Pelagic-benthic coupling is generally assumed to be tighter on Arctic shelves than in lower latitudes, due to for example pronounced seasonal cycles of sunlight and primary production and a potential mismatch between the bloom and its pelagic consumers. Pelagic-benthic coupling is also often stronger in shallower areas compared to deeper areas, due to the shorter distance between the productive, ...

The purpose of this study is to describe the diet of long rough dab in three different fjords with and without red king crab. The hypothesis is that red king crab are influencing the diet and possible also growth of long rough dab. By the applying objectives it is assumed to give an answer to if red king crab is influencing different aspects of the diet and growth in long rough dab. By the ...

The three box-nesting passerine bird species pied flycatcher, great tit and common redstart breed at their distributional limit in Troms, Northern Norway. Access to food and favourable weather conditions is expected to be of importance for the birds´ breeding population dynamics. In the same area, geometrid moth larvae experience cyclic population outbreaks at approx. 10 year intervals, constituting ...

Identifying the food resources for a species is one of the basic steps towards understanding population dynamics. The arctic fox is the only terrestrial carnivore on Iceland, and the population had been increasing until recently. Therefore, it is of great importance to know what factors regulate the population growth and which resources support it to understand why the population fluctuates. In this ...

The large calanoid copepods Calanus glacialis and C. finmarchicus is a key link between primary producers and higher trophic levels in Arctic marine ecosystems being used as indicator species of respective Arctic and Atlantic water. In this study, the egg production successand population development of Calanus glacialis and C. finmarchicus were studied in Isfjorden, Svalbard, from February to August ...

In this study the aim was to investigate how incubation temperature effected lumpsucker eggs and larvae; by comparing early cell symmetry, egg/embryo development, mortality, hatching success and early larvae size weight and histomorphology. Two batches of eggs were incubated at 3 temperature regimes; 1- Ambient seawater 4-6°C (cold), 2-Ambient seawater for 10 days then gradually increased to ...

Salmon lice are parasitic copepods with three planktonic larvae stages, consisting of two nauplii stages and a copepodite stage. The parasite spread during these stages as plankton, and with the increased number of host represented by salmonid fish in aquaculture it is important to know the concentrations and ecology of the fee-living stages. Both Lepeophtheirus salmonis and Caligus elongatus are ...

Geese are social birds and form pairs that can last a lifetime, being together throughout the year. Forming pairs and maintaining family groups increase the individual’s social status, giving it easier access to resources and more time to exploit them. Hence, social behaviour is favourable when pairs are building up body reserves before migrating to the breeding grounds as well as after breeding, ...

The current population-based food consumption models assume that harp seals are swallowing fish whole. However, behaviours such as belly-biting and rejection of fishes’ heads has been observed, possibly biasing diet analysis based on hard parts such as otoliths, and consequently underestimating the total food consumption of fish by harp seals. The purpose of this study was to examine whether individual ...

Salmon lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) are marine ectoparasites commonly found on salmonid species, where the infection levels on wild salmonids have dramatically increased the latest decade. Sea trout (Salmo trutta) is being used in salmon lice monitoring studies (e.g. NALO) where different sampling gears are used. The interaction between sea trout and lice is complicated, and therefore methodology ...