Arctic fauna

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The arctic. The red line marks the 10 ° C isotherm in July

The Arctic fauna includes the permanently or temporarily in the Arctic occurring flora .

habitat

According to the popular definition, the Arctic is the region north of the tree line in the north. It connects to the north of the region of the boreal coniferous forest . At least as an approximation, it is considered certain that the growth of trees is tied to a minimum temperature of 10 ° C in the warmest month - July in the Arctic; therefore the 10 ° C isotherm for July is widely used as the boundary of the Arctic. The polar circle is also used for a rough approximation, but it is too imprecise as a limit for biological questions. The transition between them, characterized by bushes and groups of trees, the forest-tundra ecotone is often seen as the subarctic. However, this term is not entirely clear and was also used for the boreal coniferous forest belt itself, especially in North America. As a land (terrestrial) habitat, the Arctic covers about 7.1 million square kilometers in North America (including the island of Greenland), northern Europe, and northern Asia, about 4.8 percent of the earth's land area. The living conditions within the Arctic become harder towards the north: Typical periods are frost-free and snow-free periods between three months and a month, summer temperatures between 10 and 12 ° C and 2 ° C and rainfall between 245 and 45 millimeters per year. The soils are characterized by permafrost . The Arctic is largely covered by ice or forms wastelands free of vegetation and cold deserts (bars). The characteristic vegetation form of the more southern, vegetation-covered sections is the tundra ; the arctic tundra covers about 5 million square kilometers. Higher productivity and biomass are usually tied to wetlands . These have even been described as "arctic oases", analogous to dry deserts.

biogeography

Biogeographically , the Arctic is not an independent region. It is counted according to its fauna together with the temperate (moderate) and boreal latitudes to the fauna kingdom of the Holarctic . Apart from the division into the Eurasian Palearctic and the American Nearctic, there is no generally accepted faunistic division into biogeographical regions or provinces. Ecologically, the Arctic corresponds to the polar / sub-polar ecozone . In the Schultz system, in the Walter and Breckle system, a distinction is made between the “ Zonobiom IX of the arctic-Antarctic cold climate of the tundra and the polar deserts”. However, these systems are essentially based on vegetation and climate and only consider faunistic concerns marginally.

Marine habitats

The northern polar sea is largely, roughly halfway estimated, a relatively shallow shelf sea . Characteristic is the almost continuous layer of pack ice in winter and, in summer (at least in the past, mostly) extensive, year-round in the center . Photosynthesis almost comes to a standstill below the pack ice, which means that productivity is low here, especially in the central polar basin. However, the available nutrients enable high productivity up to and including algal blooms at the margins and at favorable times. The marginal seas such as the Barents Sea , Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea are among the most productive marine ecosystems in the world and enable a rich marine life; This also applies to a limited extent to the central sections known as Polynjas , which are free of sea ice. Thawing sea ​​ice and glacier ice supply the polar ocean with large amounts of fresh water.

Ringed seal, cub

The sea ice and the pack ice cover represent their own habitat. Among other things, they are significant as a breeding habitat for marine mammals such as walrus (especially the Pacific subspecies), ringed seals (especially the northern subspecies Pusa hispida hispida ) and bearded seals , and for those who rely on them as predators Polar bears , but also for bird species such as the Ivory Gull, often use the edge of the pack ice as a breeding habitat. The inside and especially the porous underside of the pack ice cover and the directly adjoining free water represent a separate habitat for species of the meiofauna . The species composition of the Arctic pack ice differs noticeably from the Antarctic: the light shrimp (or krill ) that dominate the Antarctic play play a much smaller role in the Arctic and are replaced by gammarids . In the past 20 years or so, the sea ice cover in the Arctic has shrunk by around half, the resulting ecological consequences can hardly be estimated and have an impact far beyond the Arctic.

Limnic habitats

Lepidurus arcticus

Watercourses and standing fresh waters such as lakes, are widely used in the Arctic, despite the low rainfall because the potential evaporation ( evaporation ) drops even more due to the low temperatures. In the northern, high Arctic, waters usually freeze completely for part of the year. Such waters are populated with few species overall, the community comprises only two trophic levels , vertebrates are usually completely absent. The largest colonists are common large gill pods such as Lepidurus arcticus . In more southerly and subarctic waters, the community is mostly also quite species-poor. In doing so, however, a hidden diversity below the species level can occur; the arctic char has numerous distinguishable arctic forms, which sometimes even appear sympatric, in the same body of water, next to each other.

