The full list of projects contains the entire database hosted on this portal, across the available directories. The projects and activities (across all directories/catalogs) are also available by country of origin, by geographical region, or by directory.
Reindeer grazing is often considered as a threat against the biodiversity in arctic and alpine plant communities in the Nordic countries. However, there is almost no data on the effect of reindeer grazing on species richness in arctic and alpine regions. If we should understand how reindeer grazing influence species richness, it is important to distinguish between different spatial scales. Species richness on small plots is probably determined by local processes such as competition intensity, germination rate of seeds or nutrient availability, while species richness at larger spatial scales is probably determined by the heterogeneity and the size of the species pool. As different processes influence species richness at different spatial scales, the effect of reindeer grazing on species richness in small and large areas does not have to be similar. My hypotheses is that reindeer grazing sometimes increase and sometimes decrease species richness on small spatial scales, while it consistently increase species richness at larger spatial scales.
Carbon allocation to, and translocation in-between, different below-ground compartments in wet and semi wet mire ecosystems are to be studied during summer 2002. The project is part of EU founded CARBOMONT, where carbon cycling in European alpine regions is studied. Stordalen mireConsidered methods were applied to dry heath ecosystems summer 2001, which successfully produced a budget over carbon allocation to belowground compartments in heath ecosystems. This year’s study is focused on wet and semi wet ecosystems, making it possible to compare below-ground carbon allocation and translocation in different ecosystems dominating Stordalen mire. Stordalen birch forest Carbon allocation to Ericoid mycorrhizae was studied under enhanced precipitation conditions, which resulted in an altered carbon allocation pattern compared to untreated ecosystems. This summer the effects of increased temperature on carbon allocation to Ericoid mycorrhizal compartments are to be studied. Temperature effects on mycorrhizal functions such as 15N labelled amino acid uptake, will also be investigated.
The project aims to develop the use of stomata analysis as a Quaternary palaeoecological tool in Scandinavia following the lead in North America and Siberia (Hansen 1995, Gervais and MacDonald, 2001). A key is being produced to identify the main Scandinavian conifers from their stomata. Surface samples of lake sediment will be collected in catchments with and without the main conifers to determine the extent to which stomata are transported beyond the catchment in which the trees occur. Paleoecological work will be carried out to obtain supplementary information about the timing of the appearance and disappearance of Larix sibirica (Kullman, 1998) and to apply the knowledge gained on the dispersibility of stomata to the arrival and increase of other conifers.Surface lake samples have been collected from lakes in southern and central Sweden. I would like to find some small lakes to surface sample in Northern Sweden. Three promising areas with a high density of lakes have been identified around the Abisko field station and Kiruna areas. I will use a standard surface sediment sampler and will sample between 6 and 12 lakes. This work will have wide applicability in NW Europe, replacing the use of Trautmann's key (1953), and will contribute significantly to the increasing use of stomata as a palaeoecological tool. (see www.kv.geo.uu.se/cas.html for further information)
In 1964 Skuja published the results of his investigations concerning the phycological vegetation in the Torne-Lappmark, demonstrating the impressive biodiversity especially within the group of the Conjugatophyceae (Desmids). As this group proved to be a very sensitive tool to registrate changes in environmental conditions (Kies a. Handke 1990), it seemed to be of importance to have a look on the situation today and to compare the composition of the desmid communities. A further aspect is the analysis of the reliance of the biodiversity of the Conjugatophyceae on the geographical and geological conditions with modern methods. Therefor samples will be taken from swamps, ponds and lakes from the alpine, subalpine and montane regions and their main physical and chemical parameters will be ascertained. The investigations will be completed by lists of higher plabnts growing in the surrounding of the water bodies. Back in Hamburg the samples will be evaluated and used for isolating selected species of desmids not only for further investigations but also for integrating them into our culture collection of Conjugatophyceae (SVCK, Engels 1995) and Engels, 2001: http://www.rrz.uni-hamburg.de/biologie/b-online/d44_1/44_1.htm
To make an inventory of the fossil fauna and trace fossils at Loupakte. Depending on what is found during this inventory, I will study the diversity and possibly some behavioural aspects of the faunal traces found. This will hopefully be part of a larger project concerning Cambrian fossils.
