 Benthic biodiversity, taxonomy
and systematics
Benthic fauna, the
invertebrate animals living on or in the sea floor, are an important
study area for Akvaplan-niva.
- Benthos is a vital food source for other members of the food
web, including fish, birds and marine mammals
- The composition of the benthic fauna (relative distributions of
taxa and abundances) reflects environmental conditions and follows
recognisable patterns
- Benthic fauna can be used as an indicator of environmental
conditions. Such indicators are part of developing models of the
impact of changing climate in the Arctic
Topical areas for us are:
- Benthic communities in arctic fjords and coastal waters of
Northern Norway, Svalbard, Barents Sea
- Identification expertise of benthic invertebrates
- Taxonomy and systematics of selected benthic groups
- Monitoring tools and methodologies
- Arctic lakes
Project examples
 Selected
partners in biodiversity research
Akvaplan-niva is a partner in
the EU 6th Framework Network of Excellence - Marine Biodiversity
and Ecosystem Functioning (MarBEF).
Regular project partners include
- University Centre on Svalbard (UNIS)
- Institute of Marine Research, Tromsø Branch
- Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St.
Petersburg
- Norwegian Institute for Water Research
- SINTEF
- Scottish Association of Marine Science
- Centre on Environmental Chemistry, SPA “Typhoon”
- Murmansk Marine Biological Institute, Kola Scientific Centre
Russian Academy of Sciences (MMBI)
- Knipovich Polar Research Institute of Marine Fisheries and
Oceanography (PINRO)
Contact for more information
Sabine Cochrane
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