THE MOST NORTHERLY HARBOR SEAL, PHOCA VITULINA, AT PRINS KARLS FORLAND, SVALBARD

The harbor seal ( Phoca vitulina ) has its northernmost distribution at the Norwegian arctic archipelago of Svalbard. Little information exists on this particular harbor seal population. The present paper summarizes this information, and gives the result of surveys of harbor seals conducted in Svalbard in 1984, 1985 and 1987. These surveys show that harbor seals in Svalbard are limited to the area around Prins Karls Forland, the westernmost island in the archipelago. The harbor seal population at Prins Karls Forland numbers at least five to six hundred animals.     

Observations of bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) in the Svalbard area 1940–2009

Forty-six sightings of bowhead whales have been reported from the Svalbard area between 1940 and 2009. But, only three of these sightings are reported prior to 1980. Most observations involve only one or two whales, but groups of up to seven individuals have been seen recently. Increased ship traffic, particularly cruise-based tourism, in the north undoubtedly provides more opportunities for spotting this species, and the establishment of a structured cetacean sighting programme, as well as increase in effort in documenting sightings from a wider marine user-community, likely all play a role in more records being documented in recent years. The absence of a dedicated monitoring programme for ice-associated cetaceans and the generally low scientific activity level in this field in Svalbard Waters hampers firm conclusions about the trends in abundance of bowhead whales in the Svalbard area.     

Migration of Walruses (Odobenus rosmarus) in the Svalbard and Franz Josef Land area

Thirty-four walruses ( Odobenus rosmarus ) were fitted with satellite transmitters (PTTs) from 1990 to 1993 in order to study the distribution of the population in the Svalbard area. Twenty-eight were caught at Svalbard and six at Franz Josef Land. All were males except one female caught at Franz Josef Land. At Svalbard, one walrus was caught on the west coast of Spitsbergen, while the others were caught at southern Edgeøya. All walruses were caught in the period from mid-July to early September. The PTTs provided information on location for periods ranging from 0 to 212 days. The results of the satellite trackings show that there is a migration of male walruses between most of the walrus areas at Svalbard and Franz Josef Land. In particular, it seems that migration of males from southern Edgeøya to Kvitøya, Viktoria Island, and Franz Josef Land is common. The walruses winter in the southern parts of Svalbard, as well as within the winter pack-ice of north-eastern Svalbard, which contains numerous open leads. The only walrus at Franz Josef Land that was followed to mid-winter stayed in the area and therefore supports the view that walruses also winter in that area. It is assumed that the majority of walruses at Svalbard are males from one common Svalbard-Franz Josef Land stock. The walrus in the Svalbard-Franz Josef Land area today belong to a recovering population. Their current distribution and behaviour may therefore differ from that found in Svalbard in former times.     

PUPPING IN THE MOST NORTHERLY HARBOR SEAL (PHOCA VITULINA)

The Norwegian high arctic archipelago Svalbard is the home of the world's northernmost population of harbor seals. Due to their limited distribution in isolated areas of the archipelago, little is known about their biology. Until now no information has been published on their pupping or whether it differs from that of harbor seals in other regions. This paper shows that the peak pupping period for harbor seals in Svalbard coincides with that in Europe, i.e., the second half of June. The pups are born with an adult-like pelt and not with a white coat.     

Chemical composition of reindeer forage plants in Svalbard and Norway

Several of the most important reindeer forage plants in Svalbard were analysed for content of minerals (Na, K, P, Ca, Mg, S, Cl, Fe, Cu, Mn, Zn, Mo and Co) and for content of ash, crude protein, crude fiber, ether extracts and nitrogen free extracts. Some forage plants were also examined in in vitro digestibility trials. The results were compared with results from similar analyses of alpine mountain plants from southern Norway. Also freshly voided fecal samples were analysed for the same components as the forage plants.
The Svalbard vegetation had a higher content of Na, Ca, Mg, Cl, Fe and Co, than similar plants from Southern Norway. The content of other elements examined seemed to be more equal in Norway and on Svalbard. Within the Svalbard area plants growing in limestone areas had the highest content of calcium and magnesium. Also plants growing on manured soil below bird cliffs appeared to have high nutritional value. It is furthermore concluded that the closeness to the sea as well as the occurrence of several plants with high mineral content, gave the Svalbard reindeer the possibility to further improve their mineral balance compared with continental reindeer. Also the dietary shift from lichens as a major dietary component in Norway, to mosses on Svalbard, may increase mineral intake, but may also have an inferior effect on digestibility.
Although balance experiments and carcass analyses of minerals in Svalbard reindeer are missing, it is concluded that Svalbard reindeer apparently had adequate intake of most mineral elements. In spite of low standing biomass of reindeer forage plants, the quality of the vegetation seemed to compare favourably with continental reindeer pasture.     