Five of the ten largest rivers in the world flow into the Arctic Sea: Lena , Ob and Yenisei in Siberia, Mackenzie River and Yukon River in North America, along with other major rivers such as Northern Dvina , Pechora , Chatanga , Kolyma and Nelson Rivers . In contrast to the mostly extremely nutrient-poor (oligotrophic) arctic waters, these streams have most of their catchment area outside the arctic region, into which they introduce both nutrients and heat. The deltas and estuaries of the rivers, which are also ice-free in winter, are therefore important habitats for water birds.

biodiversity

In contrast to the isolated Antarctic continent, the center of the Arctic forms an inland sea with relatively few connections to the ocean, which is framed by two large continental land masses. The Arctic terrestrial fauna is therefore much more species-rich than the Antarctic. In contrast, the marine arctic fauna is significantly poorer in species. Following the general global trend, the further a region is from the equator, the less species the fauna becomes. Even within the Arctic, biodiversity decreases towards the north. In addition, the Arctic habitat is also poor in species because it is relatively young: During the Ice Ages , the entire Arctic was glaciated and hostile to life, and all of today's settlers have since had to repopulate them from refuge areas further south.

The Arctic is home to (estimated) 75 species of mammals (1.7 percent of the global fauna), 240 species of birds (2.9 percent of the global fauna) and around 3,300 insect species (0.4 percent of the global fauna)

Most of the animal species found in the Arctic have a large distribution area, and quite a few are distributed throughout the Arctic (circumpolar). There are only a few regional or local endemics with a limited range, most of them in eastern Siberia ( Beringia ). Most arctic species can also be found in the boreal or even temperate zones. However, there are a number of specialists for the arctic region.

Animal groups

Bird species

The bird species that breed in the Arctic are, with very few exceptions, migratory birds that spend the arctic winter in more southerly latitudes, some of them also in Central Europe. In the Arctic, in addition to widespread species such as the common raven and species that radiate from the boreal zone, such as the red thrush , there are also bird species that specialize in this zone. According to the distribution pattern, they can be divided into (each with examples)

Of 162 bird species, more than half of their global breeding population lives in the Arctic. Water birds such as geese (with 32 species) or Limikolen (with 76 species alone) are overrepresented and together make up two thirds of the zonal species, while songbirds (with 34 species), for example, are far fewer species than the global average.

The sandpiper genus ( Calidris ) is particularly adapted to life in the Arctic. Of the 20 species of the genus (including the very closely related sandpipers and black sandpipers ), 19 live in the Arctic, 16 of which are predominantly or exclusively, and 95 percent of the approximately 15 million breeding pairs of all species combined. The most important region is Siberia with five exclusive plus three other species that predominantly live here.

Among the seabirds, the geese (of the genera Anser and Branta ) are particularly specialized in life in the Arctic. Of the 15 species, 12 breed in the Arctic, 11 of them almost exclusively and 8 exclusively, 8.3 million of the approximately 12.5 million breeding pairs. North America has 6 species with fewer species than Eurasia with 9, but with more than twice as many breeding pairs (5.7 million versus 2.5 million), far more individuals. The most economically important water bird species in the Arctic for humans is the eider .

Mammals

Around 67 species of terrestrial and around 35 species of marine mammals live in the Arctic, 22 of which are whale species (the number of species is slightly different depending on the demarcation and inclusion of subpolar transition areas). In addition to small mammals, such as 14 species of shrews of the genus Sorex or 21 voles (including lemmings), there are large, charismatic species such as musk ox and polar bears. Almost all species have their focus of distribution or live exclusively in the more southern sections (hypoarctic to hemiarctic). There are almost no Euarctic mammals, the only candidates would be two lemming gardens that are endemic to Wrangel Island : Lemmus portenkoi and Dicrostonyx vinogradovi (both are taxonomically controversial). Only 18 terrestrial mammal species have their main range here, all others are equally widespread or more common in the boreal zone. In the following list, all characteristic species of the high Arctic are taken into account (without the widespread, marginal irradiation):

All of the marine mammals mentioned here are dependent on the pack ice and sea ice for their habitat. The seal species use pack ice for rearing young (walruses also rocky coasts, but most of the populations spread here were exterminated a long time ago), ringed seals and bearded seals live in its vicinity all year round. As a specialized predator, the polar bear is bound to the seals as prey. The whale species bowhead whale, narwhal and white whale (or beluga) also live predominantly in close association with sea ice.

