Widespread mortality and disease are recognized as growing problems in benthic marine coral and sponge communities across the globe and despite being extensively studied, in most cases the etiology of disease remains unknown. Since 2011, sponge communities in freshwater Lake Baikal, Siberia, Russia have been affected by an unknown agent of disease, which has been causing an array of physical disease ...

Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels and global temperatures have increased steadily over the past 100 years (IPCC, 2018). Greenhouse gases, such as CO2, and their emissions from soils play an important role in shaping future climate scenarios. Soil microorganisms are responsible for the turnover of soil organic matter and the release of CO2 to the atmosphere (Hartley et al., 2008), thereby ...

The migration and habitat use of sea trout post-smolts were investigated in a fjord system in Central Norway during the period from 30 April – 26 November 2014. The main aims were to investigate timing of sea entry and freshwater return, return rate, marine residence time, spatial use of the fjord system and migration distance. Fifty sea trout smolts were tagged with acoustic transmitters and tracked ...

Sea slugs of the genus Elysia (e.g. E. chlorotica) are known for their ability to incorporate chloroplasts from the yellow-green alga Vaucheria litorea. These “kleptoplasts” stay active in the digestive tract of the sea slug for several months. Chloroplasts from Vaucheria litorea are also reported to be significantly more stable after in vitro isolation than chloroplasts of other algae or of higher ...

Seen in light of the increasing interest of nature-based tourism and recreational outdoor activities in Norway the last decades (Haukeland, Grue & Veisten, 2010), spatiotemporal information on human activity in remote areas and knowledge about how this activity may affect wildlife and nature is a crucial part of a knowledge-based management (Gundersen et.al., 2011, p.14; Gundersen, Strand & Punsvik, ...

The golden redfish Sebastes norvegicus is a long-lived commercial species of redfish in the North Atlantic. Excessive harvest through decades has led to a decline in the mature population in Norwegian waters, which is currently considered to be severely depleted. Accumulating genetic evidence suggest a more complex structure within the Sebastes genus in the North Atlantic, which has recently formed ...

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are a cosmopolitan species, migrating between their mid- and high latitude foraging- and low latitude breeding grounds. Of these, the Northeast Atlantic (NEA-) population cover the longest migration distance of all mammals that last up to half a year. On the foraging grounds they feed extensively throughout the summer until early winter to gain enough energy ...

Most studies of nest site selection by northern goshawk, Accipiter gentilis, have been done in mixed – or coniferous forests, and emphasis has been put on the importance of large trees and relatively intact, old forest stands for nesting sites. However, goshawks in northern Norway are found in birch forests characterized by relatively small trees and a high natural level of fragmentation. In this ...

Studying an animal’s movement patterns in both space and time can shed light on the strategies individuals use to optimize foraging and adapt to seasonal and environmental variation. Killer whales (Orcinus orca) are dynamic, apex predators inhabiting all the world’s oceans, predating and specializing on a wide variety of prey. Over the last decade, large numbers of Norwegian killer whales have been ...

The black-legged kittiwake (Rissa Tridactyla) situation is getting more serious as the population numbers have declined over the last decades, and this well-known species is now considered endangered (EN) in the Norwegian redlist 2010. This study investigates the differences between adult and chick diet considering prey selection to be an important point. Earlier chick diet has been considered a ...