A survey of European Sryphidae, Diptera, for which collection of voucher specimens is necessary to confirm identification.
My study is focussed on the effects of global changes on subarctic microbial communities in the soil. From previous studies in Cassiope-dominated heaths in the area it is known that experimental warming simulating expected effects of climatic change in this century might affect microbial communities and their activity, for instance shown by changes in trophic structure of nematodes and exchange of greenhouse gases. However, microbial reponses to warming and enhanced nutrient turnover as a result of greater litter supply in more species- and nutrient-rich heaths are not known. The current study will be a part of a long-term global change research project in which 24 plots in a species-rich heath near the heliport in Abisko have been manipulated since June 1999. The aim of my M.Sc. project is to reveal some of the responses of the soil microbial communities to three years of warming and enhanced litter supply. A suite of parameters within the field of microbial biomass, activity and diversity will be measured throughout the plant growing season, or in a final harvest at the end of the season.
This is a Masters project (examensarbete) Exjobbet (20p) innebär två delar, och ska gå på halvtid: Del I: Evelina ska skriva en uppsats (10 p) som utvärderar kontrollerande faktorerna för markandning (som en del av det globala kolkrettsloppet) i subarktiska miljöar. Uppsatsen ska granska den vetenskapliga litteraturen och ge grunden för senare fältarbete. Huvudsyftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur globala förändringar (d v s klimat förändring, samt förändringar i atmosfärisk kemi) möjligen kan påverka C flöden i subarktiska miljöer. Uppsatsen ska vara klar innan slutet av juni. Del II: Experiment ute i fält i Abisko trakten (10 p) som undersöker hur tillgången till nedbrytbara organiskt material, samt inorganiska ämne (t ex kväve eller phosphor) påverkar CO2 utsläpp (som markandning). Fältarbetet ska pågår under 3-4 veckor, och senare i Uppsala ska fältdatan analyseras, och del II av uppsatsen färdigskrivas. Hela verksamheten ska vara klar innan slutet av oktober 2002.
The research addresses questions of drivers and controls of biogeochemical (nutrient and carbon) cycling in arctic ecosystems. The focus is, first, on interactions between plants, microbes and the soil organic matter and the project explores possible, periodic competition for nutrients between soil microbes and plants and the mechanisms of net nutrient mineralisation coupled with plant nutrient uptake. Another focus is on how pools and fluxes of carbon and nutrients in, and between, major ecosystem components are likely to be affected if the arctic climate changes (”the greenhouse effect”). This research is based on data collected from experimental manipulations of arctic ecosystems that have lasted for close to, or over, a decade.
Investigating methods of facilitating revegetation of roadside of the E-10 between Kiruna and Riksgränsen
Linnaea borealis is a stoloniferous dwarf shrub with long lasting connections between ramets. Along the stolons three types of lateral shoots can be produced: vertical reproductive and non-reproductive and horisontal non-reproductive, i.e. vegetative reproduction. I want with this study to find out which of the shoot types is most important for the survival of the ramet and if this changes depending on site conditions. I have three sites in the vicinity of Abisko with different light conditions and different forest floor vegetation, at each site 20 ramets have been followed for five years now. This summer the clonal fragments will be harvested.
DART is a project investigating the dynamic response of the forest_tundra ecotone to environmental change. The whole project includes eximination of trace-gas fluxes, decomposition, snow distribution/- melt, browsing, and plant growth responses. My own part of the project deals with the distribution of the tree-line trees and effects of artificial warming on mountain birch saplings (Betula pubescens Ssp. czerepanovii).