The lemmings occupy a key position in the food web of the tundra: the terrestrial predators are particularly dependent on the lemmings of the genera Lemmus ( real lemmings ) and Dicrostonyx ( collar lemmings ) as a food resource. The collar lemmings are a bit more resistant to the cold and spread further north, as far as North Greenland and the Arctic islands. As herbivores , however, both are dependent on tundra vegetation, whereby the real lemmings prefer more sedges and grasses besides moss, the collar lemmings prefer herbs and dwarf shrubs. Lemmings are known for extreme population fluctuations between different years, the populations of many predators follow these fluctuations, or they migrate nomadically to areas with just higher density. The trigger of the population cycles (which also cause the proverbial migrations of the more boreal mountain lemmings in Scandinavia) have been controversial in ecology for decades.

The most important herbivores for humans are the reindeer (called caribou in North America). Some reindeer populations, like migratory birds, migrate to more southern latitudes in the arctic winter. The subspecies Rangifer tarandus pearsoni on Novaya Zemlya , Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus on Spitsbergen (main island) and Rangifer tarandus pearyi on the islands of the Canadian Arctic cannot avoid the cold (although at least the Canadian ones sometimes switch from island to island on the sea ice) and are therefore specially adapted to the extreme temperatures; In harsh winters, however, populations regularly collapse. Renes were domesticated by humans about 5000 years ago, several times independently . Domesticated and wild populations are in competition with each other, where both occur. The game population in Siberia has noticeably recovered after the end of the Soviet Union , which led to the collapse of reindeer herding.

fishes

The arctic fish fauna is subject to fundamentally different framework conditions for fresh water and sea water species. The freshwater fish had to repopulate the Arctic after the last glacial maximum (the Vistula glaciation , known as Wisconsin in America), the fauna is therefore a few thousand years old and is strongly influenced by the large river systems draining into the Arctic. The marine fish fauna, on the other hand, has evolved since today's ecological conditions existed in the Arctic Ocean. Traditionally, that's two to three million years; However, more recent research sometimes assumes much longer periods of 14 to 17 million years. Fischkundlich working Biogeographen bordering the Arctic biogeographical region traditionally little further off than the above broader framework; they pull in large subarctic and boreal areas, provided that arctic fish species still live here in large proportions. Another reason is that the Arctic seas are among the most important regions of global commercial fishing, while the fauna of the central Arctic is poorly researched. In the following list, the focus is on the actual arctic species. A current list of species of the marine fish fauna of the (extended) Arctic comes from Catherine W. Mecklenburg and colleagues. It includes 211 species.

In addition to the limnic (freshwater) and marine fish species, species that alternate between the two habitats must also be considered; they are called diadromous species. With very few exceptions, these are species in the Arctic that spawn in freshwater ( anadromous species). Anadromous migratory fish in arctic waters do not usually overwinter in the sea, but in fresh water. This apparently absurd behavior can be explained by the fact that when sea ice is formed in the arctic winter, large amounts of salt are pressed out of the ice that forms, which in particular causes the water of the shelf seas to become salted (hypersaline); these conditions are unfavorable for the migratory fish. Migratory fish, especially salmon , are very important to humans in the Arctic, both for the indigenous population and for today's commercial interests.

Freshwater fish

The limnic fish fauna of the Arctic is shaped by the large flowing rivers. These serve as a source for immigrating species that can migrate far into the sub-arctic area due to the heat influx associated with the flowing water with its high heat capacity . The limnic fish fauna today is subject to an intensive evolution, which due to the (geologically speaking) very short periods of time has only progressed to forms that are traditionally taxonomically considered more as ecotypes or subspecies , the number of species is therefore difficult due to the different species concepts of the researchers working here to specify. In the case of more conservative, broadly defined species, the Arctic and Subarctic together can be assumed to have around 127 species. 39 of them are anadromous migratory fish. The fauna of lakes and other stagnant bodies of water is much poorer than that of rivers; in the actual Arctic it essentially consists of a single species, the arctic char , and also almost the only circumpolar species. The most important and most species-rich families as a whole are Salmon fish (Salmonidae). Of the 18 arctic freshwater fish that are endemic here or have their distribution center, 17 are salmonids (the exception is the pike Dallia pectoralis , which lives in Alaska ).

Marine fish

The delimitation of the Arctic biogeographical region for marine fish species is not handled uniformly by different authors. The central Arctic basin with an area of ​​around 4.7 million square kilometers and sea depths of around 5000 meters has a connection to the ocean in the Norwegian Sea , between Greenland and Spitsbergen, which extends into the deep sea (while the Barents Sea in the east and the Davis Strait in the west are only very shallow shelf seas), they are responsible for about 90 percent of the water exchange. The connection to the Northeast Pacific via the Bering Strait is narrow and mostly shallow; it was also interrupted several times during the Ice Age (land bridge). It is assumed, however, that the connection to the Pacific was more important in the long term: Most Arctic species belong to kinship groups spread across the Pacific, their ancestors presumably immigrated from here, while very few fish species took the opposite route.

