Premise of the study: Fifty candidate microsatellite markers, generated using 454 shotgun sequencing, were tested for the widespread arctic/alpine herb Silene acaulis (Caryophyllaceae). Methods and Results: Fourteen out of 50 markers resulted in polymorphic products with profiles that enabled interpretation. The numbers of alleles per locus ranged from two to six, and the expected heterozygosity ...

Several decades of research on invasive marine species have yielded a broad understanding of the nature of species invasion mechanisms and associated threats globally. However, this is not true of the Arctic, a region where ongoing climatic changes may promote species invasion. Here, we evaluated risks associated with non-indigenous propagule loads discharged with ships' ballast water to the high-Arctic ...

Focusing on women’s and men’s participation, this article sheds light on the reindeer herding on the island of Hinnøya and in the southern areas of the county of Troms, Northern Norway, during the 18th and 19th centuries. In this region the Sámi and the Norwegian populations have been living side by side for a long period. In addition to hunting and gathering, the economy of the Sámi population was ...

When isolated but reproductively compatible populations expand geographically and meet, simulations predict asymmetric introgression of neutral loci from a local to invading taxon. Genetic introgression may affect phylogenetic reconstruction by obscuring topology and divergence estimates. We combined phylogenetic analysis of sequences from one mtDNA and 12 nuDNA loci with analysis of gene flow ...

Background: Some grass species are richer in coumarin and thus more sweetly scented than others. These have been eagerly sought after in parts of Norway, but the tradition has been weakly documented, both in terms of the species collected, their vernacular names, and uses. <p>Methods: Based on literature data and a substantial body of information collected during my own ethnobotanical field work, ...

Background In their quest to understand and interpret nature, people have frequently sought religious or divine origins for plant species and their characteristics. Less often, historical events or persons are involved. This study comprises eleven cases of the latter kind, all claiming that plant species have been introduced by foreigners or at least from foreign lands. Methods Based on literature ...

The Black-legged Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla population is declining throughout its North Atlantic range. In Norway, the species is classified as Endangered on the Norwegian Red List. Studies of diet are one important requirement for effective management of any species. Because it is easier to sample, chick diet has often been considered a proxy for adult diet in many seabird studies, but the ...