Glacial survival does not matter – II: RAPD phylogeography of Nordic Saxifraga cespitosa

It has been suggested that many arctic-alpine plant species have limited dispersal ability and cannot have arrived in Scandinavia and the arctic archipelago of Svalbard by long-distance dispersal after a total glaciation. It has therefore been proposed that such species must have survived the entire glaciation(s) in ice-free refugia in southern Norway, northern Norway and Svalbard. We investigated random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) variation among 28 populations from Norway and Svalbard of one of these arctic-alpine 'short-distance dispersers', the selfing polyploid Saxifraga cespitosa . In an analysis of molecular variance ( AMOVA ), more variation was found among populations within the three postulated refugia regions (45%) than among these regions (25%). Spatial autocorrelation (Mantel) analyses showed that the genetic distance monotonously increased with increasing geographical distance. In UPGMA and PCO analyses, the populations from Norway and Svalbard formed a south–north cline that continued across the Barents Sea barrier. The results suggest that there has been recent dispersal among the three postulated refugia regions and thus that postglacial dispersal into these refugia regions from other distant areas also must represent a possibility. The observed geographical pattern of the genetic variation may have been established after expansion from different source areas outside the North European ice sheet and/or from different refugia areas 'within' the ice sheet, but it is probably not possible to distinguish among these alternatives. The results for S. cespitosa are consistent with a dynamic late- and postglacial scenario with extensive plant dispersal, and support the conclusion from our previous study of the outbreeding Saxifraga oppositifolia ; the hypothesis of glacial survival in Norway and/or Svalbard is superfluous.     

Innocent,transit, and archipelagic sea lanes passage

Abstract

Norway is involved in two maritime boundary disputes with the Soviet Union. In relation to Svalbard, the Soviet Union argues that the archipelago has a continental shelf and an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of its own to which all parties to the Svalbard Treaty have equal access. This is disputed by Norway, which maintains that such a view of the matter implies an expansive interpretation of the Svalbard Treaty for which there is no support in international legal practice. In the Barents Sea there is a continuing dispute between Norway and the Soviet Union over the proper location of the continental shelf and EEZ boundaries. This article sets out some of the reasons behind the different arguments on which the two base their respective cases, and the reasons why Norway in the absence of a delineated boundary has refused to accept Soviet proposals for economic cooperation in the disputed ocean area. Major emphasis is placed on the confluence of several circumstances inter alia, geopolitical and historical factors, a strongly asymmetrical power relationship, and legal ambiguity.     

The ecology and distribution of Empetrum nigrum ssp. hermaphroditum on Svalbard and Jan Mayen

Elvebakk, A. & Spjelkavik, S. 1995. The ecology and distribution of Empetrum nigrum ssp. hermaphroditum on Svalbard and Jan Mayen. — Nord. J. Bot. 15: 541–552. Copenhagen. ISSN 0107–055X.
The distribution and ecology of Empetrum nigrum ssp. hermaphroditum has been studied on Svalbard and Jan Mayen, partly based on literature and herbarium data, and partly on local studies in the Kongsfjorden and Liefdefjorden areas. E. nigrum ssp. hermaphroditum is rare on Svalbard, where it is restricted to siliceous substrates, and is lacking from low temperature areas like mountains, the southern and eastern parts of Svalbard, the western and northern coastline, and from most of Nordaustlandet. The best climatic conditions for Empetrum seem to be offered by the lower part of a south facing mountain slope of Jan Mayen, an island where the effective temperature sum is relatively high due to a long growing season. In areas where Empetrum occurs on Svalbard the growing season is shorter and the effective temperature sum is generally lower. However, July temperatures are higher, and these and the occurrence of siliceous substrates seem to govern its potential area of distribution. The shorter Svalbard growing season only exceptionally permits sexual reproduction, but individuals are long-lived and dendrochronological analysis of a 17 mm thick stem yielded an age of approximately 80 years. Locally, Empetrum is often concentrated to zonal habitats, like at southeast facing gneissic slopes and rock ledges at Liefdefjorden and a west facing sheltered mountain slope at Kongsfjorden.     

At the rainbow’s end: high productivity fueled by winter upwelling along an Arctic shelf

Herein we document findings from a unique scientific expedition north of Svalbard in the middle of the polar night in January 2012, where we observed an ice edge north of 82°N coupled with pronounced upwelling. The area north of Svalbard has probably been ice-covered during winter in the period from approximately 1790 until the 1980s, a period during which heavy ice conditions have prevailed in the Barents Sea and Svalbard waters. However, recent winters have been characterized by midwinter open water conditions on the shelf, concomitant with northeasterly along-shelf winds in January 2012. The resulting northward Ekman transport resulted in a strong upwelling of Atlantic Water along the shelf. We suggest that a reduction in sea ice and the upwelling of nutrient-rich waters seen in the winter of 2012 created conditions similar to those that occurred during the peak of the European whaling period (1690–1790) and that this combination of physical features was in fact the driving force behind the high primary and secondary production of diatoms and Calanus spp., which sustained the large historical stocks of bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) in Arctic waters near Spitsbergen.     