Different authors give, depending on the delimitation and the underlying taxonomic concept, between 400 and 700 species for the extended Arctic and between 210 and 250 species for the Arctic proper. The actual Arctic fauna, which only occurs here or at least has the main distribution focus here, is barely 10 percent of it, around 63 to 75 species. Some arctic species have been found very rarely, 15 of which are only known from a single specimen (the holotype ).

Among the arctic fish are just two of which are bonded to the ice as a habitat (described as "kryopelagische" types) of the rare Greenland cod Arctogadus glacialis and the polar cod Boreogadus Saida . The polar cod is a key ecological species and an essential food source for numerous marine mammals and sea birds.

While the boreal waters of the North Atlantic and Northeast Pacific are intensively fished and economically probably the most important fisheries in the world, in arctic waters, apart from salmon fishing, almost only subsistence fishing is practiced. However, it is feared that as a result of global warming, more fishing will begin in the future, the ecological consequences of which cannot currently be assessed.

Antifreeze proteins

Since the blood and extracellular body fluid of arctic fish species have a lower salt concentration than seawater, they would freeze at temperatures at which the water itself would not freeze. The temperature of the surface water in arctic seas is often lower than the freezing point of −0.7  ° C without the fish actually freezing. It has been known since 1969 that special proteins (and glycoproteins ) called anti-frost proteins enable fish to survive here. Numerous anti-freeze proteins have now been found that are not limited to fish, but are equally common in a wide variety of organisms, from yeasts to insects. The anti-frost proteins in fish are divided into four classes (Class I, II, III and IV) according to their protein structure . All anti-frost proteins have a similar mode of action: They attach themselves to growing ice crystals with a binding site for ice and interfere with and limit their growth. So they do not prevent freezing themselves, but ensure that the ice crystals that are formed remain small and harmless to the organism. The actual binding site is also similar, the main motif is a chain of three amino acids Ala -Ala- Thr , in all but type II with the saccharide galactosyl - N-acetylgalactosamine connected to every hydroxyl group of threonine. The various classes differ in their further structure and sequence.

Since their discovery and closer research, it has been puzzling that even closely related fish species sometimes have completely different anti-frost proteins. This is explained by the fact that the formation of sea ice is a relatively recent phenomenon, the age of which, at least in the Arctic Sea, is probably less than the evolutionary age of many families, genera and even species. It could be shown that the anti-frost proteins of the different fish species most likely developed convergent in the different groups on different genetic bases . This even applies to the structurally very similar proteins of the individual classes: This was the last class to be demonstrated in 2013 for the proteins of class I.

insects

The insect fauna of the Arctic has not been adequately researched; the information is based on only a few studies, which also often have methodological difficulties. The most widely cited study is the Biological Survey by Canadian entomologist Hugh Danks . According to him, there are around 1650 different types of insects in 150 families in Arctic North America. Overall, the arctic fauna is not very independent, it mainly represents a section of the boreal (and temperate) fauna, although a few zonal, endemic species are also known, for example 6 species of leaf fleas , 12 aphids , 32 flies (in a broader sense, Tipuloidea ), 25 butterflies.

While the subarctic fauna and that of the southern tundra are still moderately rich in species, there are extremely few Eurarctic insect species. According to Danks' studies, there are still around 350 species in the American high Arctic. Within the polar deserts, 75 percent of the species belong to one order, the two-winged species .

According to some investigations, it does not seem improbable that most of the insect species that live in the subarctic may not have been specially adapted to this habitat at all; it is then primarily a section from the Holarctic fauna, the more or less randomly matching physiology and Life cycles ( pre-adaptations ). This can be seen, for example, in the fact that butterfly species, for example, still have the ability to evade the locating sounds of bats, even though no bats live in the Arctic. At least in the high Arctic, however, only specially adapted species are usually able to survive. Special adjustments are:

Caterpillar of Gynaephora groenlandica
  • extended life cycles ( Gynaephora groenlandica , a nearctic bearer moth that needs just as many years for its seven larval stages (one molt per year) has become famous ).
  • Resistance to cold equally in all stages of life, including the summer.
  • Choice of microhabitat especially according to the length of the development period, thus overwintering in places that dry out early ; no protected winter habitats.

Cold resistance is achieved in two fundamentally different ways: some species tolerate freezing, although they usually have antifreeze proteins. Other types, however, can prevent freezing even at extremely low temperatures , with hypothermia up to below −50 ° C has been proven; they achieve this by using anti-freeze agents such as glycerine or ethylene glycol in the hemolymph . Butterfly species sometimes turn their wings towards the sun in order to be able to absorb more heat through radiation. The morphological adaptations include, for example: Often thick hair for thermal insulation, darker coloring to increase the absorption of radiation.

