Wed, 01 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT

Bigell, Werner; Chang, Cheng