Arctic sediments (Svalbard): pore water and solid phase distributions of C,N, P and Si

Pore water and solid phase distributions of C, N, P and Si in sediments of the Arctic Ocean (Svalbard area) have been investigated. Concentrations of organic carbon (C_org) in the solid phase of the sediment varied from 1.3 to 2.8% (mean 1.9%), with highest concentrations found at shallow stations south/southwest of Svalbard. Relatively low concentrations were obtained at the deeper stations north/northeast of Svalbard. Atomic carbon to nitrogen ratios in the surface sediment ranged from below 8 to above 10. For some stations, high C/N ratios together with high concentrations of C_org suggest that sedimentary organic matter is mainly of terrigenous origin and not from overall biological activity in the water column. Organic matter reactivity (defined as the total sediment oxygen consumption rate normalized to the organic carbon content of the surface sediment) correlated with water depth at all investigated stations. However, the stations could be divided into two separate groups with different reactivity characteristics, representing the two most dominant hydrographic regimes: the region west of Svalbard mainly influenced by the West Spitsbergen Current, and the area east of Svalbard where Arctic polar water set the environmental conditions. Decreasing sediment reactivity with water depth was confirmed by the partitioning between organic and inorganic carbon of the surface sediment. The ratio between organic and inorganic carbon at the sediment-water interface decreased exponentially with water depth: from indefinite values at shallow stations in the central Barents Sea, to approximately 1 at deep stations north of Svalbard. At stations east of Svalbard there was an inverse linear correlation between the organic matter reactivity (as defined above) and concentration of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in the pore water. The more reactive the sediment, the less DOC existed in the pore water and the more total carbonate (C_t or ΣCO₂) was present. This observation suggests that DOC produced in reactive sediments is easily metabolizable to CO₂. Sediment accumulation rates of opaline silica ranged from 0.35 to 5.7 μmol SiO₂ m⁻²d⁻¹ (mean 1.3 μmol SiO₂ m⁻²d⁻¹), i.e. almost 300 times lower than rates previously reported for the Ross Sea, Antarctica. Concentrations of ammonium and nitrate in the pore water at the sediment-water interface were related to organic matter input and water depth. In shallow regions with highly reactive organic matter, a pool of ammonium was present in the pore water, while nitrate conoentrations were low. In areas where less reactive organic matter was deposited at the sediment surface, the deeper zone of nitrification caused a build-up of nitrate in the pore water while ammonium was almost depleted. Nitrate penetrated from 1.8 to ≥ 5.8 cm into the investigated sediments. Significantly higher concentrations of “total” dissolved nitrogen (defined as the sum of NO₃, NO₂, NH₄ and urea) in sediment pore water were found west compared to east of Svalbard. The differences in organic matter reactivity, as well as in pore water distribution patterns of “total” dissolved nitrogen between the two areas, probably reflect hydrographic factors (such as ice coverage and production/import of particulate organic material) related to the dominant water mass (Atlantic or Arctic Polar) in each of the two areas. The data presented were collected during the European “Polarstern” Study (Arctic EPOS) sponsored by the European Science Foundation     

A survey of the Van Mijen fiord, Svalbard, as habitat for ringed seals, Phoca hispida

The ringed seal breeding habitat of the Van Mijen fiord, Svalbard, Norway, was studied from 30 March to 22 May 1986. A Siberian husky dog was used to detect ringed seal birth lairs and breathing holes. Fifteen percent of the total fiord areas was sampled. We estimated the densitites of birth lairs and breathing holes to be 0.04 km^-2 and 1.30 km^-2, respectively. The Van Mijen fiord was a poor ringed seal breeding habitat compared with breeding habitats investigated both in Canada and other parts of Svalbard. The main reason is probably shallow snow depth and lack of structures such as pressure ridges around which enough snow could accumulate for the ringed seal females to be able to dig out their lairs. The number of seals inhabiting the area during the breeding period 1986 was approximately 125 animals.     

Long day stimulation of dry matter production in Poa alpina along a latitudinal gradient in Norway

Photoperiod extension with weak include from 8 to 24 h stimulated relative growth rate (RGR) of Poa alpina up to 20%. The response was greatest in young plants at low temperatures. The leaf area ratio (LAR) increased by about 50% which more than compensated for a reduction in net assimilation rate (NAR) by about 20%. The effect of daylength extension on RGR was similar for an arctic ecotype of P. alpina from Svalbard, an alpine ecotype from southern Norway and a borealtemperate ecotype from southern Norway. The main changes in the growth parameters occurred over the 13 to 17 h photoperiod range in P. alpina from both Svalbard and Rondane, although plants at Svalbard are exposed to midnight sun throughout their growing season. The ecotype of P. alpina from southern Norway had fewer tillers and allocated less dry matter to the roots than the two other ecotypes.     