Two-winged

Two-winged birds (flies and mosquitoes, dipteras) are the most important arctic insect order. The proportion of two-winged species in the total biodiversity of insects regularly accounts for more than 50 percent in the Arctic, while their proportion of species is only 16 percent globally and 19 percent in North America. Species-rich groups in the Arctic are, for example, the families of the mosquitoes (Chironomidae), black flies ( Simuliidae), mosquitoes (Culicidae) and true flies (Muscidae). The groups with the most species and individuals are invariably those with aquatic (aquatic) or water-saturated soils (semiaquatic) larval stages. However, there are almost no specialists in rivers such as the black fly larvae in the High Arctic. Although flower visitors such as bumblebees and butterflies also live in the Arctic in temperate and boreal latitudes, the dipteras are also the most important pollinators of plants here. For warm-blooded animals and people in the arctic fauna, blood-sucking insects like mosquitos are imagines . Even the seasonal migrations of the caribou have been interpreted as an adaptation to avoid the swarms of mosquitos. Despite the enormous numbers of individuals, these are not particularly rich in species. 16 species are reported for the American Arctic, of which only 3 are in the High Arctic.

Beetle

Beetles , the largest order of insects in the world, are underrepresented in the Arctic. The arctic beetle fauna only accounts for approx. 0.1 percent of the world's fauna, which is below the average for all insects (0.3 percent) or the value for the two-winged animals (approx. 1 percent). Chernov and Makarova give 71 beetle species for the High Arctic and 37 for the island of Greenland. Their share in the total arctic insect fauna is only a little over 10 percent. The most common groups are the ground-dwelling, predatory rove beetles (Staphylinidae) and ground beetles (Carabidae), the aquatic, predatory swimming beetles (Dytiscidae) and the herbivorous (phytophagous) leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae) and weevils (Curculionidae). Small, mostly flightless species with relatively little ecological specialization and wide distribution predominate. Among the relatively well-studied ground beetles, a good 90 species are given for the Eurasian Arctic and 65 species for the American Arctic. None of the species penetrates into the polar cold deserts.

A beetle that has been well studied with regard to its antifreeze biochemistry is Pytho americanus Kirby, a dragon beetle (Pythidae), which can survive both in the adult stage and larval frost.

butterfly

So far, 106 species of butterflies have been found in 6 families: knight butterflies ( Papilionidae , 6 species), whiteflies ( Pieridae , 20 species), bluebells ( Lycaenidae , 18 species), noble butterflies ( Nymphalidae , 30 species), eye butterflies ( Satyridae , 27 species) , Dickkopfffalter ( Hesperiidae , 5 species). Noble butterflies and ophthalmic butterflies are the most common species, but only very locally distributed, whereas the whites have a very wide distribution in the Arctic tundra. High Arctic butterflies look for warm, windless, protected habitats. They align their wings at right angles to the sun's rays in order to capture more heat radiation. They usually only fly up to half a meter above the ground, as the air there is a lot warmer on sunny days.

Hymenoptera

The proportion of hymenoptera in the Arctic insect fauna roughly corresponds to their global proportion. Many well-represented groups further south are underrepresented or completely absent, particularly the otherwise successful family of ants ( Formicidae ). More common than would be expected based on the global trend of species decline towards the north, for example, the sawfly of the subfamily Nematinae , which feed on willow species (genus Salix ) as herbivores . Relatively diverse and complex and are parasitoid Hymenoptera represented, for example, from the family of parasitic wasps , whether they however to the north actually account for a higher species share, has been controversial for decades: Even the relatively species-poor communities of the High Arctic are only after several years lasting and investigations combining some collection methods to some extent completely. Although some solitary bee species also live in the Arctic, the only more common and widespread group of Aculeata is the genus of the bumblebees ( Bombus ), which make up 85 to 95 percent of the individuals in the tundra. In the European part of Russia, four Eurarctic species were identified, Bombus polaris , Bombus balteatus , Bombus hyperboreus and Bombus lapponicus subsp. glacialis . Bombus polaris is circumpolar and also lives in arctic North America.

