We describe an update of MirGeneDB, the manually curated microRNA gene database. Adhering to uniform and consistent criteria for microRNA annotation and nomenclature, we substantially expanded MirGeneDB with 30 additional species representing previously missing metazoan phyla such as sponges, jellyfish, rotifers and flatworms. MirGeneDB 2.1 now consists of 75 species spanning over ∼800 million ...

Colonial breeding is an evolutionary puzzle, as the benefits of breeding in high densities are still not fully explained. Although the dynamics of existing colonies are increasingly understood, few studies have addressed the initial formation of colonies, and empirical tests are rare. Using a high-resolution larval drift model, we here document that the distribution of seabird colonies along the ...

<ol> <li>Facing rapid environmental changes and anthropogenic habitat destruction, animal behavioural plasticity becomes an adaptive potential that needs to be considered in conservation strategies along with, for example, genetic diversity. Here, we evaluate to what extent non-invasive environmental DNA (eDNA) methods may contribute to the assessment of intraspecies behavioural plasticity in terms ...

In 1977 a monument in memory of the Finnish immigrants was erected in Vadsø, the capital town of the county of Finnmark. The unveiling ceremony of the monument was an exceptional event, where the Norwegian king Olav, the Swedish king Carl Gustav and the Finnish president Uhro Kekkonen attended. The purpose of the monument was to pay tribute to the Finnish immigrants and their contribution to the ...

This essay focuses on the narrative mosaics of Iñupiat Alaskan Ada Delutuk Blackjack, hired seamstress on an occupation colony on Wrangel Island in 1921–23, organized by renowned Canadian Arctic explorer and writer Vilhjalmur Stefansson. While the venture resulted in the tragic deaths of Blackjack’s four companions on the island, she became the expedition’s sole survivor and kept a diary during the ...

Aim An understanding of the non-breeding distribution and ecology of migratory species is necessary for successful conservation. Many seabirds spend the nonbreeding season far from land, and information on their distribution during this time is very limited. The black-legged kittiwake, Rissa tridactyla, is a widespread and numerous seabird in the North Atlantic and Pacific, but breeding ...

Mute Ash is a text that explores a personal photographic archive and a personal story. The text poses questions around memory, image, place and loss.

In 1929, the geologist Väinö Tanner (1881–1948) published an extensive study in human geography on the economic and social adaptation of the Skolt Sami. Tanner aimed at an understanding and respectful approach, and today he enjoys the reputation of a culturally sensitive scholar: one who tried to see the Skolt Sami culture from within, and who wrote against the most aggressive discourses of his time. ...