Building an indicator to characterize the thermal conditions for plant growth on an Arctic archipelago,Svalbard

Plant growth in the Arctic is strictly dependant on thermal conditions. The purpose of our study is therefore to calculating temperature distributions on the Svalbard archipelago at a relatively high spatial resolution. The model is designed to reflect both the length of the growing season and the temperature sum for a given area (i.e. growing degree-days (GDD)). GDD on Svalbard is defined as the cumulative sum of positive mean daily temperatures in the months of June, July and August. The temperature distribution of GDD for the entire archipelago is calculated from both local and regional information. Local information is derived from data collected in a small area in northwestern Spitsbergen (Kongsfjorden) where a network of 45 thermal sensors recorded air temperatures for five years (2001–2005). A local GDD parameter is computed by a linear combination of elevation, valley depth and NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index). Then this local GDD is applied to the whole of Svalbard (GDD1) and refined stepwise by adding environmental variables such as cloud fraction, land surface temperature, sea surface temperature, distance to the ocean and number of snow-free days. Because the official network of climatological stations on Svalbard is not dense enough and sufficiently well-distributed across the archipelago to enable spatial interpolations for four years only (2011–2014), all outputs are statistically evaluated and adjusted using the values recorded at 9 (2011), 12 (2012) and 13 (2013–2014) meteorological stations (GDD_ref) and used as a set of evaluation data. The final model (GDD_mean), which is the mean of the annual models estimated by regression (GDD_est), performs well: the central parts of Spitsbergen, known for its comparatively high temperatures, contrast with the colder northern and eastern parts of the archipelago.     

SUMMER RECORDS FROM WEST-SPITSBERGEN, 1964

An expedition studying geese spent six weeks in the summer of 1964 on the west coast of West-Spitsbergen, Svalbard. The topography of the area is described. Observations were made on 28 species of birds and details of numbers and distribution are given for each. Counts were made over a period of a week of the numbers of Common Eider Somateria mollissima which began nesting in a small colony as the snow cleared from the ground. Weights and measurements were taken of Purple Sandpipers Calidris maritima and Glaucous Gulls Larus hyperboreus. One species new to Svalbard was seen, a Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus. Previously unrecorded breeding sites of Pink-footed Geese Anser brachyrhynchus, and Barnacle Geese Branta leucopsis were found, and it is concluded that the further spread of the Barnacle Goose is probable. New sea-bird colonies were also located.     

Past grazing habitats for Svalbard reindeer indicated by the pollen content of 3300‐year‐old faeces from Edgeøya,Svalbard

Sedentary populations, like the Svalbard reindeer, tend to select the most nutritious and easily available plants during the different seasons. It has been shown that plants selected during grazing season are reflected in the pollen content of modern faeces from Svalbard reindeer. In this study the pollen and spore content of fossil reindeer faeces and peat from Raddedalen, western Edgeøya, Svalbard, are presented. The pollen content of the fossil faeces is first compared to published pollen data from modern Svalbard reindeer faeces so as to determine which season they were deposited, and second the pollen in the fossil faeces are compared to the pollen content of the peat in which they were found. The lower part of the peat section is dated to 3435±105?cal?yr BP. The faeces are dominated by pollen from early flowering species such as Saxifraga oppositifolia‐type, S. nivalis‐type, Brassicaceae, and Pedicularis spp. thereby indicating that grazing and faeces deposition took place in spring and early summer. The peat and faeces have some similarities in their pollen and spore content, but different methods of deposition and concentration of pollen in faeces and peat result in different fossil assemblages. The results suggests that the climate of Raddedalen was warmer and moister than today, allowing peat to form in the past.     

A survey of plant associations and alliances from Svalbard

Abstract. Most vegetation classification studies on Svalbard have followed the phytosociological tradition. Exposed ridges and accumulation sea shores are the habitats investigated best, whereas the open vegetation of screes, active sedimentation plains, erosion plains, young moraines, polar desert and saxicolous vegetation range from almost unknown to poorly known. All published associations and non-ranked plant communities based on relevé data are reviewed and discussed in an ecological framework with 19 major habitat types. Most of them are arranged in a system of 17 alliances. Most of the alliances are expected to occur elsewhere in the Arctic, but this remains to be documented. The majority of the Svalbard studies are local and have obvious shortcomings. Nevertheless, vegetation types are probably better known on Svalbard than elsewhere in the northern parts of the Arctic.