See also

Portal: Arctic  - Overview of Wikipedia content on the subject of the Arctic

literature

Web links

Commons : Animals of the Arctic  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Mark Nuttall: Arctic: Definitions and Boundaries . In: Mark Nuttall (Ed.): Encyclopedia of the Arctic . tape 1 . Routledge, New York and London 2003, ISBN 1-57958-436-5 , pp. 117–121 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  2. ↑ Doris Löve: Subarctic and Subalpine: Where and What? In: Arctic and Alpine Research . 2, No. 1, 1970, pp. 63-73.
  3. ↑ a b c d Hans Meltofte et al .: Arctic Biodiversity Assessment. Status and trends in arctic biodiversity, synthesis . First print for the Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting, Kiruna, Sweden, 2013. CAFF Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna, and Arctic Council 2013
  4. ^ S. Jonasson, TV Callaghan, GR Shaver, LA Nielsen: Arctic terrestrial ecosystems and ecosystem function . In: TV Callaghan (ed.): The Arctic: Environment, People, Policy , Harwood Academic Publishers, Amsterdam 2000, pp. 275-314.
  5. ↑ F. Stuart Chapin, III, M. Berman, TV Callaghan, P. Convey, A.-S. Crepin, K. Danell, H. Ducklow, B. Forbes, G. Kofinas, AD McGuire, M. Nuttall, R. Virginia, O. Young, S. Zimov: Polar Systems . In: H. Hassan, R. Scholes, N. Ash (Eds.): Ecosystems and Human Well-Being: Current State and Trends . Island Press, Washington 2005. ISBN 1-55963-227-5 , pp. 717-743.
  6. ↑ Miklos DF Udvarcly: A Classification of the Biogeographical Provinces of the World. IUCN Occasional Paper No. 18 (prepared as a Contribution to UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Program Project No. 8) Morges, Switzerland, 1975.
  7. ↑ Jürgen Schultz: The ecological zones of the earth. Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart (UTB für Wissenschaft 1514), 3rd edition, 2002
  8. ^ Heinrich Walter & Siegmar-W. Breckle: Special Ecology of the Temperate and Arctic Zones outside Euro-North Asia. Zonobiome IV-IX. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart
  9. ^ Richard Pott: General Geobotany: Biogeosystems and Biodiversity. Springer-Verlag, 2005. ISBN 978-3-540-27527-5
  10. ^ Siegrid B. Schack-Schiel: The Macrobiology of Sea Ice . Chapter 7 in: David N. Thomas & Gerhard S. Dieckmann (Eds.): Sea Ice. An Introduction to its Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Geology . Blackwell Scientific Publishing, Malden, USA, 2003. ISBN 0-632-05808-0 .
  11. Jump up ↑ Uma S. Bhatt, Donald A. Walker, John E. Walsh, Eddy C. Carmack, Karen E. Frey, Walter N. Meier, Sue E. Moore, Frans-Jan W. Parmentier, Eric Post, Vladimir E. Romanovsky , William R. Simpson: Implications of Arctic Sea Ice Decline for the Earth System . In: Annual Review of Environment and Resources . 39, 2014, pp. 57-89, doi: 10.1146 / annurev-environ-122012-094357 .
  12. ↑ James D. Reist: The diversity of arctic char . In: Henry P. Huntington (Ed.): Arctic Flora and Fauna: Status and Conservation (PDF; 33.1 MB). Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna Working Group (CAFF), 2000, ISBN 9979-9476-5-9 , pp. 46-47.
  13. ↑ a b Terry V. Callaghan, Lars Olof Björn, Yuri Chernov, Terry Chapin, Torben R. Christensen, Brian Huntley, Rolf A. Ims, Margareta Johansson, Dyanna Jolly, Sven Jonasson, Nadya Matveyeva, Nicolai Panikov, Walter Oechel, Gus Shaver, Josef Elster, Heikki Henttonen, Kari Laine, Kari Taulavuori, Erja Taulavuori Christoph Zöckler: Biodiversity, Distributions and Adaptations of Arctic Species in the Context of Environmental Change . In: Ambio . 33, No. 7, 2004, pp. 404-417.
  14. ↑ Barbara Ganter, Anthony J. Gaston (lead authors): Birds . In: Hans Meltofte (Ed.): Arctic Biodiversity Assessment. Status and trends in Arctic biodiversity . Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF), Arctic Council, 2013, ISBN 978-9935-431-22-6 , pp. 142-180.
  15. ↑ a b Christoph Zöckler: Patterns in Biodiversity in Arctic Birds . WCMC Biodiversity Bulletin No. 3, 1998.
