As global biodiversity continues to decline, a new international study published in Nature presents a powerful framework for identifying the “missing” species from ecosystems, species that could exist in a habitat but are currently absent. Known as dark diversity, these absent species form an invisible frontier of ecological potential, offering a tool to better understand habitat degradation and inform conservation priorities.

1.9 billion invertebrates and 800 million seeds. That’s the number of stowaways arriving to Norway via garden plants every year. The costs could be sky high.

The first quantitative assessment of microplastics in seabird faeces in Northern Europe shows presence of microplastics in European shag (Gulosus aristotelis) chicks. This provides valuable baseline information and confirms that minimal-invasive sampling of faeces for plastic monitoring in seabirds is possible.

The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework headline indicator “Services Provided by Ecosystems (B.1)” has been tested using data from six countries and regions including Norway. Working on behalf of the CBD AHTEG on indicators, the results are now published.

The protected and slow-growing cold-water corals in the fjords of Norway are entangled in fishing gear. Worrying, say experts, as more or less all areas are impacted by fishing.

With data from Norway, Brazil, Taiwan and Costa Rica, a team of researchers show that large-scale monitoring of avian vocalization can deliver immediate applied impact. The results are now published in PNAS.

Quick and cost-effective mapping of biodiversity have been invisible, and yet right under our noses. The results are now published in Nature.

Following the Chernobyl accident in 1986, large areas of northern Europe were exposed to radioactive caesium, detrimental to both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Recent results from 30 years of monitoring in the mountain areas of Norway show steep declines in radiocaesium – an important find when evaluating potential impact on wildlife and human health. 

Groundbreaking study uses seabirds as indicators of mercury presence through the North-Atlantic Arctic. Results of grave importance for Arctic communities as concentrations increase from the Barents Sea to the East coast of Canada.

In only four decades more than 80% of kittiwakes breeding on the coast of the Norwegian mainland have disappeared. More than 60% of all seabird species in Norway are now endangered. In this photographic journey through shifting baselines we clearly see the dramatic changes

Radars that are used to report the weather also provide valuable insight into which migratory routes birds use. For the first time this tool will be used to map bird migration in Norway.

DNA analyses are becoming an increasingly important method in research and nature management. To meet an increased demand from government and industry, the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA) today opened NINAGEN, a national centre for conservation and biodiversity genetics in Trondheim.

This year, a major campaign is being launched in northwest Russia aimed at preventing the spread of alien species to Russian parts of the Arctic. Scientists fear that seeds, insects and parasites will establish themselves in the vulnerable northern regions, and ask travelers to take action.

Developing state-of-the-art statistical tools that combine different sources of data has allowed researchers from Norway and Myanmar to make robust estimates of population size for an often-overlooked population of one of the world’s mo

• 2 July 2018
• Author: juliet.landro
• Number of views: 9939