Describing dynamics of belowground organisms, such as fungi, can be challenging. Results of studies based on environmental DNA (eDNA) may be biased as the template does not discriminate between metabolically active cells and dead biomass. We analyzed ribosomal DNA (rDNA) and ribosomal RNA (rRNA) coextracted from 48 soil samples collected from a manipulated snow depth experiment in two distinct ...

The recent range contractions and population declines of many grouse species worldwide have been attributed to loss and fragmentation of their habitats, although the empirical evidence for the actual drivers is often weak. In case of the willow ptarmigan Lagopus lagopus in Fennoscandia, ungulate overbrowsing of willows has been hypothesized to exert such negative habitat-related impacts. Moreover, ...

In cetaceans, blubber is the primary and largest lipid body reservoir. Our current understanding about lipid stores and uses in cetaceans is still limited, and most studies only focused on a single narrow snapshot of the lipidome. We documented an extended lipidomic fingerprint in two cetacean species present in northern Norway during wintertime. We were able to detect 817 molecular lipid species ...

Many Arctic regions currently experience an increase in winter snowfall as a result of climate change. Deepened snow can enhance thermal insulation of the underlying soil during winter, resulting in warmer soil temperatures that promote soil microbial nitrogen (N)-cycle processes and the availability of N and other nutrients. We conducted an <i>ex situ</i> study comparing the effects of deepened ...

Climate change may alter nutrient cycling in Arctic soils and plants. Deeper snow during winter, as well as summer warming, could increase soil temperatures and thereby the availability of otherwise limiting nutrients such as nitrogen (N). We used fences to manipulate snow depths in Svalbard for 9 consecutive years, resulting in three snow regimes: 1) <i>Ambient</i> with a maximum snow depth of ...

In ecology, expert knowledge on habitat characteristics is often used to define sampling units such as study sites. Ecologists are especially prone to such approaches when prior sampling frames are not accessible. Here we ask to what extent can different approaches to the definition of sampling units influence the conclusions that are drawn from an ecological study? We do this by comparing a ...

The temporal and spatial resilience of abundance patterns of assemblages of organisms inhabiting transition zones between Arctic and boreal regions is an issue of concern in relation to climate change. The recognition that baseline information spanning such transition zones is required to facilitate future monitoring and assessments of temporal dynamics provided the motivation for the present study. ...

Harvesting can have a substantial impact on population dynamics and individual performance in wild populations. While the direct consequences of harvest on individual survival and population growth rate are often apparent, harvesting can also have indirect and more subtle demographic consequences. Disentangling these consequences, however, requires in-depth knowledge of individual life histories of ...

The food/feed quality of a variety of genetically modified (GM) maize expressing Cry1Ab Bt-toxin was tested over the life-cycle of <i>Daphnia magna</i>, an arthropod commonly used as model organism in ecotoxicological studies. Demographic responses were compared between animals fed GM or unmodified (UM) near isogenic maize, with and without the addition of predator smell. Age-specific data on survival ...