  16. ^ A b c Donald G. Reid, Dominique Berteaux, Kristin L. Laidre (main authors): Mammals . In: Hans Meltofte (Ed.): Arctic Biodiversity Assessment. Status and trends in Arctic biodiversity . Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF), Arctic Council, 2013, ISBN 978-9935-431-22-6 , pp. 78-141.
  17. ↑ Kit M. Kovacs, Christian Lydersen, James E. Overland, Sue E. Moore: Impacts of changing sea-ice conditions on Arctic marine mammals . In: Marine Biodiversity . 41, 2011, pp. 181-194. doi: 10.1007 / s12526-010-0061-0
  18. ↑ Heikki Henttonen: Lemmings. Key actors in the tundra food web . In: Arctic Flora and Fauna. Status and Conservation (PDF; 33.1 MB). Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna Working Group (CAFF), Arctic Council, 2001, pp. 142-143.
  19. ↑ Bryan Gordon: Rangifer and man. An ancient relationship . Rangifer Special Issue No. 14 (The Ninth North American Caribou Workshop), 2001, pp. 15-28.
  20. ↑ Knut H. Røed, Øystein Flagstad, Mauri Nieminen, Øystein Holand, Mark J. Dwyer, Nils Røv, Carles Vila: Genetic analyzes reveal independent domestication origins of Eurasian reindeer . In: Proceedings of the Royal Society B Series . 275, 2008, pp. 1849-1855. doi: 10.1098 / rspb.2008.0332
  21. ↑ a b c d Jørgen S. Christiansen and James D. Reist: Fishes. Chapter 6 in Arctic Biodiversity Assessment. Full Scientific Report. edited by CAFF Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna. download
  22. ^ A b Catherine W. Mecklenburg, Ingvar Byrkjedal, Jørgen S. Christiansen, Oleg V. Karamushko, Arve Lynghammar, Peter R. Møller: List of Marine Fishes of the Arctic Region Annotated with Common Names and Zoogeographic Characterizations . Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF), Akureyri 2013. ( online )
  23. ^ John C. Briggs: Marine centers of origin as evolutionary engines . In: Journal of Biogeography . 30, 2003, pp. 1-18. doi: 10.1046 / j.1365-2699.2003.00810.x
  24. ^ Catherine W. Mecklenburg, Peter Rask Møller, Dirk Steinke: Biodiversity of arctic marine fishes. Taxonomy and Zoogeography . In: Marine Biodiversity . 41, 2011, pp. 109-140. doi: 10.1007 / s12526-010-0070-z
  25. ^ Joseph T. Eastman: Comparison of the Antarctic and Arctic Fish Faunas . In: Cybium . 21, No. 4, 1997, pp. 335-352.
  26. ↑ Jørgen S. Christiansen, Catherine W. Mecklenburg, Oleg V. Karamushko: Arctic marine fishes and their fisheries in light of global change . In: Global Change Biology . 20, 2014, pp. 352-359. doi: 10.1111 / gcb.12395
  27. ↑ Garth L. Fletcher, Choy L. Hew, Peter L. Davies: Antifrost Proteins of Teleost Fishes . In: Annual Revue of Physiology . 63, 2001, pp. 359-390.
  28. ↑ Chi-Hing C Cheng: Evolution of the diverse antifreeze proteins . In: Current Opinion in Genetics & Development . 8, No. 6, 1998, pp. 715-720. doi: 10.1016 / S0959-437X (98) 80042-7
  29. ↑ Laurie A. Graham, Rod S. Hobbs, Garth L. Fletcher, Peter L. Davies: Helical Antifreeze Proteins Have Independently Evolved in Fishes on Four Occasions . In: PLOS ONE . 8, No. 12, e81285, 2013. doi: 10.1371 / journal.pone.0081285
  30. ↑ Toke T. Høye, Derek S. Sikes: Arctic entomology in the 21st century . In: Canadian Entomologist . 145, 2012, pp. 125-130. doi: 10.4039 / tce.2013.14
  31. ^ Hugh V. Danks: Arctic arthropods. A review of systematics and ecology with particular reference to the North American fauna . Entomological Society of Ontario, Victoria, BC, Canada 1981. ISBN 978-0-9690829-0-3 . quoted after: Hugh V. Danks: Insects . In: Mark Nuttall (Ed.): Encyclopedia of the Arctic . tape 1 . Routledge, New York and London 2003, ISBN 1-57958-436-5 , pp. 979–980 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
  32. ↑ a b c d Ian D. Hodkinson (lead author): Terrestrial and Freshwater Invertebrates . Cape. 7 in: Arctic Biodiversity Assessment . Full Scientific Report edited by Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF). ( online )