Study of sexual dimorphism in physiological traits in ten Salix species in the surroundings of Abisko. Field measurements will be carried out about basic leaf traits, photosynthesis and transpiration. In the lab, measurements will be carried out on N content. Samples for future analysis will be collected.
To investigate the availability of trace-fossils and trilobites in the Cambrian sand-, silt-, and limestone formation at Loupakte. Large bedding planes with trace fossils will be searched for. Studies will then be conducted on the diversity and behaviour of trilobites and the trace-fossils and their makers.This is a preliminary study that hopefully will constitute a part of a Ph.D-project.
Continous real time measurements of corbon dioxide and metheane exchanges at different subhabitats at the Stordalen mire in relation to the winter and spring shift.
The overall aim of our research is to increase understanding of ecosystem dynamics at the forest–tundra ecotone in northern Europe and, in particular, to quantify the dynamics of the response of this ecotone to changes in climate and in land use. In order to achieve this overall objective we are addressing the following more specific objective: To investigate the extent to which potential dynamic responses of the ecotone to environmental changes are modulated by other limiting factors, including propagule dispersal, seedling establishment, disturbance régime and herbivore impacts. Current experiments will involve the sowing of tree seeds within/without vertebrate exclosure plots established in 1997 and subsequent counting of seedlings.
Detailed inventory of four peaks at altitudes ; just above subalpine, between low alpine and middle alpine, between middle alpine and high alpine and at highalpine. Vegetation cover and plant species with abundance are inventored with different methods. Temperature loggers are burried in main geographical directions. The purpose is to reinventory these peaks after a longer period (about 5 to 10 years) and analyse eventual differences. The project is coorinated by the University of Wien in Austria. The peaks inventoried is west of Tornehamn, south and east of Latnjajaure and Kårsatjåkka.
The project aims to describe the effects of increased frequency of freeze-thaw cycles on the soil fauna in an arctic environment. Little is known about the effects of global warming on soil animals in habitats of limited nutrient supply and with high climatic stress. Manipulations of the soil temperature will be conducted to increase the frequency of freeze-thaw events. Springtail and mite species diversity and abundance will be investigated, together with screenings of the nutrient availability in the soil after such events. Mesocosm studies will be conducted for a closer study of the effects of temperature changes on decomposition and mineralization. Species of springtails and mites will be returned to the laboratory to investigate cold and drought hardiness. A project including soil warming has been conducted in Abisko for over a decade, and it is our intent to include investigations of soil fauna (springtails and mites), and the interactions between these and the microbial fauna. It is interesting to see whether 10 years of soil warming have changed the springtail and mite species diversity and abundance, and whether this has affected the natural nutrient cycles.
In order to isolate bacteria with a potential for cold-resistant production of enzymes, antibiotics, detergents, etc. I would like to sample a number of different tundra soils in the Abisko area. This will include soils representing a variety of organic matter, degree of humification, water-logging and soils surrounding different types of vegetation.
Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) symbioses are omnipresent in the Arctic, and shifts in ECM communities may be expected in a future warmer climate. As large functional differences exist among ECM fungal genera, species and isolates, this could affect several important ecosystem processes, such as plant C fixation and allocation belowground and plant uptake of different nutrient pools. The objectives of this project are 1) to characterize responses of ECM associations of a circumpolar plant species (Betula nana L.) to manipulations of air temperature and soil nutrient availability and 2) to relate functional characteristics of ECM communities to ecosystem C and N cycling.The project consists of three elements: 1. Quantitative analyses of responses in ectomycorrhizal morphotype communities associated with B. nana to manipulations of air temperature and soil nutrient availability at two sites (Abisko, Sweden, and Toolik Lake, Alaska). Fieldwork 2002. 2. Field and growth chamber studies of functional differences among ectomycorrhizal fungi and communities from Abisko and Toolik Lake. Fieldwork 2002. 3. Along a natural gradient, relationships between ECM communities and availability and uptake of different N forms will be examined under natural conditions. Fieldwork 2003-04.