  33. ↑ Jens Rydell, Heikki Roininen, Kenelm W. Philip: Persistence of bat defense reactions in high Arctic moths (Lepidoptera) . In: Proceedings of the Royal Society London Series B 267, 2000, pp. 553-557.
  34. ↑ HV Danks, Olga Kukal, RA Ring: Insect Cold-Hardiness. Insights from the Arctic . In: Arctic . 47, No. 4, 1994, pp. 391-404. ( online )
  35. ^ Hugh V. Danks: Seasonal Adaptations in Arctic Insects . In: Integrative and comparative biology . 44, 2004, pp. 85-94.
  36. ^ W. Dean Morewood, Richard A. Ring: Revision of the life history of the High Arctic moth Gynaephora groenlandica (Wocke) (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) . In: Canadian Journal of Zoology . 76, No. 7, 1998, pp. 1371-1381, doi: 10.1139 / z98-085
  37. ↑ PG Kevan, JD Shorthouse: Behavioral Thermoregulation by High Arctic Butterflies . In: Arctic . 23, No. 4, 1970, pp. 268-279. ( online )
  38. ^ A b c Hugh V. Danks: Arctic Insects as Indicators of Environmental Change . In: Arctic 45, No. 2, 1992, pp. 159-166.
  39. ^ Sandra A. Allan: Biting Flies . Chapter 2 in: William M. Samuel, Margo J. Pybus, A. Alan Kocan (Eds.): Parasitic Diseases of Wild Mammals . 2nd ed. 2001, Iowa State University Press, Ames, Iowa, USA. doi: 10.1002 / 9780470377000.ch2
  40. ^ Yuri Iwanowitsch Chernov: Diversity of the Arctic Terrestrial Fauna . Chapter 6 in: F. Stuart III Chapin, Christian Körner (Ed.): Arctic and Alpine Biodiversity: Patterns, Causes and Ecosystem Consequences . (= Ecological Studies Volume 113). Springer, 2013. ISBN 978-3-642-78966-3
  41. ↑ a b Yuri I. Chernov, Olga L. Makarova: Beetles (Coleoptera) in High Arctic . In: Lyubomir D. Penev, Terry L. Erwin, Thorsten Assmann (eds.): Back to the Roots and Back to the Future. Towards a New Synthesis between Taxonomic, Ecological and Biogeographical Approaches in Carabidology . Proceedings of the XIII European Carabidologists Meeting, Blagoevgrad, 20.-24. August 2007, ISBN 978-954-642-325-2
  42. ^ Jens Böcher: The Greenland Entomofauna in its Arctic context . Chapter 3 in: Jens Böcher, Nils P. Kristensen, Thomas Pape, Lars Vilhelmsen: The Greenland Entomofauna: An Identification Manual of Insects, Spiders and their Allies . Brill Academic Publishers, 2015, ISBN 978-90-04-26105-1 , p. 17
  43. ↑ Yu. I. Chernov, KV Makarov, PK Eremin: Family of Ground Beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) in the Arctic Fauna: Communication 1 . In: Entomological Review 80, No. 8, 2000, pp. 1009-1021. Translated from Zoologicheskii Zhurnal 79, No. 12, 2000.
  44. ^ Richard A. Ring and D. Tesar: Adaptations to cold in Canadian arctic insects . In: Cryobiology . 18, No. 2, 1981, pp. 199-211 ( online ).
  45. ↑ Aaron M. Ellison: Out of Oz: Opportunities and challenges for using ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) as biological indicators in north-temperate cold biomes . In: Myrmetological News 17, 2012, pp. 105-119.
  46. ↑ Jari Kouki: Latitudinal Gradients in Species Richness in Northern Areas. Some exceptional patterns . In: Ecological Bulletins 47, 1999 ( Animal Responses to Global Change in the North ), pp. 30-37.
  47. ↑ Gergely Varkonyi, Tomas Roslin: Freezing cold yet diverse: dissecting a high-Arctic parasitoid community associated with Lepidoptera hosts . In: Canadian Entomolist 145, 2013, pp. 193-218.
  48. ^ Scott Armbruster, David A. Guinn: The Solitary Bee Fauna (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) of Interior and Arctic Alaska. Flower Associations, Habitat Use, and Phenology . In: Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 62, No. 4, 1989, pp. 468-483.
  49. ↑ M. Yu. Proshchalykin, AN Kupianskaya: The bees (Hymenoptera, Apoidea) of the northern part of the Russian Far East . In: Far Eastern Entomologist 153, 2005, pp. 1-39.
  50. ^ GS Potapov, Yu. S. Kolosova, M. Yu. Gofarov: Zonal Distribution of Bumblebee Species (Hymenoptera, Apidae) in the North of European Russia . In: Entomological Review 94, No. 1, 2014, pp. 79-85. translated by Zoologicheskii Zhurnal 92, No. 10, 2013, pp. 1246–1252.